Kenan
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin. * Borrowed from Hebrew קֵינָן (qēnå̄n). * Alternatively, possibly a variant of Keenan, from Irish Cianán, a diminutive of Cian.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Kenan (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Kenan has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2020. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | – | – |
| 1999 | – | – |
| 2000 | – | – |
| 2001 | – | – |
| 2002 | – | – |
| 2003 | – | 15 |
| 2004 | – | 10 |
| 2005 | – | 8 |
| 2006 | – | 18 |
| 2007 | – | 14 |
| 2008 | – | 15 |
| 2009 | – | 16 |
| 2010 | – | 17 |
| 2011 | – | 15 |
| 2012 | – | 12 |
| 2013 | – | 18 |
| 2014 | – | 10 |
| 2015 | – | 11 |
| 2016 | 2 | 23 |
| 2017 | – | 14 |
| 2018 | – | 22 |
| 2019 | 3 | 19 |
| 2020 | – | 30 |
| 2021 | – | 20 |
| 2022 | – | 16 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | – | 269 |
| 2000 | – | 281 |
| 2001 | – | 292 |
| 2002 | – | 310 |
| 2003 | – | 331 |
| 2004 | – | 345 |
| 2005 | – | 362 |
| 2006 | – | 398 |
| 2007 | – | 426 |
| 2008 | – | 452 |
| 2009 | – | 470 |
| 2010 | – | 500 |
| 2011 | – | 528 |
| 2012 | – | 554 |
| 2013 | – | 572 |
| 2014 | – | 595 |
| 2015 | – | 637 |
| 2016 | 12 | 700 |
| 2017 | 12 | 731 |
| 2018 | 11 | 762 |
| 2019 | 16 | 803 |
| 2020 | 17 | 845 |
Kenan in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Kenan.Hi! My name is Kenan.
- Har du träffat Kenan? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Kenan? He started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Kenan i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Kenan this afternoon.
- Kenans mamma är lärare.Kenan's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Kenans mamma is Kenan's mum.
More names
Questions about Kenan
How do you pronounce Kenan in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Kenan in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Kenan mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin. * Borrowed from Hebrew קֵינָן (qēnå̄n). * Alternatively, possibly a variant of Keenan, from Irish Cianán, a diminutive of Cian.
How popular is Kenan in Sweden?
16 babies were named Kenan in 2022. In 2020, 862 people in Sweden had Kenan as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2020 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.