Kenya

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Kenia in BR Brazil, MX Mexico, VE Venezuela and 10 more and Quenia in DO Dominican Republic, CL Chile.

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 11 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◐

Kenya is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Japanese given name5.6K records spelled Kenya3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Philippines

  Also written Ken-Ya, Ken'Ya

• a separate given name5.4K records spelled Kenya3 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Kênya, Ken'Ya

• Russian given name563 records spelled Kenya35 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Russia, Poland, Spain

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Ukrainian

  Also written Кения, Kenia, Кенія, Kenija, Keniia

• Italian given name275 records spelled Kenya3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom

  Also written Kënyä

• Greek given name258 records spelled Kenya4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States

  Also written Kenua, Κενυα, Kênya

• Korean given name243 records spelled Kenya3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom

  Also written Genya, 겐야

50 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●

Kenya 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.

• In Portuguese, alternative spelling of Quénia: Kenya (a country in East Africa)

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

• In English, A country in East Africa. Official name: Republic of Kenya.

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

• In English, mtn., republic, Africa

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In German, weibl. Vom., Schreibvariante von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• to worry.

  as a name·African Names

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) — 73 years between 1952–2025. 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'ya Tsugeb. 1921JPnot in their usual nameJapanese medical researcher
• Alberto Fujimorib. 1938PEnot in their usual namePresident of Peru from 1990 to 2000
• Kenya Harab. 1958JPJapanese industrial designer (born 1958)
• Kenya Akibab. 1962JPJapanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party
• Ken'ya Ōsumib. 1965JPnot in their usual nameJapanese dancer
• Kenya Mooreb. 1971USAmerican actress, model, author, and entrepreneur
• Kenya Morib. 1976MXMexican actress
• Kenya Matsuib. 1985JPJapanese association football player
• Kenya Okazakib. 1990JPJapanese association football player
• Kenya Kinski-Jonesb. 1993USAmerican fashion model

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 · 482 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Kenya?

We estimate roughly 51 thousand people bear Kenya (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Kenya have the most bearers?

Kenya is most frequently recorded in Mexico, where it is most often spelled kenia.

How common is Kenya compared with other names?

In Mexico, Kenya is the 513th most common given name of 191,605 given names recorded there.

Is Kenya a male or female name?

Kenya is a female 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 Kenya mean?

Recorded meaning: East African given name meaning 'artist'; also a country name.