“Just Ken” isn’t Kenough.
Barbie fans might be shocked to learn that the Ken doll has both a middle and last name — and that he’s named after a real person.
In fact, multiple Barbie dolls — Barbie herself included — are named after real people.
Ken’s full name is Kenneth Sean Carson, and he was named after the son of Barbie creator Ruth Handler, who also co-founded Mattel with her husband Elliot.
The companion doll to Barbie first hit shelves in March 1961 — making him a Pisces, for all those worried about his astrological sign — just two years after Mattel first released the iconic Barbie doll.
The creation of Ken came in response to complaints written to Mattel that Barbie was a single woman, thus making the male doll her counterpart.
“Ken was invented after Barbie, to burnish Barbie’s position in our eyes and in the world. That kind of creation myth is the opposite of the creation myth in Genesis,” director of the “Barbie” movie Greta Gerwig told Vogue.
The very first Ken doll sported a red bathing suit and cork sandals, looking ready to hit the beach from the start.
However, the original Ken claimed to be nothing like the beach-bum doll named after him.
“Ken doll is Malibu,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 1989. “He goes to the beach and surfs. He is all these perfect American things.”
Meanwhile, Kenneth Handler didn’t do those things. He “played the piano and went to movies with subtitles. I was a nerd—a real nerd. All the girls thought I was a jerk.”
Ken is sold at 12 inches tall — half an inch taller than his girlfriend. The duo is from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin.
But while Barbie and Ken have been long recognized as lovers in toy form and translated on-screen, their namesakes are actually siblings.
Barbie — whose full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts — was named after Handler’s daughter Barbara, Kenneth Handler’s sister.
The iconic plastic doll made her debut on March 9, 1959 — yes, also a Pisces — a means to allow girls to play with a doll that could represent their future beyond the traditional role of a stay-at-home mother.
Handler also named other dolls in the Barbie line after her children’s partners and her grandchildren, including the lovable discontinued Allan who was named after Handler’s son-in-law.
The first Allan doll was released in 1964, marketed as Ken’s best friend with a selling point that “all of Ken’s clothes fit him!” He was eventually discontinued but has been brought back as a cultural icon thanks to Michael Cera’s portrayal of the doll in the “Barbie” film.
Now, Barbie and Ken have been brought to life in a whole new way with Gerwig’s blockbuster hit, with Margot Robbie portraying Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken and features other A-list stars and a big soundtrack.
The cultural phenomenon has inspired culture and fashion, dubbed “Barbiecore,” and even contributed to a pink paint shortage.
