Ken
Featured in baby name books
Ken is a short form of Kenneth; filmmaker Ken Burns and Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings are notable bearers. Ken is Gaelic for “handsome.” A badass namesake is Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nigerian author and activist who stood up to the oil industry to protect his homeland.
Sources: 10,000 Baby Names, The Everything Baby Names Book, Numerology for Baby Names, Badass Baby Names
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Usage of Ken in different languages / cultures
The list below was created by gathering names from various sources for different languages, and then matching Ken against each list of names.
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Albanian
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Arabic
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Armenian
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Bengali
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Bulgarian
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Catalan
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Chinese
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Cornish
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Croatian
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Czech
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Danish
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Dothraki
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Dutch
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English
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Estonian
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Filipino
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Finnish
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French
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Georgian
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German
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Greek
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Hawaiian
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Hebrew
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Hindi
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Hungarian
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Icelandic
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Indonesian
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Irish
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Italian
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Japanese
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Khmer
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Klingon
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Korean
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Latin
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Latvian
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Lithuanian
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Macedonian
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Norwegian
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Persian
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Polish
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Portuguese
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Romanian
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Russian
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Scottish
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Serbian
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Slovak
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Slovenian
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Spanish
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Swahili
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Swedish
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Telugu
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Thai
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Turkish
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Ukrainian
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Vietnamese
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Welsh
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Yiddish
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Yoruba
Note: In some cases it is possible for the check mark to be missing even if Ken is used in a particular country, as almost no source name list has 100% coverage.
Ken in official name statistics
United States
In 2025, 36 boys were named Ken, making it the #3240 boys' name in the US. Since 1900, 33,013 boys have been named Ken, with the most (1,775) in 1960. It is most common, relative to births, in California.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880–2025. Names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year are not listed.
Other countries
| Where | Rank | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium (Flanders) | #330 boys (all ages) | 1,950 | Statbel (Belgian federal statistical office), 2024 |
| Finland | #801 boys (all ages) | 176 | Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), 2026 |
| Norway | #312 boys (all ages) | 1,527 | Statistics Norway (SSB), 2025 |
| Sweden | #594 boys (all ages) | 1,447 | Statistics Sweden (SCB), 2020 |
Counts are babies born that year, or living people for "all ages" rows, as published by each country's statistics office or population register.
Storms named Ken
Tropical storms, hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones that have been named Ken, newest first.
| Storm | Year | Ocean | Peak wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical storm Ken | 2009 | South Pacific | 111 km/h |
| Tropical storm Ken | 2004 | South Indian Ocean | 65 km/h |
| Tropical storm Ken | 1993 | South Indian Ocean | 83 km/h |
| Tropical storm Ken | 1989 | Western Pacific | 102 km/h |
| Typhoon Ken (Category 2) | 1986 | Western Pacific | 167 km/h |
| Cyclone Ken (Category 1) | 1983 | South Indian Ocean | 120 km/h |
| Typhoon Ken (Category 3) | 1982 | Western Pacific | 204 km/h |
| Tropical storm Ken | 1979 | Western Pacific | 111 km/h |
Source: IBTrACS, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Peak wind is the highest sustained wind recorded for the storm.
Towns named Ken
There are 87 towns and villages with Ken in their name, in 21 countries.
🇻🇳 Vietnam 25🇷🇺 Russia 14🇺🇸 United States 11🇰🇿 Kazakhstan 6🇹🇭 Thailand 5🇱🇦 Laos 4🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan 3🇲🇽 Mexico 3
| Name | Where | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Caryl | Colorado, 🇺🇸 United States | 32,438 | Map |
| Ban Ken | Xiangkhoang, 🇱🇦 Laos | – | Map |
| Ban Kèn | Xiagnabouli, 🇱🇦 Laos | – | Map |
| Ban Kến | Nghệ An Province, 🇻🇳 Vietnam | – | Map |
| Bản Ken | Thai Nguyen, 🇻🇳 Vietnam | – | Map |
| Bản Ken | Lao Cai, 🇻🇳 Vietnam | – | Map |
| Bản Ken | Nghệ An Province, 🇻🇳 Vietnam | – | Map |
| El’ken | Sakha, 🇷🇺 Russia | – | Map |
| Karún Ken | Bolívar, 🇻🇪 Venezuela | – | Map |
| Ken | Rajshahi Division, 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | – | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Lakes named Ken
There are 35 lakes and reservoirs with Ken in their name, in 7 countries.
🇨🇦 Canada 14🇰🇿 Kazakhstan 11🇺🇸 United States 6🇬🇧 United Kingdom 1🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan 1🇷🇺 Russia 1🇸🇪 Sweden 1
| Name | Where | |
|---|---|---|
| Ken | Östergötland, 🇸🇪 Sweden | Map |
| Ken Lake | Ontario, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Ken Lake | Manitoba, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Ken Lake | Manitoba, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Ken Lake | British Columbia, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Ken | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Ken | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Ken | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Ken | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Ken | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Ken songs
One song on Wikidata has Ken in its title:
- Ken – Kate Bush
Song data: Wikidata (CC0), ordered by how widely each song is covered on Wikipedia.
Celebrities named Ken
Based on celebrities listed on Wikipedia, filtered to only those with the first name Ken.
Ken Anderson
Ken Annakin
Ken Armstrong
Ken Bald
See more...
Fictional characters named Ken
Characters from films and TV series, from Wikidata, ordered by how widely they are covered on Wikipedia.
Character data: Wikidata (CC0). Images: Wikimedia Commons; click an image for its author and licence.
Ken as a pet name
FurryName has found 23 dogs named Ken in public pet registers, making it the #3,710 dog name there. Most of them are registered in Framingham (1), Golden Plains Shire (1), Surf Coast Shire (1). Ken as a dog name →
Ken products
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Ken pillow
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