How rare is the name Kerry?

83,556 people in the United States have the first name Kerry, about 1 in 3,615. It ranks #631 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

KERRY

#631

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
83,556
About
1 in 3,615
This common or more
62.7%
Who bears it

Of the 83,556 people named Kerry, 83.8% reported their origin as White, 9.4% as Black and 2.6% as two or more races. 54.1% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Kerry peaked in 1960, when 3,127 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19202025
Peak year
1960
Births that year
3,127
In 2025*
77 ▼98%
Recorded as
used for both

At least 98,644 babies have been given the name since 1920. 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.

Kerry by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #260. The largest share of babies named Kerry, 40.1%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1920s#5,052109
1930s#1,655596
1940s#5655,517
1950s#31620,858
1960s#26427,509
1970s#26022,785
1980s#43311,999
1990s#8365,949
2000s#2,0012,077
2010s#3,903871
2020s#4,818374
Greatest Generation 1901–270.1%
Silent Generation 1928–452.3%
Baby boom 1946–6440.1%
Generation X 1965–8037.4%
Millennials 1981–9615.6%
Generation Z 1997–123.6%
2013 and later1%

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 Kerry is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kerry has been most common in Massachusetts (2×), Louisiana (1.9×), and New Hampshire (1.4×), and least common in Nevada (0.18×).

92,061 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 Kerry

#629 Abraham · 84,024#630 Jade · 83,708#632 Rene · 83,545#633 Tracey · 83,398

Spelled almost the same

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

#1,181 Kerri · 33,369#8,278 Keiry · 1,758#11,712 Kerra · 1,084#16,782 Keary · 667#21,264 Kery · 479#35,884 Kerr · 223#47,181 Keyry · 139#52,462 Kerre · 107

Also a last name

As a last name, Kerry ranks #16,795 of 156,621, with 1,654 people. See Kerry as a last name

Compare