Kerensa
A feminine name of Cornish origin meaning "love".
Name Census estimates that about 417 living Americans carry the first name Kerensa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kerensa today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kerensa births was 1971 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kerensa. 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 Kerensa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
417
~ 1 in 821,953 Americans
Peak year
1971
30 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,347
Tracked since 1965
Census
Kerensa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 452 people with the first name Kerensa, which placed it at #22,141 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
#22,141
National first-name rank
People counted
452
452 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kerensa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kerensa is White at 72.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.4%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Kerensa 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 Kerensa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.8% · 329
- Black or African American10.4% · 47
- Two or more races7.7% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4
Popularity
Kerensa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kerensa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 232 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kerensa 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 Kerensa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kerensas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kerensa
The name Kerensa is of Cornish origin, traced back to the medieval period in the Cornwall region of England. It is derived from the Cornish words "ker" meaning "dear" and "ens" meaning "life" or "soul." The name translates roughly to "dear life" or "beloved soul."
In ancient Cornish history, the name Kerensa was sometimes used as a nickname or pet name for those named Karen or Kerensa. The earliest recorded instances of the name appear in parish records from the 16th century, though its usage likely predates these written accounts.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Kerensa was Kerensa Trefry, born in Cornwall in 1574. She was a prominent figure in the local community and is mentioned in several historical documents from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Another notable figure was Kerensa Penrose, born in 1622, who was a prominent landowner and philanthropist in Cornwall. She is remembered for her charitable works and donations to local churches and schools.
In the 18th century, Kerensa Davy, born in 1735, was a well-known Cornish poet and writer. Her collection of poems and ballads, published in 1762, is considered an important work in the preservation of Cornish literature and culture.
The name Kerensa also appears in some works of Cornish literature and folklore. In the 19th century novel "The Maid of Penzance" by John Harland, one of the main characters is named Kerensa, reflecting the name's deep roots in Cornish culture.
Another notable bearer of the name was Kerensa Vyvyan, born in 1850, who was a prominent advocate for women's rights and education in Cornwall. She founded several schools and organizations dedicated to empowering women and improving their access to education.
While the name Kerensa has its origins in Cornwall, it has been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in areas with Cornish diaspora communities. However, the name remains most strongly associated with its Cornish heritage and the rich cultural traditions of that region.
People
Kerensa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kerensa 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
Kerensa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kerensa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 417 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kerensa 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 821,953 US residents.
Is Kerensa a common name?
We classify Kerensa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 457 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kerensa most popular?
The single biggest year for Kerensa was 1971, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kerensa is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kerensa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 452 people with the name Kerensa, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,141 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 Kerensa 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 Kerensa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kerensa appears almost entirely female. Of the 451 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kerensa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kerensa is White at 72.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.4%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Kerensa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kerensa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.8% (329 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 Kerensa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kerensa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kerensa 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 Kerensa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kerensa 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 Kerensa 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 Kerensa as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Kerensa, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.