Kon

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Koen in NL Netherlands, BE Belgium, NO Norway and 10 more, Keng in US United States, MY Malaysia, AU Australia and 5 more, Gain in IN India and เก่ง in TH Thailand.

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◐

Kon is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Malay surname8.0K records spelled Kon3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Malaysia, Indonesia, United States, Netherlands

  Languages: Malay, Indonesian

  Also written Ķóń

• Spanish surname3.6K records spelled Kon10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Argentina, United States, Brazil, Mexico

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Koñ, Kôn, Koń, Kòn, Kön

• Korean surname2.5K records spelled Kon7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Malaysia, South Korea, China

  Also written Kŏn, 콘, K-On, Koñ, Kôn

• Turkish surname2.0K records spelled Kon6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, United States, Netherlands, Malaysia

  Also written Kön, Koń, Kôn

56 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●

Kon 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.

• the most usual rendering is ‘gold’; bearers are most likely descended from immigrants named Kim, from the ancient Korean ShiUa kingdom.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In Japanese, Rōmaji transcription of こん

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

• In Indonesian, a surname from Hakka

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

• one of the many forms of Cohen.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In Khmer, n, plot; trap. 2. n, movie. {Th. kon ‘trick; machine.’) fiHfn to be trapped in a plot, to be in trouble. Hv^nnS movie star. C?1CHCUfjS gQ tQ movies. Cn&ns movie theater. CCUftnS to act in a movie. nut] /kop—kop/ sound of knocking. fjUTIH

  as a word·Headley, Cambodian-English Dictionary, Volume I (ក-ភ)

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●

FR INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) — 10 years between 1901–1991. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Fyodor Konb. 1600RURussian architect and military engineer
• Feliks Konb. 1864PLPolish communist official (1864–1941)
• Wajiro Konb. 1888JPJapanese architect (1888–1973)
• Henech Konb. 1890PLPolish composer and cabaret performer (1890–1972)
• Tōkō Konb. 1898JPJapanese politician, novelist and writer (1898-1977)
• Bolesław Konb. 1906PLPolish pianist
• Tsuyoshi Konb. 1958JPJapanese guitarist (1958-)
• Satoshi Konb. 1963JPJapanese anime director and manga artist (1963–2010)
• Yōsuke Konb. 1978JPprofessional ice hockey Center
• Mayumi Konb. 1984JPJapanese lyricist (1984-)

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 · 122 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Kon?

We estimate roughly 92 thousand people bear Kon (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Kon have the most bearers?

We estimate about 69 thousand people bear Kon in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled KenG.

Where is Kon most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Kon is densest in the Netherlands — about 1 in 953 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Kon compared with other names?

In Belgium, Kon is the 130th most common given name of 58,504 given names recorded there.

What does the name Kon mean?

Recorded meaning: from icon ‘horse’, hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who bred or cared for horses or a nickname for someone thought to resemble a horse.