Kenni
A unisex name of Scandinavian origin meaning "dweller by the river".
Name Census estimates that about 312 living Americans carry the first name Kenni. It is a predominantly female name (97.0% of registrations). The average person named Kenni today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenni births was 2023 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenni. 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
312
~ 1 in 1,098,572 Americans
Peak year
2023
14 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2002 SSA rank
#9,875
Tracked since 1957
Census
Kenni in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 471 people with the first name Kenni, which placed it at #21,522 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
#21,522
National first-name rank
People counted
471
471 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kenni
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenni is White at 48.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.4%) and Hispanic (19.7%). 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 Kenni 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 Kenni at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.6% · 229
- Black or African American20.4% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino19.7% · 93
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 22
- Two or more races4.5% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Kenni
Kenni leans heavily female at 97.0% of total registrations, but 10 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kenni as a male name
- Ranked #11,651 in 2002
- 5 male births in 2002
- Peak: 2001 (5 births)
Kenni as a female name
- Ranked #9,875 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kenni on both sides of the split. Of the 471 people counted with this name, 121 were male (25.7%) and 350 were female (74.3%).
Popularity
Kenni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenni from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 54 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kenni 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 Kenni during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenni
The name Kenni is of uncertain origin, but it is believed to have its roots in the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Germanic tribes of Scandinavia during the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries). Some linguists suggest that Kenni may be derived from the Old Norse word "kenna," meaning "to know" or "to perceive," implying that the name could be associated with knowledge, wisdom, or awareness.
In Norse mythology, there are references to a figure named Kenni, who was a skilled skald (a Norse poet or storyteller). This Kenni is mentioned in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript from the 13th century. However, it is unclear whether the name Kenni directly originated from this mythological character or if it was an existing name that was later associated with the skald.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kenni can be traced back to the 9th century, where it appears in various Scandinavian sagas and historical records. One notable figure from this period was Kenni Ketilsson, a Norwegian chieftain and explorer who is believed to have sailed to Greenland in the late 9th century, predating the voyages of Erik the Red.
During the Middle Ages, the name Kenni was relatively uncommon but still appeared in various parts of Europe, particularly in areas with strong Norse influence. One example is Kenni Sæmundarson (1056-1121), an Icelandic priest and scholar who is credited with preserving many of the ancient Icelandic sagas and poems.
In more recent times, Kenni has been used as a first name, although its popularity has varied across different regions. Some notable individuals with the name Kenni include:
1. Kenni Landrum (born 1956), an American singer and songwriter known for his work with the band Oingo Boingo.
2. Kenni Munidasa (born 1975), a Sri Lankan chef and restaurateur, renowned for his contributions to the culinary scene in Sri Lanka.
3. Kenni Lagreid (born 1990), a Norwegian biathlete who has competed in several World Cup events and the Winter Olympics.
4. Kenni Rød (born 1986), a Danish football player who has played for several clubs in Denmark and Sweden.
5. Kenni Larsen (1939-2008), a Danish author and journalist known for his children's books and novels.
While the name Kenni is relatively uncommon today, it carries a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in the Nordic regions, where it has been associated with storytelling, exploration, and scholarship throughout the centuries.
People
Kenni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenni 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
Kenni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 312 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenni 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 1,098,572 US residents.
Is Kenni a common name?
We classify Kenni as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 332 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenni most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenni was 2023, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenni is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kenni in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 471 people with the name Kenni, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,522 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 Kenni 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 Kenni?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kenni on both sides of the split. Of the 471 people counted with this name, 121 were male (25.7%) and 350 were female (74.3%). 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 Kenni?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenni is White at 48.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.4%) and Hispanic (19.7%). 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 Kenni most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kenni in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.6% (229 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 Kenni in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kenni a female name?
Yes, 97.0% of people registered as Kenni 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 Kenni still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kenni 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 Kenni 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 have Kenni as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Kenni on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.