Kena
Feminine
Kena is given to both — 1,848 girls and 63 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Two syllables, a consonant and a vowel each, ending open — that is the most durable name shape there is. Anna, Maria, Nina, Sara, Lena, Kena. Languages that share nothing else keep producing it, because it is the easiest thing a mouth can say and an ear can catch.
How old is the name Kena?
Kena first appears in US birth records in 1947 — 78 years ago. The typical Kena alive today was born around 1981, making them about 44 years old. About 1,800 people named Kena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kena most popular?
Kena peaked in 1975, reaching #1459 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 6,426 places below that high. See the whole 1975 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From McKenna to Kena
Our story of Kena
Phonologists call the pattern CVCV — consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel — and it is the first syllable structure children produce and the one that appears in every language on earth, including those that also permit far more complicated things. Names built on it are correspondingly universal: Anna in Europe, Nana in West Africa, Mina in Japan, Sara across the Middle East, Lina from Lithuania to Lebanon. They are easy to say under any conditions, easy to hear across a room, and hard to mishear. That is why they survive translation, migration and centuries of fashion better than long names do, and why a modern coinage on the same pattern sounds immediately like a name rather than like an invention. Kena peaks in 1975.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No settled source. Kena is most likely a clip of McKenna, Kendra or Kenya, or an independent modern formation. McKenna is from Irish Mac Cionaith, a son of Cionaodh, generally read as born of fire. None of that transfers reliably to Kena, which has no documented reading of its own.
How the name formed
- McKenna
- Kena
Related forms: Keena · Kenna
Pronouncing Kena
KEE-nah
Two syllables, stress on the first, with a long ee. Some families say KEN-ah with a short vowel; both are in use, and the spelling does not settle it.
Nicknames for Kena
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1947
- Most girls named
- 197570 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1459reached in 1975
- Change vs 2024
- −31.6%13 in 2025, from 19
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Kena in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Keena in English — spelling variant
- Kenna in English — spelling variant
Kenas among us
people named Kena are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Kena
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kena
- #7885
- Kena on the 2025 chart
- #614
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kena went to 13 girls in 2025, but Kenna is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 370, which makes it the 614th most-given girls’ name of the year — 7,271 places above the chart.
- Kenna357
- Kena13
About 1 girl in 4,344 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 123,636 for Kena itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Irmgard test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kena's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Irmgard climbed just as high around 1930, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Irmgard's path sketches the road Kena is walking now.
Kena sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Kena beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kena in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is short, four letters, and easy to say in any language.
- The shape is universally familiar, so it travels well.
- The final -a marks it clearly as a girl's name in English.
- The first vowel is pronounced two different ways.
- Kenna and Keena compete for a similar sound.
- There is no meaning to give behind the name.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kena to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Kena? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kena
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Kena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kena?
- Kena is one of 2 recorded spellings. Kenna is the more common one — 357 births in 2025 against 13 for Kena.
- How popular is the name Kena in 2025?
- Kena ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kena?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Kena — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kena with classmates?
- Kena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kena
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kena? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kena and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle