Kendon
Masculine
Kenneth is two Gaelic names wearing one English coat. Cinaed and Coinneach are unrelated, mean different things, and were both anglicized as Kenneth, which is why nobody can say what the name means without first asking which family it came from.
How old is the name Kendon?
Kendon first appears in US birth records in 1959 — 66 years ago. The typical Kendon alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 900 people named Kendon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kendon most popular?
Kendon peaked in 1984, reaching #2706 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 6,204 places below that high. See the whole 1984 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Coinneach to Kendon
Our story of Kendon
English administration in Scotland and Ireland flattened the Gaelic name stock by matching names to English ones by sound rather than by sense, and Kenneth is the clearest casualty. Cinaed, borne by Cinaed mac Ailpin, the ninth-century king conventionally called Kenneth MacAlpin, is a name whose meaning is disputed and often given as born of fire. Coinneach, from a word for comely or handsome, is a completely different name, borne by saints and by the Mackenzie family, whose surname means son of Coinneach. Both were written Kenneth in English records, and the two lines are now indistinguishable. The same thing happened elsewhere: Owen covers Eoghan and Eoin, two separate names, and Neil covers Niall and several others. When a reference book gives one meaning for Kenneth, it has picked one of two.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Kendon has no inherited etymology. It joins a Ken- opening to the -don ending common in English place names. Ken- most likely comes from Kenneth, itself an anglicization of two separate Gaelic names: Cinaed, often read as born of fire, and Coinneach, handsome or comely. Neither meaning transfers to this compound. The peak is 1984.
How the name formed
- Coinneach
- Kenneth
- Kendon
Related forms: Kenden · Kendon
Pronouncing Kendon
KEN-dun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Kendon and Kenden are homophones, because the second syllable is unstressed and its vowel is a schwa.
Nicknames for Kendon
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
- 1959
- Most boys named
- 201440 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2706reached in 1984
- Change vs 2024
- −27.3%8 in 2025, from 11
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.
Kendon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kenden in English — spelling variant
- Kendon in English — same name
Kendons among us
people named Kendon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Kendon
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Reiner test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kendon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Reiner climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Reiner's path sketches the road Kendon is walking now.
Kendon 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
Kendon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kendon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Ken and Don are both complete names as short forms.
- The pronunciation is obvious from the spelling.
- Two syllables with a firm first-syllable stress.
- It names no actual place, unlike the names it resembles.
- Kendon and Kenton are easily confused.
- It has no meaning in any language.
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Kendon
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kendons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Kendon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kendon in 2025?
- Kendon ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kendon?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Kendon — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kendon with classmates?
- Kendon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kendon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kendon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kendon and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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