How Many People Are Named Kern?
An estimated 488 people in the United States have the first name Kern. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 59 years old, and Kern peaked in popularity in 1952 with 21 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Kern as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Kern paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
488
About 1 in 702,365 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
59
years old
Peak Year
1952
21 births
Total Registered
744
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Kern
Kern is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 744 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Kern as a male name
Ranked #11,576 in 2012
6 male births in 2012
Peak: 1952 (21 births)
Kern: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Kern span from the 1910s to the 2010s, covering 11 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 150 babies were registered. Kern has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Kern by Decade
How has Kern tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Kern by State
Kern + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Kern as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Kern
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
Kern: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kern?
We estimate approximately 488 people named Kern are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 702,365 Americans share this first name.
Is Kern a common name?
Kern is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 84.3% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 744 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Kern most popular?
Kern reached peak popularity in 1952, when 21 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Kern is approximately 59 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Kern a male name?
Kern is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Kern Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Kern Smith, Kern Johnson, Kern Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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