How rare is the name Kenji?

4,212 people in the United States have the first name Kenji, about 1 in 71,707. It ranks #4,438 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

KENJI

#4,438

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
4,212
About
1 in 71,707
This common or more
84%
Who bears it

Of the 4,212 people named Kenji, 47% reported their origin as Asian or Pacific Islander, 21.7% as two or more races and 13.7% as Black. 97.5% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Kenji peaked in 2022, when 337 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19132025
Peak year
2022
Births that year
337
In 2025*
249 ▼26%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 5,657 babies have been given the name since 1913. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Kenji by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #1,762. The largest share of babies named Kenji, 45.9%, were born in 2013 or later.

1910s#4,52785
1920s#3,346213
1930s#4,82096
1940s#8,92123
1950s#11,06318
1960s#6,341104
1970s#3,205443
1980s#4,195367
1990s#4,773423
2000s#3,590901
2010s#2,9991,292
2020s#1,7621,692
Greatest Generation 1901–274.6%
Silent Generation 1928–452.7%
Baby boom 1946–641%
Generation X 1965–8010.4%
Millennials 1981–969.7%
Generation Z 1997–1225.8%
2013 and later45.9%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Kenji is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kenji has been most common in Hawaii (17×), California (4.1×), and Nevada (2.8×), and least common in Ohio (0.25×).

3,558 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Kenji

1 other first name also has 4,212 people.

#4,438 Eladio · 4,212

Either side of Kenji

#4,437 Tawnya · 4,213#4,438 Eladio · 4,212#4,440 Dasia · 4,207#4,441 Farida · 4,206

Spelled almost the same

3 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Kenji, most common first.

#6,099 Kenzi · 2,671#15,335 Kensi · 752#45,829 Kenja · 147

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