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Kenan

#1,148 in 2025Boys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Kenan has been given to 4,675 babies in the U.S. since 1947. In 2025 it ranked #1,148 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2024, with 187 recorded.

Babies named Kenan, 2025

1 in 18,000

Kenan over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kenan: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Hebrew and Arabic

What Kenan means

Kenan has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Kenan

One of the source’s documented entries for Kenan records a proposed meaning of possession.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

* Borrowed from Hebrew קֵינָן (qēnå̄n). * Alternatively, possibly a variant of Keenan, from Irish Cianán, a diminutive of Cian.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Kenan (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Kenan is used in English and Turkish. Its origins include Hebrew and Arabic.

Kenan comes through Irish Cianán.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Keenan and Cian.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,645 boys were recorded with the name Kenan between 1947 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 187 in 2024; its best national rank was #968 in 1997.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,330 in 2020 to #1,148 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,673 in 2015 to #1,148 in 2025.

In the United States, 30 girls were recorded with the name Kenan between 1985 and 2010. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1991; its best national rank was #8,954 in 1991.

How common is Kenan?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 18,000
184 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 9,280
0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,148
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
12,490 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kenan sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5003%

Put another way: gather 12,490 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kenan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kenans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kenan was born before 2007 — so the typical Kenan is around 18 today.

Median birth year
2007
About 18 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
23.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
64.4%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
4,635
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 23.8% of all recorded uses (1,104).

Is Kenan rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−14
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+182
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+525
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.96×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
98.4%
Peak was 2024 (187)
Years since peak
1
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
19.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#968
1997

Spellings of Kenan

Kenan is not the most common spelling — Kevin is, with 44.9% against Kenan's 0.18%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Kenan is used

Across 2016–2025, Kenan was most concentrated in Michigan — about 1 in 3,704 boys, against 1 in 11,708 across all states with data. It was least common in Arizona (1 in 100,000).

127 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Michigan1 in 3,704
  2. 2New York1 in 5,556
  3. 3North Carolina1 in 5,882
  4. 4Illinois1 in 6,250
  5. 5Ohio1 in 11,111
  6. 6Florida1 in 12,500
  7. 7Georgia1 in 12,500
  8. 8Mississippi1 in 12,500

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Kenan around the world

Where Kenan ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #1,276
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1982–2024
    #727
    in 2024
  • Ireland
    1998–2024
    #785
    in 2024
  • France
    1974–2025
    #270
    in 2025
  • Norway
    2022–2025
    #448
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #641
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1977–2010
    #754
    in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Kenan

People whose public names include Kenan, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Kenan in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Kenan. Linked forms have their own page here.

ConanKeananKeenanCynanCynon

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Kenan by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,148
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 182
Best rank ever
#968
1997
Peak year
2024
187 that year
First recorded
1947
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,645
Count in 2025
184

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#8,954
1991
Peak year
1991
9 that year
First recorded
1985
Last recorded
2010
All-time count
30
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kenan

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KennanKenzoKenjiKenaiKendalKenyonKendellKentonAdnanKennonKentaConanKenethKennedyKenyaKennardKendricHernanKenleyKentoKananKennithKentrellKendon

Names with a curve like Kenan

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Kenan, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

SamiHasanShlomoYitzchokAvrahamTorinAmarMikaelRamiArmanAvrohomKeoni

Sibling names for Kenan

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Kenan

Top names of 2024, Kenan's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1997Boys' names starting with KUncommon Turkish Boy Names