Kenza
Feminine · “treasure”
Kenza is Moroccan, and it means a treasure — not treasure in the abstract but a hoard, the thing that is buried and then found. It is among the most-used women's names in Morocco and has been crossing into French and now American records with Moroccan families.
How old is the name Kenza?
Kenza first appears in US birth records in 1987 — 38 years ago. The typical Kenza is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Kenza are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kenza most popular?
Kenza peaked in 2025, reaching #2778 nationally. Today it ranks #2778, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From kanz to Kenza
The story of Kenza
Kanza belongs to the Arabic habit of naming daughters for things of value — Durra, a pearl; Jawhara, a jewel; Kanza, a treasure — and it has been particularly at home in the Maghreb rather than in the eastern Arabic-speaking world. Morocco has kept it as an ordinary and very common name, and Moroccan emigration carried it first into France, where it is now widely known, and then into the United States and Canada. The French spelling Kenza, with an e, is the one that traveled; the Arabic vowel is closer to an a.
Meaning
treasure
Arabic kanz means a treasure or a buried hoard, and Kanza is its feminine form used as a name. The word appears in the Qur'an in the story of Moses and al-Khidr, where a wall is rebuilt because a treasure lies beneath it for two orphans. The reading is transparent to Arabic speakers and is not in dispute.
How the name formed
- kanz
- Kanza
- Kenza
Related forms: Kanza · Kenza · Kenza
Pronouncing Kenza
KEN-zah
Two syllables, stress on the first, the final a fully open rather than reduced. Arabic says it closer to KAN-za, with a broader first vowel; the e spelling comes through French.
Nicknames for Kenza
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
- 1987
- Most girls named
- 202561 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2778reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +13.0%61 in 2025, from 54
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.
Kenza in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kanza in Arabic — transliteration
- Kenza in French — spelling variant
- Kenza in Berber — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Florida.
Kenzas among us
people named Kenza are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,349 born in 2025 was named Kenza
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 Allanah test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kenza's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Allanah climbed just as high around 2006, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Allanah's path sketches the road Kenza is walking now.
Kenza 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 Kenza is headed
Kenza 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.
Kenza beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kenza in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A clear, documented meaning that is concrete rather than abstract — a treasure, not a virtue.
- Five letters, no silent ones, and said correctly by English speakers at first sight.
- Very common in Morocco and well known in France, so it is an established name rather than a borrowing.
- English speakers reduce the final a to a schwa, which flattens the name.
- Kenza and Kanza are both standard in different countries and look different on paper.
- In the United States it is unfamiliar enough that it will be spelled out often.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kenza 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 Kenza? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kenza
Feminine · #2778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kenzas 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 Kenza are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kenza in 2025?
- Kenza ranks #2778 among US girl names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kenza?
- About 1 in every 26,349 US girls born in 2025 was named Kenza — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kenza with classmates?
- Kenza will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kenza
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenia#2778 · Amour#2778 · Wynona#2778 · Joie#2778 · Bennie#2778 · Havyn#2778 · Wisdom#2778 · Aela#2778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kenza? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kenza 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