Kermit

About Kermit

Kermit is an American given name taken from a Manx surname, ultimately connected with the Irish name Diarmaid. Its deeper meaning is uncertain. Kermit Roosevelt gave it a public presence before Jim Henson’s Kermit the Frog made it one of the most recognizable character names in television.

Surname and Irish roots

The surname behind Kermit is an Americanized form of a Manx name related to Irish Mac Diarmada, meaning “son of Diarmaid.” The route passes through a family name before reaching the modern personal name.

Diarmaid’s original meaning is uncertain. “Without envy” is a proposed interpretation, but it should not be treated as an established translation of Kermit. Dermot is another familiar English form of Diarmaid.

This history places Kermit among given names adapted from surnames, although its written form does not make that relationship immediately obvious. Its Irish connection lies further back than the particular American spelling.

Kermit Roosevelt

Theodore and Edith Roosevelt’s son Kermit was born on October 10, 1889. He was named for Robert Kermit, a relative on his mother’s side of the family.

Kermit accompanied his father on an African expedition in 1909 and later travelled with him to Brazil in 1913. These journeys became part of a life associated with exploration, travel, and writing.

The Roosevelt connection matters to the name’s American chronology. Kermit already had a documented family and public history decades before the television character appeared. Its strongest year in American birth records also predates that character.

Kermit the Frog

Jim Henson’s Kermit first appeared in Sam and Friends in 1955. The early puppet was made from an old coat belonging to Henson’s mother, with material from his blue jeans and eyes made from ping-pong balls.

The Smithsonian preserves this original Kermit as well as material from later stages of Henson’s work. The early object offers a particularly tangible origin for a character who became known far beyond his first local television setting.

For many English-speaking readers, the puppet is now the name’s immediate association. That cultural familiarity sits alongside an older surname origin and the Roosevelt family’s use of Kermit as a personal name.

Pronunciation and related names

Kermit is pronounced KUR-mit, with the stress on the first syllable. Its two syllables and consonant ending give it a compact form, with the first vowel matching the sound in words such as fern in many English accents.

Diarmaid and Dermot are historical relatives through the surname’s origin. They are less obvious in sound than a simple spelling variant would be, because several stages of adaptation separate them from Kermit.

American popularity

Kermit’s largest annual American total for boys was 431 in 1919, when it ranked #256. In 2025 the published records list six boys named Kermit, ranking #11,374.

The early peak came thirty-six years before Kermit’s television debut. The name consequently has a substantial pre-Muppet chapter in American naming history.

How popular is Kermit?

In 2025, Kermit ranked #11,374 among boys in the United States, with 6 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for boys in 1900; its largest annual count was 431 in 1919. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.