Kenda

Meaning & origin

Kenda is a name that emerged in the early 1940s, a time when creative and personalized coinages were becoming more common. It first appeared in U.S. Social Security records in 1941 and enjoyed its peak popularity in 1964, a decade that saw many similar short, melodic girls' names. Since 1985, its usage has been consistently falling; the most recent data from 2025 places it at rank 10,107, with only about 1 in 178,585 newborns receiving the name. The name is overwhelmingly given to girls and has no strong association with any particular state or region. While Kenda remains rare today, its simple sound and familiar structure make it accessible, even if its origins are somewhat obscure.

Kenda first appeared in U.S. records in 1941, during a period when invented and respelled names were fashionable. It may be a variant of Kendra, which itself is a modern invention blending the popular Ken- prefix (from Kenneth or Kendall) with the -dra ending found in names like Alexandra. The name saw modest use in the mid-20th century, particularly in the 1960s, but has since declined in frequency.