Name of the Day: Kenzo
February 27
Fashion designer Kenzō Takada was born on February 27, 1939 in Japan. Takada founded his worldwide clothing brand, Kenzo, in 1970 in Paris, combining Asian stylistic elements with the constructs of European fashion.
Thanks to the international fame of the late designer, the name retains (more or less) its authentic Japanese pronunciation.
Another artsy namesake is Kenzo Okada, a Japanese-American painter known for his Abstract Expressionist artwork in the mid-20th century.
The name Kenzo has been moving up in popularity in the US after first entering the charts in 2018 and now ranking just outside the Top 500. Sharing elements with the fast-rising Enzo including a zippy z and a lively -o ending, Kenzo is the epitome of cool.
Kenzo would make an especially stylish honor name for a Kenneth, Kendra, Kendall and similar names — as would another up-and-coming Japanese boy name, Kenji.
In case you missed these Names of the Day:
Name of the Day: Dinah
American singer and actress Dinah Shore — born Frances “Fanny" Rose Shore — passed away on February 24, 1994 at the age of 77. Shore would often sing the popular song “Dinah” in her auditions, thus earning her the nickname “Dinah girl”, and eventually becoming her official stage name.
Name of the Day: Ansel
Photographer Ansel Easton Adams was born on February 20, 1902 in San Francisco. Known for his black-and-white photos of the American West, Ansel played a key role in developing a system of image-making called the Zone System. Ansel was also an avid environmentalist advocate