Kendra

[MimiDaisy11]

Opinions on this name? Do you think it's a good choice for a baby girl?

Definitely sounds very American.

It isn’t American. It is Anglo-Saxon. Many Americans have English ancestors. You can think that it ‘sounds American’ but it really isn’t.

I like it. She'll probably be the only one in her class which is nice

I've always liked this name. It has no associations for me.

Fine on an African American. Chavvy on a white Brit.

Sounds like Sandra and her her husband Ken had a baby. They wanted their legacy to live on and so they named the baby after them both.

@MidnightFlit

I never knew it was an OE name! You learn something every day on here.

It's like the "Tiffany Problem", some names just seem modern or from a certain decade or "American" that it's hard to believe there could be mediaeval women called those names, but it's true.

Definitely VERY American cheerleader/Playboy Bunny name.

Kendra the vampire slayer. Didn't survive long.

I instantly think of the playboy bunny but It will probably loose that association over the years

@ChessIsASport

It isn’t American. It is Anglo-Saxon. Many Americans have English ancestors. You can think that it ‘sounds American’ but it really isn’t.

No, it's a name used in the US starting in the 1940s, as a feminized riff on the masculine name Kendrick.

Kendrick is Old English, sure. Kendra is a recently coined American name, though.

Anglo-Saxon feminine names do not usually end in "a" sounds, and as far as I know never in a "ra" sound, that's always a good clue.

i think there is nothing wrong with saying it is a black name.
that simply means most people we come across with that name are black. didn't say african.
i think of it as a black name.
nothing wrong with that either.
you asked what it connoted. some people take offence where none is given. not you OP. good luck.

Sounds like it should be a Kardashian.

It's growing on me. I love that it has lots of different meanings. It reminds me of "Kindred" (family) or "Kinder" (child) yet the sound feels mature.

I think it's a lovely name.

Like @WellQualifiedToRepresentTheLBC said, Kendra isn’t Anglo-Saxon!

It is Anglo-Saxon and there are plenty of birth records in England that predate the apparent American invention of it.

I think it’s pretty. I remember the Buffy character but I’d never heard of the playboy person.

The only one I've heard of is Kendra Duggar who is currently competing with her mother in law to have as many children as humanly possible as part of some weird cult Christian group

@ChessIsASport

It is Anglo-Saxon and there are plenty of birth records in England that predate the apparent American invention of it.

Can you share your source? I just searched UK birth records from 1500 to 1940 and there were 4 Kendras born in that time, the earliest in 1802, so you couldn't call it Anglo Saxon by any stretch.

Conversely in the states it was used 77 times in 1946, up from zero the year before: www.behindthename.com/name/kendra/top/united-states

It seems thoroughly American to me, I would be interested to know if you've got other data on this, since Anglo Saxon is an area of interest for me professionally. I've never seen an Anglo Saxon feminine name ending in "-ra".

I quite like it, and didn't know the associations that have been brought up here.

I grew up with an absolutely lovely Kendra in California. We're both children of the 70s/80s. She had that real surfer girl look to her. She was always a very warm, kind, genuine soul.

Isn't it one of the Kardashians?

Sounds very American. I like it