Kean
Of Gaelic and Irish origin, meaning "ancient" or "blessed".
Name Census estimates that about 942 living Americans carry the first name Kean. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kean today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kean births was 2007 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kean. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
942
~ 1 in 363,858 Americans
Peak year
2007
31 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,540
Tracked since 1944
Popularity
Kean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kean from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 239 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kean remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kean by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kean during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kean, while New York, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kean
The name Kean is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic word "cian," which means "ancient" or "distant." It is believed to have originated in the medieval period, around the 9th or 10th century, when it was commonly used as a surname in Ireland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kean can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history written in the 17th century. The Annals mention a notable figure named Cian mac Oiliolla Oluim, who was a legendary king of Munster in the 3rd century AD.
The name Kean gained more prominence during the 16th and 17th centuries, with several notable figures bearing this name. One of the most famous was Edmund Kean (1787-1833), an English actor renowned for his performances in Shakespearean plays. He was widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of his time and is credited with revolutionizing the art of acting.
Another notable figure was Charles John Kean (1811-1868), an English actor and theatre manager. He was the son of Edmund Kean and also achieved great success in his theatrical career, particularly in his productions of Shakespeare's plays.
In the 20th century, one of the most prominent individuals with the name Kean was Edmund Dene Morel (1873-1924), a British journalist and author. He was a prominent figure in the Congo Reform Association and played a significant role in exposing the atrocities committed in the Belgian Congo.
More recently, there was Michael Kean (1927-2014), an American actor and dancer who appeared in numerous Broadway musicals and television shows. He is particularly remembered for his roles in the original Broadway productions of "West Side Story" and "Damn Yankees."
While the name Kean has Irish roots, it has since been embraced by various cultures and nationalities around the world, with notable individuals bearing this name in fields such as acting, literature, journalism, and politics.
People
Kean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kean as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 942 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kean going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 363,858 US residents.
Is Kean a common name?
We classify Kean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 987 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kean most popular?
The single biggest year for Kean was 2007, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kean is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kean a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kean in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.