Ken is a boy's name of Irish and Celtic origin meaning “prefecture.” In 2024 it was given to 36 boys in the United States.
Ken belongs to the Irish & Celtic and Japanese tradition. Its meaning — “prefecture” — is the sense carried by its Irish and Celtic roots, and it is the meaning we verified against published sources for this page.
In the United States, Ken first appears in Social Security records in 1900. It climbed to its best-ever rank of #177 in 1960, and in 2024 36 babies received the name — 32,979 in total since 1880. Those are the official counts, not estimates.
More names from the Irish & Celtic shelf:
Ken means “prefecture” in its Irish and Celtic roots. We check every meaning against published sources before it appears here.
Ken is a boy name. In 2024, 36 babies received the name in the US.
Ken comes from the Irish & Celtic and Japanese tradition.
Ken first appears in US records in 1900. Its best-ever ranking was #177 in 1960, and 36 babies were given the name in 2024.
Ken is pronounced /kɛn/ (IPA).
Meaning and origin for this page were checked against this source. US popularity figures are from the Social Security Administration's public baby-names data. England & Wales figures are from the Office for National Statistics. If you spot an error, write to hello@namepetal.com — accuracy is the whole point of this site, and corrections are made fast.
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