Boy name#588 of boy names
Ken
Pronounced K EH1 N (ARPABET)
- 1 syllable
- Peaked 1960
- 125 years in use
- 1 spelling
How popular is Ken?
Ken is a boys' name, and first appears in 1900. It has been given to 33,760 children — the 588th most common boys' name on record.
It has been slipping, down 41% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1960, when 1,800 children were given it.
Kenn is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Ken and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Kenn
Nicknames
Ken is itself a short form of Kenneth.
Characteristics
- 1 syllable
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- K EH1 N
- Stress pattern:
- 1
- Syllables:
- 1
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Ken
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Ken
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Ken?
- Ken ranks 588th among boys' names in US records, with 33,760 births since 1900. Over the past decade it accounts for 600.
- Is Ken a unisex name?
- No. Ken is recorded almost entirely as a boys' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Ken most popular?
- 1960, when 1,800 children were given the name. It has been in use for 125 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Ken spelled?
- Kenn. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.