Kendall
KEN-duhl
Kendall originated as an English surname and place name, derived from the town of Kendal in Cumbria (northwest England).
The place name comes from the Old Norse Kent dalr, meaning “valley of the River Kent.” The river name Kent is Celtic, possibly meaning “border” or “holy.” A separate derivation connects some Kendall surnames to the Welsh personal name Cynddelw.
Kendall has functioned as a unisex name in the United States since the 1960s but shifted decisively toward female usage after 2000.
What the name Kendall means
The Kardashian-Jenner family member Kendall Jenner (born 1995) became the name’s most prominent bearer, with her modeling career and reality television presence coinciding with the name’s peak popularity period.
The name reached No. 116 in 2012, its highest position for girls. By 2024, it had receded to No. 310 with 985 births.
This decline follows a pattern common among names closely associated with a single celebrity - rapid rise, then gradual retreat as the cultural moment passes.
For boys, Kendall peaked much earlier, reaching No. 1126 in 1966 and declining to near-absence on male charts by 2020. This gender flip - from predominantly male to predominantly female - mirrors the trajectory of Ashley, Lindsay, and Morgan.
The name’s 2-syllable structure and -all ending give it a preppy, polished sound associated with surnames-as-first-names. It sits alongside Campbell, Harper, and Sloane in this category.
Variant spellings include Kendal (closer to the original place name) and the rare Kendyll. The standard double-l ending predominates in American usage.
US popularity over time
Numerology and symbolism
Based on Pythagorean numerology — a traditional system linking name letters to numbers. Presented for cultural interest.
Famous people named Kendall
Kendall - similar names
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