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Kenyon

#3,706 in 2025Boys' name

Surname transferred into given-name use

Kenyon has been given to 8,164 babies in the U.S. since 1914. In 2025 it ranked #3,706 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2005, with 323 recorded.

Babies named Kenyon, 2025

1 in 111,000

Kenyon over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kenyon: meaning, origin, and history

Surname transferred into given-name use

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Kenyon means

Kenyon is a given name.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Kenyon is used in English.

The naming story behind Kenyon

Kenyon 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, 7,977 boys were recorded with the name Kenyon between 1914 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 323 in 2005; its best national rank was #663 in 2005.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,251 in 2020 to #3,706 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,688 in 2015 to #3,706 in 2025.

In the United States, 187 girls were recorded with the name Kenyon between 1969 and 2007. Its highest annual count was 13 in 1974; its best national rank was #4,583 in 1974.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Kenyon?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 111,000
30 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 56,900
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,706
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
76,598 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kenyon 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 76,598 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kenyon. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kenyons were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kenyon was born before 1998 — so the typical Kenyon is around 27 today.

Median birth year
1998
About 27 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
31.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
44.8%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
7,420
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 31.0% of all recorded uses (2,470).

Is Kenyon 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
+37
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,455
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,018
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.32×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
9.3%
Peak was 2005 (323)
Years since peak
20
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
15.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#663
2005

Spellings of Kenyon

Kenyon is not the most common spelling — Keaton is, with 13.3% against Kenyon's 4.8%.

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 Kenyon is used

Across 2016–2025, Kenyon was most concentrated in Alabama — about 1 in 20,000 boys, against 1 in 75,192 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

15 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Alabama1 in 20,000
  2. 2Georgia1 in 33,333
  3. 3Ohio1 in 50,000
  4. 4California1 in 100,000
  5. 5Florida1 in 100,000
  6. 6Illinois1 in 100,000
  7. 7Michigan1 in 100,000
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 100,000

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.

Kenyon around the world

Where Kenyon 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
    2005–2013
    #4,685
    in 2013
  • France
    2010–2021
    #6,035
    in 2021
  • Canada
    1993–2020
    #2,945
    in 2020
  • South Australia
    1959–1993
    #519
    in 1993

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

Notable people named Kenyon

People whose public names include Kenyon, 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.

Kenyon by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,706
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,455
Best rank ever
#663
2005
Peak year
2005
323 that year
First recorded
1914
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,977
Count in 2025
30

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,583
1974
Peak year
1974
13 that year
First recorded
1969
Last recorded
2007
All-time count
187
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kenyon

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

KentonKendalKennedyKennithKenjiKendellKenzoKenanKennonKenethKennardKennanKendricKenleyKenaiCanyonKentrellKendonKendallKeyonKenneyKendrixKenrickBryon

Names with a curve like Kenyon

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

DavinTyeOswaldoDonavanCaleEfrenOctavioNathenAlexandroCristobalBroderickAntony

Sibling names for Kenyon

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 Kenyon

Top names of 2005, Kenyon's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2005Boys' names starting with K