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Kente
How to Pronounce Kente
Pronounced KEN-tay /ˈkɛn.teɪ/Medium
Meaning: Kente is drawn from the Ghanaian textile of the same name, a vibrant hand-woven cloth of silk and cotton historically worn by the Asante, Akan, and Ewe peoples and traditionally traced to Bonwire in the Ashanti Region; used as a given name it carries this cloth's associations of heritage, craftsmanship, and pride.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Kente takes its name directly from the celebrated Ghanaian cloth, hand-woven in colorful strips and historically worn in a toga-like style among the Asante, Akan, and Ewe peoples, with oral tradition tracing its origin to the village of Bonwire. As a given name in the United States it emerged as part of the wider embrace of African heritage names from the 1970s onward.
Kente has stayed rare as a first name, given to only about twenty boys a year at its peak around 1977, with continued light use into the 2000s. It carries real cultural weight as a name rooted in a living Ghanaian tradition.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Kente mean?
It is drawn from kente, the celebrated hand-woven Ghanaian cloth traditionally worn by the Asante, Akan, and Ewe peoples.
How do you pronounce Kente?
It is said KEN-tay /ˈkɛn.teɪ/, two syllables with the stress on the first.
Is Kente a boy or girl name?
Kente is used as a boy's name.
How popular is Kente?
It has always been rare in the United States, given to only about twenty boys a year at its peak in the late 1970s, with continued light use for decades.