Ken
Ken is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 36 births. Its best rank was 177th, in 1960.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 360.00% of boys
- Peak year
- 19601,776 births
- Best rank
- #177in 1960
- Since 1900
- 32,979people given the name
The story in the numbers
32,979 boys have been named Ken in the United States since 1900, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1960, with 1,776 births.
The name has all but left use: 36 births in 2024, against 1,776 at the peak.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1961, and the 1960s alone account for 36%. It has spent 65 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Ken | |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 7 | |
| 1910s | 140 | |
| 1920s | 380 | |
| 1930s | 1,667 | |
| 1940s | 4,874 | |
| 1950s | 7,111 | |
| 1960s | 11,902 | |
| 1970s | 2,243 | |
| 1980s | 1,229 | |
| 1990s | 1,191 | |
| 2000s | 1,228 | |
| 2010s | 776 | |
| 2020s | 231 |
In 1960, its biggest year
Ken was the 177th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1960 were David, Michael, James, John and Robert. See all of 1960.
Names that rose and fell with Ken
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Chuckpeak 1961
- Lespeak 1961
- Ronpeak 1960
- Russpeak 1959
- Stanpeak 1959
- Rodpeak 1960
- Timpeak 1960
- Kentpeak 1962
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.