Kohen
Meaning
means 'priest' in Hebrew
The story
Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest with a K in front, and the K is doing deliberate work: Cohen, the C-spelling, is a surname marking descent from the priestly line of Aaron, a lineage with real duties in Jewish practice, and its story on this site carries that weight in full. The K-spelling keeps the sound and swaps the surname's first letter, and the record shows the couple moving together: Cohen about 23,400, Kohen about 8,600, both almost entirely boys. Kohen's own rise is quick: about 850 in the 2000s, 3,000 in the 2010s, and already 4,700 so far this decade, past the full 2010s with years to run. A priest in the root, one letter of difference: the ledger charts the two spellings side by side.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kohen peaked in the 2020s.
When you meet Kohen
Most people given the name Kohen in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Kohen deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kohen 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 Kohen fits with your family’s names and surname.
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