Kentley
A masculine name of English origin meaning "settlement by the meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 280 living Americans carry the first name Kentley. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Kentley today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kentley births was 2013 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kentley. 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
280
~ 1 in 1,224,123 Americans
Peak year
2013
30 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,395
Tracked since 2009
Gender
Gender distribution for Kentley
Kentley is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 282 total registrations, 104 (36.9%) were male and 178 (63.1%) were female.
Kentley as a male name
- Ranked #10,391 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2013 (16 births)
Kentley as a female name
- Ranked #7,395 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (16 births)
Popularity
Kentley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kentley from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 183 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kentley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kentley 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 Kentley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kentleys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kentley
The given name Kentley is believed to have its roots in the Old English language, originating around the 5th to 11th centuries CE. It is a compound word formed by combining the elements "cent," meaning "coastal" or "from the shore," and "leah," which translates to "meadow" or "clearing." This suggests that the name may have initially been used to describe someone who lived near a coastal meadow or clearing.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kentley can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086 CE. This historical record mentions a landowner named Kentley who held estates in the county of Kent, England. It is plausible that the name originated as a locational surname before transitioning into a given name.
In the 12th century, a monk known as Kentley of Canterbury is mentioned in the chronicles of the Canterbury Cathedral. He is believed to have been a scribe and scholar who contributed to the preservation of ancient manuscripts during the medieval period.
During the Renaissance, a notable figure named Kentley Whitcombe (1525-1591) gained recognition as a prominent English poet and playwright. His works, including the play "The Tragic Tale of Kentley," were celebrated for their exploration of human emotions and the complexities of love.
In the 18th century, Kentley Hutchinson (1720-1788) was a respected British botanist and naturalist. He made significant contributions to the study of plant life and is credited with discovering several new species of flora found in the Americas.
Moving into the 19th century, Kentley Jameson (1810-1872) was a Scottish explorer and archaeologist known for his expeditions to the Andes Mountains in South America. His discoveries and documentation of ancient civilizations and artifacts shed valuable light on the region's rich cultural heritage.
While the name Kentley may not have achieved widespread popularity throughout history, it carries a unique blend of linguistic and cultural influences, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of those who bore this name over the centuries.
People
Kentley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kentley 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
Kentley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kentley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 280 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kentley 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 1,224,123 US residents.
Is Kentley a common name?
We classify Kentley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 282 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kentley most popular?
The single biggest year for Kentley was 2013, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kentley is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Kentley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kentley a female name?
Yes, 63.1% of people registered as Kentley 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 Kentley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kentley 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 Kentley 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Kentley as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.