Humanverse

Nkenge

Nkenge reached its high-water mark in 1971 at number 2,801, and has been recorded 122 times in all. It has not appeared in the national data since 1998. About 120 Nkenges are alive in the United States today, and half of them are over 51.

Popularity, 1880–2025

Births per year, 1880 to 2025 0 8 16 24 32 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

girls named Nkenge

By the numbers

Total US births
122
Estimated living today
120
Median age today
51
Peak year
1971
Best rank
2,801st
Rank in 2025
unranked
First recorded
1971

How old the living Nkenges are

Born with the name each year, and how many of them are alive today, 1880 to 2025 0 8 16 24 32 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

born that year still alive today

Of the 122 babies given the name since 1971, about 120 are alive — 95 in every hundred. The dotted line is the median: half were born before 1974 and half after.

An estimate, not a count. SSA births aged forward through SSA cohort life tables, which know nothing about who left the country or arrived in it — so for a name that mostly came to America rather than being born in it, this is a floor rather than a figure. Where you fall among living Americans.

Names of 1971

The most popular girls’ names the year Nkenge peaked:

All the names of 1971

Try it on yourself

Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state baby-name files, 1880–2025. Counts include only births registered with the SSA, and names with fewer than five births in a year are not published. The living estimate applies SSA cohort life tables to those births; it counts people born in the United States, so it misses anyone who arrived later and anyone who has left.