Kenji
Last seen for girls in 2009 at #13,704 · #943 for boys in 2025, 249 births
Given to boys 99.4% of the time
- Peak · boys
- 1978 · 128 births
- Debut · boys
- 5 births
- In top 100 · boys
- neverof 146 years
- Total births · boys
- 5,624since 1913
Kenji over time
Rank among boys' names. Kenji has never cracked the top 700 here.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | — | #943 | 249 | |
| 2024 | — | #854 | 284 | |
| 2023 | — | #827 | 296 | |
| 2022 | — | #754 | 337 | |
| 2021 | — | #845 | 281 | |
| 2020 | — | #910 | 245 | |
| 2019 | — | #1,218 | 156 | |
| 2018 | — | #1,294 | 141 | |
| 2017 | — | #1,314 | 137 | |
| 2016 | — | #1,399 | 125 | |
| 2015 | — | #1,406 | 122 | |
| 2014 | — | #1,619 | 96 | |
| 2013 | — | #1,352 | 125 | |
| 2012 | — | #1,359 | 124 | |
| 2011 | — | #1,198 | 147 | |
| 2010 | — | #1,399 | 119 | |
| 2009 | #13,704 | 7 | #1,148 | 159 |
| 2008 | — | #1,211 | 145 | |
| 2007 | — | #1,477 | 108 | |
| 2006 | — | #1,519 | 99 | |
| 2005 | — | #1,752 | 75 | |
| 2004 | — | #1,989 | 60 | |
| 2003 | — | #1,936 | 60 | |
| 2002 | #15,432 | 5 | #1,888 | 59 |
| 2001 | — | #1,629 | 72 | |
| 2000 | — | #1,968 | 52 | |
| 1999 | — | #1,778 | 56 | |
| 1998 | — | #1,585 | 66 | |
| 1997 | — | #2,024 | 44 | |
| 1996 | — | #2,017 | 43 | |
| 1995 | — | #1,648 | 55 | |
| 1994 | — | #2,685 | 27 | |
| 1993 | — | #2,455 | 30 | |
| 1992 | — | #2,002 | 39 | |
| 1991 | — | #2,227 | 32 | |
| 1990 | — | #2,255 | 31 | |
| 1989 | — | #2,416 | 27 | |
| 1988 | — | #2,197 | 28 | |
| 1987 | — | #2,468 | 22 | |
| 1986 | — | #1,791 | 34 | |
| 1985 | — | #1,916 | 30 | |
| 1984 | — | #1,656 | 35 | |
| 1983 | — | #1,905 | 28 | |
| 1982 | — | #1,415 | 45 | |
| 1981 | — | #1,520 | 40 | |
| 1980 | #7,418 | 8 | #1,079 | 70 |
| 1979 | — | #965 | 84 | |
| 1978 | #7,649 | 7 | #749 | 128 |
| 1977 | — | #1,158 | 57 | |
| 1976 | — | #1,873 | 26 | |
| 1975 | #7,984 | 6 | #1,835 | 26 |
| 1974 | — | #1,832 | 25 | |
| 1973 | — | #1,653 | 28 | |
| 1972 | — | #1,966 | 21 | |
| 1971 | — | #2,126 | 19 | |
| 1970 | — | #2,293 | 16 | |
| 1969 | — | #2,046 | 17 | |
| 1968 | — | #1,962 | 17 | |
| 1967 | — | #2,242 | 13 | |
| 1966 | — | #2,465 | 11 | |
| 1965 | — | #2,780 | 9 | |
| 1964 | — | #3,050 | 8 | |
| 1963 | — | #3,318 | 7 | |
| 1962 | — | #3,305 | 7 | |
| 1961 | — | #3,356 | 7 | |
| 1960 | — | #3,077 | 8 | |
| 1959 | — | #3,619 | 6 | |
| 1958 | — | #3,275 | 7 | |
| 1957 | — | — | ||
| 1956 | — | #3,942 | 5 | |
| 1955 | — | — | ||
| 1954 | — | — | ||
| 1953 | — | — | ||
| 1952 | — | — | ||
| 1951 | — | — | ||
| 1950 | — | — | ||
| 1949 | — | — | ||
| 1948 | — | — | ||
| 1947 | — | — | ||
| 1946 | — | — | ||
| 1945 | — | — | ||
| 1944 | — | #2,633 | 8 | |
| 1943 | — | #2,964 | 7 | |
| 1942 | — | — | ||
| 1941 | — | — | ||
| 1940 | — | #2,671 | 8 | |
| 1939 | — | #2,159 | 11 | |
| 1938 | — | #2,479 | 9 | |
| 1937 | — | #2,088 | 12 | |
| 1936 | — | #3,147 | 6 | |
| 1935 | — | #2,396 | 10 | |
| 1934 | — | #2,563 | 9 | |
| 1933 | — | #2,093 | 12 | |
| 1932 | — | #3,361 | 6 | |
| 1931 | — | #2,471 | 10 | |
| 1930 | — | #2,444 | 11 | |
| 1929 | — | #1,731 | 19 | |
| 1928 | — | #1,902 | 17 | |
| 1927 | — | #2,034 | 16 | |
| 1926 | — | #1,981 | 16 | |
| 1925 | — | #1,360 | 29 | |
| 1924 | — | #1,776 | 20 | |
| 1923 | — | #1,551 | 24 | |
| 1922 | — | #1,333 | 30 | |
| 1921 | — | #2,152 | 15 | |
| 1920 | — | #1,416 | 27 | |
| 1919 | — | #1,531 | 23 | |
| 1918 | — | #1,905 | 17 | |
| 1917 | — | #1,986 | 15 | |
| 1916 | — | #2,543 | 10 | |
| 1915 | — | #3,392 | 6 | |
| 1914 | — | #2,271 | 9 | |
| 1913 | — | #2,821 | 5 | |
| 1912 | — | — | ||
| 1911 | — | — | ||
| 1910 | — | — | ||
| 1909 | — | — | ||
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| 1884 | — | — | ||
| 1883 | — | — | ||
| 1882 | — | — | ||
| 1881 | — | — | ||
| 1880 | — | — | ||
The first year at least five boys were named Kenji! It came in at #2,821, and was given to 5 baby boys.
