Kwesi
Masculine · “Akan”
An Akan child is not named for eight days. The naming ceremony, the outdooring, happens on the eighth day, and the reason given in the tradition is plain: a child who survives a week is a child who will stay. Before that the day-name is all there is.
How old is the name Kwesi?
Kwesi first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Kwesi alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 800 people named Kwesi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kwesi most popular?
Kwesi peaked in 1973, reaching #1653 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 8,061 places below that high. See the whole 1973 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Kwesi
Akan naming has several layers. The kradin, the soul name, comes from the day of birth and is fixed by the calendar, not chosen. The chosen name is given at the outdooring ceremony on the eighth day, when the child is brought outside for the first time and formally presented to the family and the community, usually taking a name from a grandparent or another relative. Additional names may follow for birth order, for circumstances, or later in life for achievement. The eight-day delay is explained in the tradition as a period during which the child is still considered a visitor who may return, and the ceremony marks the decision to stay; the practical background is infant mortality. The day-name therefore does something specific: it gives an unnamed child something to be called during the week when naming is deliberately withheld.
Meaning
Akan, born on Sunday
Kwesi is the Akan day-name for a boy born on Sunday, from a root connected to the day. Every Akan child receives one automatically at birth, before any chosen name. The corresponding female name is Akosua. The American peak is 1973.
Pronouncing Kwesi
KWEH-see
Two syllables, stress on the first. Akan is tonal and the tones are not written in the English spelling. Kwasi is the commoner Ghanaian spelling.
Nicknames for Kwesi
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
- 1971
- Most boys named
- 197731 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1653reached in 1973
- Change vs 2024
- −36.4%7 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.
Kwesi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kwasi in Akan — spelling variant
- Kwasi in Ewe — related form
Kwesis among us
people named Kwesi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Kwesi
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 Burlin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kwesi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Burlin climbed just as high around 1932, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Burlin's path sketches the road Kwesi is walking now.
Kwesi 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
Kwesi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kwesi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters and two syllables, easy for English speakers.
- The meaning is precise and documented.
- It belongs to a naming system with real structure.
- Kwasi is the commoner spelling in Ghana.
- The tones, which matter in Akan, are lost in English.
- It records a specific day of the week.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kwesi
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kwesis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Kwesi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kwesi in 2025?
- Kwesi ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kwesi?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Kwesi — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kwesi with classmates?
- Kwesi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kwesi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kwesi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kwesi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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