Kento
A masculine Japanese name meaning "modest" or "humble".
Name Census estimates that about 510 living Americans carry the first name Kento. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kento today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kento births was 2018 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kento. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kento with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
510
~ 1 in 672,067 Americans
Peak year
2018
28 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,487
Tracked since 1984
Census
Kento in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 507 people with the first name Kento, which placed it at #20,390 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
#20,390
National first-name rank
People counted
507
507 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
63.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kento
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kento is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (23.1%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Kento 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 Kento at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander63.7% · 323
- Two or more races23.1% · 117
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 34
- White4.1% · 21
- Black or African American2.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Kento: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kento from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 185 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kento remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kento 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 Kento during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kentos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kento
The name Kento is a masculine Japanese given name that originated from a combination of two distinct kanji (Chinese characters). The first kanji "Ken" means "healthy" or "robust," while the second kanji "to" signifies "soaring" or "flying." Together, the name Kento conveys a sense of vitality, strength, and ambition.
The roots of the name Kento can be traced back to ancient Japan, where naming conventions were heavily influenced by Chinese culture and literature. During the Heian period (794-1185 CE), the practice of bestowing Japanese names with Chinese characters became widespread among the aristocracy and noble classes.
While the name Kento itself does not appear in any notable ancient texts or religious scriptures, its individual components hold symbolic significance in Japanese and Chinese folklore. The character "Ken" is associated with longevity, resilience, and physical prowess, while "to" evokes imagery of freedom, aspiration, and soaring to new heights.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Kento can be found in historical records dating back to the late 19th century, during the Meiji era (1868-1912). This period marked a significant cultural shift in Japan, as the country embraced modernization and westernization, leading to a resurgence of interest in traditional Japanese names.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kento, including:
1. Kento Yamazaki (born 1994), a Japanese actor and model best known for his roles in films like "L'Empereur de Paris" and the Netflix series "Alice in Borderland."
2. Kento Nagayama (born 1987), a Japanese professional basketball player who currently plays for the Shimane Susanoo Magic in the Japanese B.League.
3. Kento Momota (born 1994), a Japanese professional badminton player who has won numerous titles, including the 2018 and 2019 World Badminton Championships.
4. Kento Miura (1969-2021), a Japanese manga artist and writer, best known for his dark fantasy manga series "Berserk," which gained a massive cult following worldwide.
5. Kento Matsunami (born 1990), a Japanese professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Gamba Osaka in the J1 League.
These individuals, while from diverse fields, all embody the spirit and essence of the name Kento, exhibiting strength, perseverance, and a drive to soar to new heights in their respective endeavors.
People
Kento + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kento 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
Kento: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kento?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 510 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kento 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 672,067 US residents.
Is Kento a common name?
We classify Kento as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 517 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kento most popular?
The single biggest year for Kento was 2018, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kento is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kento in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 507 people with the name Kento, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,390 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 Kento 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 Kento?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kento appears almost entirely male. Of the 507 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Kento?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kento is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (23.1%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Kento most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kento in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.7% (323 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 Kento in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kento a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kento 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 Kento still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kento 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 Kento 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 called Kento?
You can see how many people have the name Kento on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.