How rare is the name Kent?

54,012 people in the United States have the first name Kent, about 1 in 5,592. It ranks #850 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

KENT

#850

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
54,012
About
1 in 5,592
This common or more
67.6%
Who bears it

Of the 54,012 people named Kent, 85.2% reported their origin as White, 5.3% as Black and 4.8% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Kent peaked in 1962, when 2,592 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18852025
Peak year
1962
Births that year
2,592
In 2025*
101 ▼96%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 69,493 babies have been given the name since 1885. 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.

Kent by decade

Among all names given to American babies, it ranked #342 in every decade from the 1950s to the 1960s. The largest share of babies named Kent, 50.2%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#3,1215
1890s#2,57031
1900s#2,56955
1910s#1,808388
1920s#1,2771,087
1930s#6663,123
1940s#4418,351
1950s#34218,730
1960s#34219,333
1970s#6336,754
1980s#8065,020
1990s#1,3402,902
2000s#2,3731,615
2010s#2,7801,425
2020s#3,295674
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–271.8%
Silent Generation 1928–4511%
Baby boom 1946–6450.2%
Generation X 1965–8020.9%
Millennials 1981–969.7%
Generation Z 1997–123.8%
2013 and later2.5%

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 Kent is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kent has been most common in Utah (5.4×), Idaho (4.1×), and North Dakota (3.8×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.13×).

64,462 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.

Either side of Kent

#848 Alana · 54,144#849 Guy · 54,143#851 Marta · 53,965#852 Sidney · 53,874

Spelled almost the same

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

#15,832 Kenta · 721#20,403 Kento · 507#41,825 Kenth · 174#45,674 Kenet · 148

Also a last name

As a last name, Kent ranks #799 of 156,621, with 42,163 people. See Kent as a last name

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