Holding steady.
Popularity of Kinte since 1976
Babies named Kinte per year in U.S. Social Security records.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 12 | 153 |
| 1980s | 0 | 25 |
| 1990s | 0 | 23 |
| 2000s | 0 | 12 |
| 2010s | 0 | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Kinte is a rare given name that first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1976, the year of publication of Alex Haley's novel 'Roots'. The name saw its peak usage in 1977, coinciding with the television miniseries, but has remained extremely uncommon since. According to Social Security data, it has never ranked in the top 1,000 names and has a stable, low trajectory. Kinte is almost exclusively used for boys and is not associated with any specific region in the U.S. Its origins lie in the Mandinka surname Kinteh, making it a name with strong cultural resonance for families connected to West African heritage or the story of Kunta Kinte.
Kinte is a modern given name likely derived from the Gambian surname Kinteh, famously associated with Kunta Kinte, a character in Alex Haley's 1976 novel 'Roots: The Saga of an American Family'. The name gained visibility after the television adaptation and has been used sporadically as a first name in the United States since the late 1970s. Its etymology is ultimately traced to the Mandinka people of West Africa, though the precise meaning is not well-attested.
Nicknames & variants
Variants: Kinteh
Sibling names for Kinte
Names that share Kinte's style, for a brother or sister.
