Meaning not yet researched.
Ken: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 36 in 2025. Its best rank was #177 in 1960.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #177 in 1960; #3,277 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Ken in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#3,277 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1960, at #177.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Ken: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 36 boys in 2025. Peak: #177 in 1960 · most boys in one year: 1,775 (1960).
In 2025, 36 US boys were named Ken, making it the 3,277th most common boys’ name of the year, up 31 places from #3,308 in 2024. That is 0 more than the 36 boys named Ken in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #177, reached in 1960. That year also had the most boys given the name: 1,775. For comparison, it was #1,760 in 2015 and #362 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Ken in 117 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1900 with 7 babies. In all, 33,043 US babies have been given the name, 0.1% of them girls and 99.9% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1960s, with 11,913 babies named Ken.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 533 US boys were named Ken; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 90. In 2025 that was about 1 in 47,447 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Kenneth (1,289,312 babies since 1880), Kian (13,568 babies since 1880), Keon (9,275 babies since 1880) and Keyon (6,020 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Keane, Keyan and Kenrick are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Rare spellings summarised here: Keane (1,486), Keyan (1,389), Kenrick (1,265), Kean (997), Kenric (939), Kyon (841), Kenn (756), Keone (610), Kien (530), Keene (471), Keean (434), Keian (363), and more.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 36 | #3,277 |
| 2024 | — | — | 36 | #3,308 |
| 2023 | — | — | 37 | #3,260 |
| 2022 | — | — | 50 | #2,659 |
| 2021 | — | — | 52 | #2,542 |
| 2020 | — | — | 56 | #2,383 |
| 2019 | — | — | 51 | #2,568 |
| 2018 | — | — | 62 | #2,219 |
| 2017 | — | — | 63 | #2,162 |
| 2016 | — | — | 90 | #1,733 |
| 2015 | — | — | 87 | #1,760 |
| 2014 | — | — | 85 | #1,774 |
| 2013 | — | — | 75 | #1,890 |
| 2012 | — | — | 107 | #1,509 |
| 2011 | — | — | 88 | #1,695 |
| 2010 | — | — | 68 | #2,027 |
| 2009 | — | — | 104 | #1,570 |
| 2008 | — | — | 108 | #1,511 |
| 2007 | — | — | 120 | #1,378 |
| 2006 | — | — | 135 | #1,244 |
| 2005 | — | — | 117 | #1,305 |
| 2004 | — | — | 153 | #1,055 |
| 2003 | — | — | 110 | #1,288 |
| 2002 | — | — | 134 | #1,095 |
| 2001 | — | — | 124 | #1,132 |
| 2000 | — | — | 123 | #1,134 |
| 1999 | — | — | 119 | #1,117 |
| 1998 | — | — | 104 | #1,193 |
| 1997 | — | — | 125 | #1,021 |
| 1996 | — | — | 119 | #1,035 |
| 1995 | — | — | 126 | #992 |
| 1994 | — | — | 112 | #1,055 |
| 1993 | — | — | 104 | #1,100 |
| 1992 | — | — | 113 | #1,032 |
| 1991 | — | — | 127 | #942 |
| 1990 | 5 | #14,062 | 142 | #858 |
| 1989 | — | — | 138 | #858 |
| 1988 | — | — | 111 | #908 |
| 1987 | — | — | 126 | #831 |
| 1986 | — | — | 102 | #909 |
| 1985 | — | — | 113 | #850 |
| 1984 | — | — | 116 | #813 |
| 1983 | — | — | 105 | #856 |
| 1982 | — | — | 134 | #761 |
| 1981 | — | — | 145 | #718 |
| 1980 | — | — | 141 | #739 |
| 1979 | — | — | 119 | #795 |
| 1978 | — | — | 137 | #718 |
| 1977 | — | — | 124 | #764 |
| 1976 | — | — | 137 | #716 |
| 1975 | 5 | #9,750 | 156 | #660 |
| 1974 | — | — | 202 | #564 |
| 1973 | — | — | 232 | #515 |
| 1972 | — | — | 287 | #465 |
| 1971 | — | — | 363 | #425 |
| 1970 | 5 | #8,622 | 486 | #369 |
| 1969 | — | — | 494 | #356 |
| 1968 | — | — | 601 | #306 |
| 1967 | — | — | 650 | #284 |
| 1966 | — | — | 820 | #252 |
| 1965 | — | — | 1,100 | #218 |
| 1964 | — | — | 1,475 | #192 |
| 1963 | — | — | 1,634 | #178 |
| 1962 | 5 | #7,034 | 1,684 | #181 |
| 1961 | 5 | #7,037 | 1,665 | #188 |
| 1960 | 5 | #6,820 | 1,775 | #177 |
| 1959 | — | — | 1,653 | #182 |
| 1958 | — | — | 1,533 | #185 |
| 1957 | — | — | 1,178 | #221 |
| 1956 | — | — | 657 | #285 |
| 1955 | — | — | 439 | #345 |
| 1954 | — | — | 370 | #367 |
| 1953 | — | — | 317 | #394 |
| 1952 | — | — | 321 | #382 |
| 1951 | — | — | 296 | #395 |
| 1950 | — | — | 347 | #362 |
| 1949 | — | — | 456 | #322 |
| 1948 | — | — | 622 | #261 |
| 1947 | — | — | 707 | #247 |
| 1946 | — | — | 684 | #227 |
| 1945 | — | — | 479 | #272 |
| 1944 | — | — | 427 | #287 |
| 1943 | — | — | 444 | #294 |
| 1942 | — | — | 407 | #302 |
| 1941 | — | — | 345 | #312 |
| 1940 | — | — | 303 | #327 |
| 1939 | — | — | 276 | #335 |
| 1938 | — | — | 252 | #349 |
| 1937 | — | — | 203 | #385 |
| 1936 | — | — | 211 | #376 |
| 1935 | — | — | 167 | #440 |
| 1934 | — | — | 152 | #457 |
| 1933 | — | — | 108 | #553 |
| 1932 | — | — | 127 | #511 |
| 1931 | — | — | 95 | #607 |
| 1930 | — | — | 76 | #728 |
| 1929 | — | — | 57 | #880 |
| 1928 | — | — | 34 | #1,242 |
| 1927 | — | — | 48 | #1,018 |
| 1926 | — | — | 54 | #925 |
| 1925 | — | — | 39 | #1,134 |
| 1924 | — | — | 34 | #1,260 |
| 1923 | — | — | 30 | #1,345 |
| 1922 | — | — | 29 | #1,382 |
| 1921 | — | — | 23 | #1,615 |
| 1920 | — | — | 32 | #1,292 |
| 1919 | — | — | 19 | #1,781 |
| 1918 | — | — | 17 | #1,951 |
| 1917 | — | — | 21 | #1,618 |
| 1916 | — | — | 17 | #1,812 |
| 1915 | — | — | 20 | #1,581 |
| 1914 | — | — | 11 | #2,041 |
| 1913 | — | — | 10 | #1,881 |
| 1912 | — | — | 14 | #1,318 |
| 1911 | — | — | 6 | #1,645 |
| 1910 | — | — | 5 | #1,730 |
| 1900 | — | — | 7 | #1,112 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).