Quietest stretch: 1941–1942, when fewer than 5 boys a year got the name.
Where Kenji is popular in 1978
- Rank in state
- Top 10
- 11–50
- 51–100
- 101–500
- 501+
- Not published
Hover or tap a state for its numbers.
- South Carolina#316 · 1 in 2,558
- Alabama#416 · 1 in 4,300
- Georgia#437 · 1 in 4,196
- Illinois#486 · 1 in 6,107
- North Carolina#489 · 1 in 6,195
Best ever in a state: #43 in Hawaii, 1917.
Show every state
| State | Rank | Births | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | #316 | 8 | 1 in 2,558 |
| Alabama | #416 | 6 | 1 in 4,300 |
| Georgia | #437 | 9 | 1 in 4,196 |
| Illinois | #486 | 13 | 1 in 6,107 |
| North Carolina | #489 | 6 | 1 in 6,195 |
| Florida | #648 | 6 | 1 in 8,501 |
| Texas | #720 | 11 | 1 in 10,465 |
| California | #733 | 14 | 1 in 12,066 |
| New York | #756 | 9 | 1 in 12,251 |
| Alaska | — | — | — |
| Arizona | — | — | — |
| Arkansas | — | — | — |
| Colorado | — | — | — |
| Connecticut | — | — | — |
| Delaware | — | — | — |
| District of Columbia | — | — | — |
| Hawaii | — | — | — |
| Idaho | — | — | — |
| Indiana | — | — | — |
| Iowa | — | — | — |
| Kansas | — | — | — |
| Kentucky | — | — | — |
| Louisiana | — | — | — |
| Maine | — | — | — |
| Maryland | — | — | — |
| Massachusetts | — | — | — |
| Michigan | — | — | — |
| Minnesota | — | — | — |
| Mississippi | — | — | — |
| Missouri | — | — | — |
| Montana | — | — | — |
| Nebraska | — | — | — |
| Nevada | — | — | — |
| New Hampshire | — | — | — |
| New Jersey | — | — | — |
| New Mexico | — | — | — |
| North Dakota | — | — | — |
| Ohio | — | — | — |
| Oklahoma | — | — | — |
| Oregon | — | — | — |
| Pennsylvania | — | — | — |
| Rhode Island | — | — | — |
| South Dakota | — | — | — |
| Tennessee | — | — | — |
| Utah | — | — | — |
| Vermont | — | — | — |
| Virginia | — | — | — |
| Washington | — | — | — |
| West Virginia | — | — | — |
| Wisconsin | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | — | — | — |
Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the boys born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.
See more about Kenji
- 89 spots since 2024 (#854 → #943)
- 33 spots since 2020 (#910 → #943)
- 463 spots since 2015 (#1,406 → #943)
- Biggest jump: 409 spots in 1978 (#1,158 → #749)
- Biggest drop: 216 spots in 1979 (#749 → #965)
- Debuted 1913
- Peaked 1978 at #749 (128 births)
- Births halved by 1981, 3 yrs later
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: never
- Top 1,000: 8 yrs · run 2020–2025
- Highest: 1 in 5,181 boys born in 2022 were named Kenji (0.02%)
- Latest: 1 in 6,860 boys born in 2025 (0.01%)
- Its best rank, #749 in 1978, was only 1 in 12,827 (0.01%) — a smaller share of a much bigger birth year
- 30.1% of all boys named Kenji (1,692) were born in this decade
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 85 | #1,531 (1919) | #2,350 |
| 1920s | 213 | #1,333 (1922) | #1,724 |
| 1930s | 96 | #2,088 (1937) | #2,520 |
| 1940s | 23 | #2,633 (1944) | #2,756 |
| 1950s | 18 | #3,275 (1958) | #3,612 |
| 1960s | 104 | #1,962 (1968) | #2,760 |
| 1970s | 430 | #749 (1978) | #1,645 |
| 1980s | 359 | #1,079 (1980) | #1,836 |
| 1990s | 423 | #1,585 (1998) | #2,068 |
| 2000s | 889 | #1,148 (2009) | #1,652 |
| 2010s | 1,292 | #1,198 (2011) | #1,356 |
| 2020s | 1,692 | #754 (2022) | #856 |
All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 boys in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.
Kenji in 1978
Top girls' names in 1978
Top boys' names in 1978
More about 1978
girls
1,531,859 girls got a published name in 1978; 1 in 218,837 of them was named Kenji, which outranked 33.3% of the 11,475 girls' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 16.5% of girls (24.6% in 1880, 7.0% in 2025).
boys
1,641,837 boys got a published name in 1978; 1 in 12,827 of them was named Kenji, which outranked 88.9% of the 6,762 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 24.6% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).