Kendall
Meaning
place name, "valley of the river Kent"
The story
Kendall began as an English surname from the city once called Kendale in northwestern England, interpreted as the valley on the river Kent. It was originally more masculine as a given name. In 1993, the character Kendall Hart joined the American soap opera All My Children, and edited name histories credit her with boosting the name for girls. The US curve is older than that event, but it climbs through the 1980s and 1990s, reaches its top band in the 2000s and 2010s, and eases in the 2020s. Kendall therefore became truly unisex through a long transition, not because its place-name root changed. The modern sound may resemble a stylish surname invention, while the actual history leads back to a northern English valley. Its gender story is recent; its geography is not.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kendall peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
57 people · the #60,880 first name in Brazil · median age 6
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Kendall
Most people given the name Kendall in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Kendall deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kendall truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Kendall fits with your family’s names and surname.
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