| Kenji | Ryu | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Strong; wise ruler | dragon |
| Origin | Japanese | japanese |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | KEN-jee | ryoo |
| Syllables | 2 | 1 |
| First appeared | 1913 | 1985 |
| Peak year | 2022 (337) | 2012 (130) |
| In 2025 | 249 | 59 |
| Trend | Rising | Steady |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Kenji | Ryu |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,692 | 483 |
| 2010s | 1,292 | 741 |
| 2000s | 889 | 372 |
| 1990s | 423 | 77 |
| 1980s | 359 | 12 |
| 1970s | 430 | 0 |
| 1960s | 104 | 0 |
| 1950s | 18 | 0 |
| 1940s | 23 | 0 |
| 1930s | 96 | 0 |
| 1920s | 213 | 0 |
| 1910s | 85 | 0 |
Kenji is written variously as “healthy, strong” or “wise” together with “rule” or “two.”
From Japanese 龍 / 竜 (ryuu) 'dragon'. Hedge: more often a dragon-bearing element within compound names than a standalone given name, and the same sound is written with other kanji meaning 'noble/prosperous' (隆), 'flow' (流) or 'lapis lazuli' (琉); the dragon meaning applies to the 龍/竜 spelling. Romanized Ryu or Ryuu (the macron/double-u marks a long vowel).
Kenji is more popular than Ryu today: about 249 US babies were given the name Kenji in 2025, compared with 59 named Ryu.
Kenji means Strong; wise ruler (Japanese origin), while Ryu means dragon (japanese origin).
In US records, Kenji first appears in 1913 and Ryu in 1985, so Kenji has the longer recorded history.