Kent

Where Kent comes from

Inherited from Middle English Kent, from Old English Cent, from Latin Cantium, from Brythonic *Cantio (compare Old Irish céite (“gathering, folkmoot, hillock”)), from Proto-Celtic *kantos (“corner, rim”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Kent
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1885
    First appearance
    #936 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1961
    Kent Nielsen born
    Danish footballer
  3. 1961
    Kent Beck born
    American software engineer
  4. 1962
    Peak, #136
    2,587 babies named Kent — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1968
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #194.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname, of mostly American usage.
Namesakes
  • Kent Beck · American software engineer, born 1961
  • Kent Nielsen · Danish footballer, born 1961
  • Kent Conrad · American politician, born 1948
  • Kent Bazemore · American basketball player, born 1989
  • Kent Hovind · American Christian fundamentalist and Young Earth Creationist, born 1953

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.