Kenderick
Of Old English origin, meaning "bold leader of a tribe".
Name Census estimates that about 468 living Americans carry the first name Kenderick. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kenderick today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenderick births was 1988 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenderick. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
468
~ 1 in 732,381 Americans
Peak year
1988
23 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2020 SSA rank
#11,327
Tracked since 1969
Census
Kenderick in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 293 people with the first name Kenderick, which placed it at #29,959 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#29,959
National first-name rank
People counted
293
293 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kenderick
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenderick is Black at 81.9%. The next largest groups are White (8.2%) and Hispanic (3.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kenderick described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kenderick at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.9% · 240
- White8.2% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 10
- Two or more races3.4% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 3
Popularity
Kenderick: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenderick from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 139 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kenderick by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kenderick during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kendericks live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenderick
The name Kenderick is believed to have its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century AD. It is thought to be derived from the Proto-Germanic words "kuna" meaning "family" or "kin" and "ric" meaning "ruler" or "power." This suggests that the name may have originally been given to individuals who were leaders or held positions of authority within their communities or family groups.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kenderick can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record of the Anglo-Saxon kings and events in England. In this text, a figure named Kenderick is mentioned as a nobleman who participated in a battle against the Danes in the year 871 AD.
During the Middle Ages, the name Kenderick appeared sporadically in various historical documents and records across England and parts of Europe. A notable figure bearing this name was Kenderick of Lindisfarne, a Benedictine monk who lived in the 7th century AD and is renowned for his contributions to the preservation of ancient manuscripts and religious texts.
In the 12th century, a prominent individual named Kenderick the Scholar was known for his scholarly works and translations of ancient Greek and Roman texts. He played a significant role in the transmission of classical knowledge during the medieval period.
Another historical figure worth mentioning is Kenderick Longfellow, an English explorer and navigator who embarked on several voyages in the 16th century. His travels and discoveries contributed to the expansion of geographical knowledge during the Age of Exploration.
In the 18th century, Kenderick Wilberforce, a renowned abolitionist and philanthropist, worked tirelessly to end the practice of slavery in the British Empire. His efforts and advocacy played a crucial role in the eventual abolition of the slave trade.
While the name Kenderick has seen a decline in popularity in recent times, it remains a unique and historically significant name with deep roots in the English language and culture.
People
Kenderick + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenderick as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kenderick: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenderick?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 468 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenderick going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 732,381 US residents.
Is Kenderick a common name?
We classify Kenderick as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 487 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenderick most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenderick was 1988, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenderick is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kenderick in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 293 people with the name Kenderick, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,959 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kenderick in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kenderick?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenderick appears almost entirely male. Of the 300 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kenderick?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenderick is Black at 81.9%. The next largest groups are White (8.2%) and Hispanic (3.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kenderick most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kenderick in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.9% (240 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kenderick in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kenderick a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kenderick in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kenderick still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kenderick in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kenderick can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Kenderick?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.