Head to head · Boys' names
Arturo vs Kenzo
#627 vs #628 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Arturo is a whisker ahead (#627 vs #628 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Arturo leads 5 measures of 6; Kenzo leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1890s: Arturo #1002, Kenzo — — Arturo higher
- 1900s: Arturo #980, Kenzo — — Arturo higher
- 1910s: Arturo #900, Kenzo — — Arturo higher
- 1920s: Arturo #526, Kenzo #3991 — Arturo higher
- 1930s: Arturo #477, Kenzo #3642 — Arturo higher
- 1940s: Arturo #407, Kenzo — — Arturo higher
- 1950s: Arturo #353, Kenzo — — Arturo higher
- 1960s: Arturo #359, Kenzo — — Arturo higher
- 1970s: Arturo #304, Kenzo — — Arturo higher
- 1980s: Arturo #278, Kenzo #6486 — Arturo higher
- 1990s: Arturo #274, Kenzo #8285 — Arturo higher
- 2000s: Arturo #316, Kenzo #5439 — Arturo higher
- 2010s: Arturo #517, Kenzo #1436 — Arturo higher
- 2020s: Arturo #605, Kenzo #570 — Kenzo higher
Arturo stood higher in 13 of 14 decades; Kenzo took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Arturo | Kenzo |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1002 | — |
| 1900s | #980 | — |
| 1910s | #900 | — |
| 1920s | #526 | #3991 |
| 1930s | #477 | #3642 |
| 1940s | #407 | — |
| 1950s | #353 | — |
| 1960s | #359 | — |
| 1970s | #304 | — |
| 1980s | #278 | #6486 |
| 1990s | #274 | #8285 |
| 2000s | #316 | #5439 |
| 2010s | #517 | #1436 |
| 2020s | #605 | #570 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Arturo
Bear, or a Roman family name of unclear sense
Two serious readings compete behind Arthur, and neither has won. One takes it from the Roman family name Artorius, whose own meaning is lost. The other takes it from a Celtic root for 'bear' — Welsh arth — possibly joined to a word for 'king' or 'man'. A separate Greek name, Arktouros, 'guardian of the bear', gave the star Arcturus, and the two have shadowed each other for centuries without being the same word.
Artorius / Arthur → Arthur (Old French romance) → Artù / Artur → Arturo
How it traveled
The name enters the record in early Welsh and Latin writing about a British war leader, and the ninth-century Historia Brittonum names him. Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written in the twelfth century, turned that figure into a king, and French romance carried the story to every court in Europe within a generation or two.
Kenzo
Commonly "strong/healthy" or "wise" plus "three" — often marking a third son
In Japanese the meaning is decided by the characters, not the sound. Kenzo is written many ways: 健三 with 健 "healthy, strong," 賢三 with 賢 "wise," 憲三 with 憲 "law," 建三 with 建 "to build." The final 三 means "three" and traditionally marked a third son, though it has long been used without that literal sense. Other spellings end in 蔵 or 造 instead. All are genuine Kenzos; no single reading owns the name.
How it traveled
The name is Japanese, and its structure is a very old pattern there: a meaningful first character joined to a number, so that the written form tells you something the spoken form does not. Romanized as Kenzo (properly Kenzō, with a long final vowel), it traveled outward in the twentieth century with Japanese emigration and with the people who carried it — among them the architect Kenzo Tange and the designer Kenzo Takada, who founded his Paris fashion house under the single name in 1970.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Arturo
ar-TOO-ro
Stress on the middle syllable in Spanish, Italian and English alike. The Spanish r is a single tap, and the final vowel is a clean 'oh' rather than a drawl; American speakers who soften both are still saying the name recognizably.
- Turo — The usual clipped form in Spanish-speaking families; informal, rarely used on paper.
- Arturito — Standard Spanish diminutive, used for children and affectionately for adults within the family.
- Art — The English-language shortening, borrowed from Arthur; also stands alone as a given name in older American generations.
- Arty — Informal and mostly a childhood form; spelled Artie by some families.
Kenzo
KEN-zoh
Two syllables, stress on the first in American English. In Japanese the syllables are more evenly weighted and the final vowel is held longer — Ken-zoh-oh — which is what the macron in Kenzō marks. English speakers get it right on the first try either way.
- Ken — The obvious English short form, and a long-standing given name in its own right in both English and Japanese.
- Kenny — Informal, mostly used by family and in early childhood; also stands alone as a given name.
- Kenz — Casual and modern, mostly among peers rather than adults.
- Zo — Informal clipping from the back of the name; also heard as a short form of Alonzo and Enzo.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Arturo if you want…
- a name with more sound in itArturo runs 3 syllables, Kenzo 2
Choose Kenzo if you want…
- a name holding steadyKenzo is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesKenzo is 2 syllables to Arturo's 3
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Arturo
Strengths
- Works unchanged in Spanish, Italian and English, with Arthur, Artur and Artair as recognized counterparts elsewhere.
- Spelled the way it sounds in both Spanish and English — no silent letters, no competing variants to correct.
- On US records for well over a century without ever disappearing, so it reads as established rather than new.
To consider
- English speakers who know Arthur may reach for it by reflex, and a child called Arturo can spend some years correcting teachers who default to the English form or clip straight to Art.
- The double r-and-o ending invites Artur, Arthuro and Aturo on forms — usually fixed in one breath, but it will come up.
- Recognizable everywhere, yet a child is unlikely to meet another one in a classroom. That suits some families and not others; it is worth deciding which you are.
Kenzo
Strengths
- Spelled exactly as it sounds in English, so it survives phone calls, forms and roll calls without correction.
- Ken and Kenny are ready-made short forms already familiar to English speakers, with Kenz and Zo available too.
- Works in both Japanese and English without adjustment — useful for a family living across the two.
To consider
- The English spelling drops the long vowel of Kenzō. If Japanese-speaking family matter to you, decide early which characters the name is written with, since that — not the romanization — is what carries the meaning.
- Kenzo is also a well-known Paris fashion label and fragrance line, so some adults will hear the brand before the name. It fades fast in a child's own social world, but it will come up.
- Because most American Kenzos are very young, older adults may not have met one before and will occasionally ask you to repeat it. One clear saying is usually enough.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Arturo and Kenzo in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Arturo and Kenzo?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Arturo and Kenzo — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Arturo or Kenzo — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Arturo or Kenzo?
- Arturo, in 2025: Arturo ranked #627 with 446 babies; Kenzo ranked #628 with 445 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Arturo or Kenzo?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Arturo moved down 44 places; Kenzo moved down 80 places.
- Which is the older name, Arturo or Kenzo?
- Arturo entered the US charts in 1898; Kenzo entered the US charts in 1920. On the American record, Arturo is the older name.
- How many people are named Arturo and Kenzo?
- About 49,500 people named Arturo are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,600 people named Kenzo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Arturos or Kenzos in the classroom?
- Arturo will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kenzo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Arturo, Kenzo and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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