Girls' name · peaked in 1973
Kenya name popularity since 1925
27,553 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kenya (92.2% girls, 7.8% boys). Half of them were born in 1993 or earlier, so the typical Kenya is about 33 years old in 2026. Kenya peaked in 1973 as the #275 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 27,553
- Named Kenya, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,499 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 92.2% girls
- 25,412 girls · 2,141 boys
- Most popular in
- Georgia
- 2.40× its national share
Peak year is the year Kenya made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Kenya births per year, 1925–2025
1973 was the biggest year for Kenya both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1968 and 1973, Kenya became 8× more common, from 1 in 13,100 baby girls to 1 in 1,630.
- Steepest fall: Between 1979 and 1984, its share of baby girls fell by 52%, from 1 in 2,550 to 1 in 5,360.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kenya's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kenya.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kenya in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 89 | 0 | #3,159 |
| 1960s | 691 | 102 | #1,606 |
| 1970s | 6,502 | 1,060 | #281 |
| 1980s | 3,440 | 318 | #641 |
| 1990s | 5,220 | 341 | #394 |
| 2000s | 5,069 | 215 | #610 |
| 2010s | 3,553 | 97 | #894 |
| 2020–25 | 848 | 8 | #2,499 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
31.8% of babies named Kenya from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Kenya is most popular
The index compares Kenya's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Kenya.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 2.40× | 1,608 |
| Mississippi | 2.37× | 696 |
| South Carolina | 2.06× | 700 |
| Louisiana | 1.87× | 812 |
| Florida | 1.75× | 1,530 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kenya and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Kenya (this page) | 25,412 | 1973 |
| Kenia | 10,216 | 2016 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kenya's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kenya.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kenya (1973).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data