Ken

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled קן in IL Israel.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 8 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Ken is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name121K records spelled Ken14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, France, Philippines, Brazil

  Languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese

  Also written Këñ, Kẽn, Kēn, Kën, Kên

• Japanese given name76K records spelled Ken4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Japan, United States, Canada, Philippines

  Also written Kén, Këñ

• a separate given name59K records spelled Ken3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Also written Ḳen, Keṅ

• Indonesian given name34K records spelled Ken9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay, Malagasy

  Also written 'Ken, Këñ, Ķéñ, Kén, Kèn

• Uzbek given name28K records spelled Ken24 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Canada

  Languages: Uzbek, Turkish, Kyrgyz

  Also written Кен, Kohn, Kén, Кён, Këñ

• Hindi given name17K records spelled Ken12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Canada, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Sinhala

  Also written Kén, Kën, Kěn, Kèn, කේන්

• a separate given name13K records spelled Ken26 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Norway, Canada, Philippines

  Also written Kêñ, Kèn, K̶e̶n̶, Kén, Kéņ

66 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Ken is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• from Anglo-French ken, chen ‘dog’ (Old French chien), possibly applied as a nickname or as a metonymic name for someone who kept hunting dogs.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• Short form of Kenneth, or occasionally of various other boys’ names with this first syllable. Kenda @° Modern name, apparently a shortened KENELM form of Kendall. It has perhaps been created by analogy with the pair of names Linda and pLindall.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• habitational name for someone from either of two places named Kenn, in Devon and Avon, both of which take their name from the streams on which they stand.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• Perhaps also a respelhng of German Kenn, either from a short form of the personal name Konrad or a habitational name ft'om Kenn, near Trier.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, To give birth, conceive, beget, be born; to develop (as a fetus); to nourish, sustain (as life).

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 117 years between 1900–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ken Rosewallb. 1934AUAustralian tennis player
• Ken Keseyb. 1935USAmerican novelist (1935–2001)
• Ken Mattinglyb. 1936USAmerican astronaut
• Ken Howardb. 1944USAmerican actor (1944–2016)
• Ken Livingstoneb. 1945GBEnglish politician (born 1945); Mayor of London from 2000 until 2008
• Ken Shimurab. 1950JPJapanese comedian (1950-2020)
• Ken Pageb. 1954USAmerican actor (1954–2024)
• Ken Kirzingerb. 1959CACanadian actor and stuntman
• Ken Leungb. 1970USAmerican actor
• Ken Andersonb. 1976USAmerican professional wrestler and actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 812 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ken?

We estimate roughly 74 thousand people bear Ken (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Ken have the most bearers?

Ken is most frequently recorded in Canada, where it is most often spelled ken.

How common is Ken compared with other names?

In Canada, Ken is the 176th most common given name of 175,432 given names recorded there.

Is Ken a male or female name?

Ken is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Ken mean?

Recorded meaning: from AF/OF ken, chen, OF chien, Lat canis ‘dog’; first attested Robert le Chien (Chen) 1183