Kenyatta

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Girl or boy · Kikuyu

Kenyatta

Say it: ken-YAH-tah

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From the surname of Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, which he took from kinyata, a Kikuyu beaded belt.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Adopted as a first name in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its wave through time

A fashion of the 1970s

In the United States

05101518801900192019401960198020002020Girls 1975Boys 1975per 100,000 babies of that sex
  • 7,414 babies given this name since 1961
  • At its height in 1975, about 1 in 6,700 girls
  • 14 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

African American

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.