Kwadwo
A masculine Akan name meaning "born on Monday".
Name Census estimates that about 270 living Americans carry the first name Kwadwo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kwadwo today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kwadwo births was 2005 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kwadwo. 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 Kwadwo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
270
~ 1 in 1,269,461 Americans
Peak year
2005
15 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,500
Tracked since 1973
Census
Kwadwo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 778 people with the first name Kwadwo, which placed it at #14,944 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
#14,944
National first-name rank
People counted
778
778 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
97.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kwadwo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kwadwo is Black at 97.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%). 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 Kwadwo 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 Kwadwo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American97.0% · 755
- Two or more races0.8% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 4
- White0.4% · 3
Popularity
Kwadwo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kwadwo from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 82 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kwadwo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kwadwo 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 Kwadwo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kwadwos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kwadwo
The given name Kwadwo originates from the Akan language spoken by the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast in West Africa. It dates back several centuries to the time when the Akan ethnic group was forming and developing its distinct cultural identity.
Kwadwo is derived from the Akan word "kwadu" meaning "male born on Monday." In the traditional Akan naming system, children were given names based on the day of the week they were born. Kwadwo was the name given to boys born on Monday, while girls born on that day were called Adwoa.
The earliest recorded uses of the name Kwadwo can be found in oral histories and folklore passed down through generations of Akan people. It is believed to have been in use as early as the 13th century, during the rise of the powerful Ashanti Empire in present-day Ghana.
One of the earliest documented references to the name Kwadwo is in the 17th century, when it was mentioned in written accounts by European traders and explorers who visited the region. These early records provide insights into the cultural practices and naming traditions of the Akan people at that time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kwadwo:
1. Kwadwo Adansi-Bonsu (c. 1720-1800) was a renowned Ashanti military leader and chief who led successful campaigns against neighboring kingdoms, expanding the Ashanti Empire's territory and influence.
2. Kwadwo Prah (1882-1964) was a prominent Ghanaian educator and linguist who played a significant role in promoting and preserving the Akan language and culture.
3. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (1924-2005), also known as Sir Osei Kwadwo Afriyie, was a Ghanaian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the first Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) from 1963 to 1964.
4. Kwadwo Akuffo (1925-2012) was a Ghanaian judge and politician who served as the President of Ghana from 1978 to 1979 during a period of political instability.
5. Kwadwo Asamoah (born 1988) is a Ghanaian professional football player who has represented his country at several international tournaments, including the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who carried the name Kwadwo, reflecting its longstanding cultural significance and prominence within the Akan community and beyond.
People
Kwadwo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kwadwo 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
Kwadwo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kwadwo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 270 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kwadwo 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 1,269,461 US residents.
Is Kwadwo a common name?
We classify Kwadwo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 275 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kwadwo most popular?
The single biggest year for Kwadwo was 2005, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kwadwo is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kwadwo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 778 people with the name Kwadwo, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,944 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 Kwadwo 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 Kwadwo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kwadwo appears almost entirely male. Of the 773 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Kwadwo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kwadwo is Black at 97.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%). 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 Kwadwo most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kwadwo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.0% (755 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 Kwadwo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kwadwo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kwadwo 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 Kwadwo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kwadwo 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 Kwadwo 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 Kwadwo?
You can see how many people have the name Kwadwo on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.