NamesBoyK › Ken
Boy name

Ken

/ˈkɛn/ · 100% boys · 36 born in 2025

Ken has been given to about 33,043 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1960, which makes it a boomer-era name.

Meaning
Origin
Syllables1
Pronunciation/ˈkɛn/
Nicknames
Living in the US≈ 26,131
Median age today64 years

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Ken per year · SSA, ONS, NRS, CSO, INSEE and SSB
18802025
United StatesEngland & WalesScotlandFranceNorwayeach scaled to its own peak
  • Peak year1960 · 1,780
  • Born in 202536
  • All time33,043
  • England & Wales, 20256

How popular is Ken?

Its best year was 1960, when 1,780 babies were given the name, ranking 177th. The typical living American called Ken is about 64 years old today. It is relatively most common in California, where it accounts for 0.00% of births.

Names that sound like Ken

Phonetic similarity, 0–1
  1. Ben0.75
  2. Len0.75
  3. Koen0.74
  4. Kent0.71
  5. Kylen0.70
  6. Kenny0.68
  7. Kyren0.70
  8. Coen0.69

Middle names for Ken

Ranked by flow score
  1. Ken Thomas0.74
  2. Ken James0.74
  3. Ken Cole0.73
  4. Ken Miles0.73
  5. Ken Wilder0.72
  6. Ken Paul0.55

Sibling names for Ken

Same era, comparable use, no clash
  1. Pennysister · 0.92
  2. Chrisbrother · 0.87
  3. Rockybrother · 0.85
  4. Ramonasister · 0.85
  5. Jaybrother · 0.85
  6. Laurelsister · 0.85

Where Ken is strongest

Share of 2025 births by state
  1. California0.00%

With a common surname

Flow score against the most-used American surnames · try your own
  1. Ken Anderson0.73
  2. Ken Adams0.73
  3. Ken Evans0.70
  4. Ken Edwards0.70
  5. Ken Wilson0.69
  6. Ken Williams0.69

How to read these numbers

Every score on this page is explained
  1. Phonetic similarity0–1
  2. Middle-name flow0–1
  3. Sibling fit0–1
  4. Living population estimatemethod
  5. PronunciationCMU dictionary

Sources for Ken

Every figure on this page is public record
  1. United States1880–2025
  2. England & Wales1996–2025
  3. Scotland1974–2020
  4. France1900–2025
  5. Norway1945–2025
  6. PronunciationCMU dictionary

Ken across America

Share of 2025 births in each state. Darker means more common.
ME
WA
VT
NH
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
ID
SD
IA
IL
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
NV
WY
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
CA
UT
CO
KS
AR
TN
NC
DC
AZ
NM
OK
LA
MS
AL
SC
AK
TX
GA
FL
HI
raremost common

Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.