Given name & surname
Kenan
“one who acquires”
Kenan is used as a given name and a surname. One Hebrew interpretation is “one who acquires.”
Original Hebrewקינן
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hebrew interpretation is “one who acquires.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
How it developed
From Hebrew קֵינָן (qēnå̄n), from Irish Cianán.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1947. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Kenan appears in Genesis 5:9.
From biblical name research
Kenan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 4,675
- 4,645 boys · 30 girls
- Most popular year
- 2024
- 187 babies
- 2025
- 184
- #1,148 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +27%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 184 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,148 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 26.8% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (20). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,949 as a first name in 2020; 764 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Kenan’s family of names
Kenan has a related form in Kenon. Kenan has a related form in Kenen. Kenan has a related form in Kenig.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 8
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Kenan
- Kenan YıldızTurkish association football player (born 2005)
- Kenan İmirzalıoğluTurkish actor and fashion model (born 1974)
- Kenan ThompsonAmerican comedian and actor (born 1978)
- Kenan KaramanTurkish association football player (born 1994)
- Kenan KodroBosnian-Spanish association football playerborn 1993
- Kenan DoğuluTurkish singer (born 1974)
- Kenan PirićBosnian association football playerborn 1994
- Kenan SofuoğluTurkish motorcycle racer (born 1984)
- Kenan ŞimşekTurkish wrestler (born 1968)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Kenan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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