Kwame
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Meaning
traditionally an Akan (Ghanaian) day-name for a boy born on Saturday; embraced in Black American families as a proud link to West African heritage
Say it: KWAH-may
Famously borne by Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah.
How popular is Kwame around the world?
In the United States, 267 babies were named Kwame between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 11 boys named Kwame were born in 2025, ranked 2,133rd among boys that year.
Kwame is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales and Spain.
United States
1 in 82,000
In the United States, 267 babies were named Kwame between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kwame peaked in the 1990s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 53,000
In England and Wales, 11 boys named Kwame were born in 2025, ranked 2,133rd among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Spain
1 in 380,000
In Spain, 118 residents are named Kwame, ranked 7,265th among men, with a mean age of 45.3 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Canada
last on record 2022
Kwame is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Montevideo City
last on record 1993
Kwame is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Kwame
Most people given the name Kwame in the United States were born between 1980 and 2009. The Kwame you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Kwame travels
Akan and Ghanaian · Saturday-born male; an Akan (Twi/Asante) day name, traditionally linked to the Supreme Being; famously borne by Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah
Keep exploring
Akan and Ghanaian baby names · African American baby names · Names of revolutionaries and liberators
The Kwame deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kwame 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 Kwame fits with your family’s names and surname.
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