Kent
Masculine
Kent is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 69,322 boys against 171 girls since 1880.
Kent is the oldest recorded place name in England. The Cantiaci were living there when Caesar arrived, and the county has carried a version of their name ever since — through Latin, Old English and modern English without a break.
How old is the name Kent?
Kent first appears in US birth records in 1885 — 140 years ago. The typical Kent alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 51,500 people named Kent are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kent most popular?
Kent peaked in 1962, reaching #136 nationally. Today it ranks #1654, 1,518 places below that high. See the whole 1962 chart.
Where it comes from
From Cantiaci to Kent
The story of Kent
Kent was a British kingdom, then the first Anglo-Saxon kingdom to be converted, then an English county — and its name has come down unbroken from before the Roman conquest. The surname came from the county, and American families took it as a given name in the twentieth century. Kent rose sharply through the 1950s and peaked in the mid-1960s.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
From the Celtic tribal name Cantiaci, recorded by Caesar as Cantium. Its own meaning is not recovered; proposals include a word for a border, a corner or a coastal region, none securely. What is documented is that the name predates English by centuries and has been in continuous use longer than any other in the country.
How the name formed
- Cantiaci
- Cantium
- Kent
Related forms: Cantium · Kenton
Pronouncing Kent
KENT
One syllable. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Kent
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
- 1885
- Most boys named
- 19622,587 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #136reached in 1962
- Change vs 2022
- −12.9%101 in 2025, from 116
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.
Kent in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cantium in Latin — related form
- Kenton in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio.
Kents among us
people named Kent are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 16,912 born in 2025 was named Kent
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 Dick test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kent's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dick climbed just as high around 1934, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dick's path sketches the road Kent is walking now.
Kent 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
Where Kent is headed
Kent should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Kent beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kent in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries the oldest continuously recorded place name in England, which is a genuinely remarkable fact.
- One syllable, crisp, and never mispronounced.
- It belongs to a coherent family of short surname-names of its period.
- The meaning of the tribal name is not recovered.
- It is closely dated to the 1960s in American records.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kent to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kent
Masculine · #1654 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kents are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 51,500 people named Kent are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kent in 2025?
- Kent ranks #1654 among US boy names in 2025, with 101 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kent?
- About 1 in every 16,912 US boys born in 2025 was named Kent — 101 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kent with classmates?
- Kent will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kent
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Bennet#1654 · Sky#1654 · Johnpaul#1654 · Kycen#1654 · Truth#1654 · Ervin#1654 · Cortez#1654 · Jakobi#1654
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kent? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kent 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
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