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Kwame

#2,961 in 2025Boys' name

Born on Saturday

Kwame has been given to 3,993 babies in the U.S. since 1960. In 2025 it ranked #2,961 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1990, with 299 recorded.

Babies named Kwame, 2025

1 in 78,900

Kwame over time, 1880–2025

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kwame: meaning, origin, and history

Born on Saturday

Akan

What Kwame means

Kwame means “born on Saturday”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

An ancient and traditional Akan day-name meaning "born on Saturday". Popularized in the 1960s when Kwame Nkrumah was the Prime Minister of Ghana.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Kwame is used in English. Its origins include Akan.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Kwame is pronounced /ˈkwɑː.meɪ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,955 boys were recorded with the name Kwame between 1960 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 299 in 1990; its best national rank was #582 in 1990.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,490 in 2020 to #2,961 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,193 in 2015 to #2,961 in 2025.

In the United States, 38 girls were recorded with the name Kwame between 1971 and 1990. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1971; its best national rank was #5,766 in 1971.

How common is Kwame?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 78,900
42 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 40,700
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,961
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
54,713 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kwame 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 54,713 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kwame. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kwames were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kwame was born before 1992 — so the typical Kwame is around 33 today.

Median birth year
1992
About 33 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
30.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
31.7%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
3,955
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 30.4% of all recorded uses (1,204).

Is Kwame 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
+346
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−471
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+232
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.17×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
14.0%
Peak was 1990 (299)
Years since peak
35
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#582
1990

Spellings of Kwame

Kwame is not the most common spelling — Wade is, with 50.3% against Kwame's 2.6%.

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 Kwame is used

Across 1910–2025, Kwame was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 20,000 boys, against 1 in 67,559 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

05 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 20,000
  2. 2District of Columbia1 in 33,333
  3. 3Georgia1 in 33,333
  4. 4Maryland1 in 33,333
  5. 5Florida1 in 50,000
  6. 6North Carolina1 in 50,000
  7. 7New Jersey1 in 50,000
  8. 8South Carolina1 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. Kwame has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Kwame around the world

Where Kwame 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
    #2,133
    in 2025
  • France
    2004–2023
    #4,660
    in 2023
  • Canada
    1993–2022
    #2,959
    in 2022

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Kwame

People whose public names include Kwame, 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.

Kwame by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,961
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 471
Best rank ever
#582
1990
Peak year
1990
299 that year
First recorded
1960
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,955
Count in 2025
42

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,766
1971
Peak year
1971
9 that year
First recorded
1971
Last recorded
1990
All-time count
38
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kwame

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

KwasiKwakuKwanKwabenaKwadwoJameKwaneKwamaneJerameKwaliKwamiKwanzaQuameKwamaineDameKwamelKwanteKwadjoKwangKwaunKwamainNameWarsameKwamin

Names with a curve like Kwame

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

KelbyJadeJameelShayMontezKhristopherTarikOctaviusDontaAkilDemetrisMartez

Sibling names for Kwame

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 Kwame

Top names of 1990, Kwame's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1990Boys' names starting with KAkan Boy NamesAkan Names