Kendle
An English feminine name derived from the word "candle".
Name Census estimates that about 511 living Americans carry the first name Kendle. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 64.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Kendle today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kendle births was 1995 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kendle. 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
511
~ 1 in 670,752 Americans
Peak year
1995
30 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2018 SSA rank
#10,230
Tracked since 1961
Census
Kendle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 618 people with the first name Kendle, which placed it at #17,693 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
#17,693
National first-name rank
People counted
618
618 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kendle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kendle is White at 56.5%. The next largest groups are Black (31.9%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Kendle 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 Kendle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.5% · 349
- Black or African American31.9% · 197
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 30
- Two or more races4.9% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Kendle
Kendle is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 528 total registrations, 189 (35.8%) were male and 339 (64.2%) were female.
Kendle as a male name
- Ranked #10,230 in 2018
- 7 male births in 2018
- Peak: 1999 (12 births)
Kendle as a female name
- Ranked #17,183 in 2017
- 5 female births in 2017
- Peak: 1995 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kendle on both sides of the split. Of the 621 people counted with this name, 241 were male (38.8%) and 380 were female (61.2%).
Popularity
Kendle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kendle from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 182 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Kendle remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kendle 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 Kendle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kendles live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kendle
The name Kendle is of English origin and can be traced back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Old English word "cyndel," which means "candle" or "torch." This name likely originated as a surname for someone who made or sold candles.
In medieval times, candle-making was an important trade, as candles were the primary source of illumination in homes and churches. The name Kendle may have been given to a child born into a family of candlemakers or someone associated with this profession.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kendle can be found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Nottingham, England, where a Kendle Smith was baptized in 1587. However, there are no significant historical figures or notable individuals with this first name during the medieval or early modern periods.
It wasn't until the 19th century that the name Kendle began to gain some prominence. In 1832, Kendle Cheney was born in England and later emigrated to the United States, where he became a successful businessman and philanthropist in New York City.
Another notable individual with the name Kendle was Kendle Wilkinson, a British explorer and author who lived from 1856 to 1914. He is best known for his travels and writings about the Middle East and Central Asia.
In the early 20th century, Kendle Taft (1885-1963) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio.
More recently, Kendle Browning (1922-2008) was an American artist and sculptor known for his abstract works and contributions to the art scene in California.
While not a common name, Kendle has been used throughout history, primarily in English-speaking countries. Its connection to the candle-making trade and the Old English word "cyndel" make it a unique and intriguing name with a rich historical background.
People
Kendle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kendle 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
Kendle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kendle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 511 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kendle 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 670,752 US residents.
Is Kendle a common name?
We classify Kendle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 528 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kendle most popular?
The single biggest year for Kendle was 1995, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kendle is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kendle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 618 people with the name Kendle, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,693 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 Kendle 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 Kendle?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kendle on both sides of the split. Of the 621 people counted with this name, 241 were male (38.8%) and 380 were female (61.2%). 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 Kendle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kendle is White at 56.5%. The next largest groups are Black (31.9%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Kendle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kendle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.5% (349 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 Kendle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kendle a female name?
Yes, 64.2% of people registered as Kendle in the SSA data are female. 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 Kendle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kendle 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 Kendle 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 many people are named Kendle?
Want to know how many Americans are named Kendle? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.