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Kenyatta

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Surname transferred into given-name use

Kenyatta has been given to 7,471 babies in the U.S. since 1962. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1975, with 217 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 57% girls, 43% boys all-time.

Babies named Kenyatta, 2024

1 in 557,000

Kenyatta over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Kenyatta over time

In 2024, Kenyatta went to 40% girls and 60% boys.

19612024

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Kenyatta: meaning, origin, and history

Surname transferred into given-name use

surname transfer

What Kenyatta means

Kenyatta is a given name.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Kenyatta is used in African American.

Another recorded pronunciation is /kɛn.ˈjɑt.ə/ for Kenyatta.

The naming story behind Kenyatta

Kenyatta is a given name adopted from surname. This establishes the immediate naming route. A surname transfer is different from a direct translation of the modern given-name spelling; the family name may have its own earlier derivation.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,255 girls were recorded with the name Kenyatta between 1962 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 217 in 1975; its best national rank was #690 in 1975.

In the United States, 3,216 boys were recorded with the name Kenyatta between 1961 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 226 in 1975; its best national rank was #533 in 1975.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Kenyatta?

Kenyatta had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024
1 in 557,000
6 of 3,342,801 births
Among girls only
1 in 270,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2024
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
386,177 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kenyatta sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2024 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 386,177 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kenyatta. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kenyattas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kenyatta was born before 1984 — so the typical Kenyatta is around 41 today.

Median birth year
1984
About 41 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
33.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
10.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
4,255
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 33.3% of all recorded uses (1,416).

Is Kenyatta 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1975 (217)
Years since peak
50
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#690
1975

Spellings of Kenyatta

Kenyatta is the most-used spelling, taking 47.1% of the 9,042 babies given a near-identical spelling.

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 Kenyatta is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Kenyatta was most concentrated in Mississippi — about 1 in 9,091 girls, against 1 in 41,959 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

011 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Mississippi1 in 9,091
  2. 2Georgia1 in 12,500
  3. 3Louisiana1 in 12,500
  4. 4Illinois1 in 14,286
  5. 5South Carolina1 in 16,667
  6. 6Alabama1 in 20,000
  7. 7Michigan1 in 20,000
  8. 8Florida1 in 25,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Kenyatta has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Kenyatta is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Kenyatta was most concentrated in Mississippi — about 1 in 20,000 boys, against 1 in 70,757 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

05 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Mississippi1 in 20,000
  2. 2Georgia1 in 33,333
  3. 3Illinois1 in 33,333
  4. 4Michigan1 in 33,333
  5. 5South Carolina1 in 33,333
  6. 6Alabama1 in 50,000
  7. 7New York1 in 50,000
  8. 8Pennsylvania1 in 50,000

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. Kenyatta has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Notable people named Kenyatta

People whose public names include Kenyatta, 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.

Kenyatta by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#690
1975
Peak year
1975
217 that year
First recorded
1962
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
4,255
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#533
1975
Peak year
1975
226 that year
First recorded
1961
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
3,216
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kenyatta

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

KenyettaKennettaKenleighKenishaKenyottaKennedieKendalynKennadiKensleyViolettaKendellKenadeeKennadyKenzleyJuliettaCarlottaKendylKenzleeKendyllKensingtonKensleeKennadeeKenleyKennedi

Names with a curve like Kenyatta

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

BrandeeNikiaCorieTanikaChantellDanyellCristaShantellKieshaAaronRacquelDanyel

Sibling names for Kenyatta

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 Kenyatta

Top names of 1975, Kenyatta's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1975Girls' names starting with K