Keani
A feminine Hawaiian name meaning "the beautiful one".
Name Census estimates that about 554 living Americans carry the first name Keani. It is a predominantly female name (90.4% of registrations). The average person named Keani today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keani births was 2007 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keani. 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
554
~ 1 in 618,690 Americans
Peak year
2007
37 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,748
Tracked since 1978
Census
Keani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 474 people with the first name Keani, which placed it at #21,431 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#21,431
National first-name rank
People counted
474
474 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
26.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keani is Hispanic at 26.6%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Two or More Races (21.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Keani described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Keani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino26.6% · 126
- Black or African American21.5% · 102
- Two or more races21.3% · 101
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.0% · 90
- White10.1% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Keani
Keani leans heavily female at 90.4% of total registrations, but 54 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keani as a male name
- Ranked #13,340 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2021 (9 births)
Keani as a female name
- Ranked #12,748 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (31 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keani leans strongly female. 385 people counted with this name were female (82.1%), compared with 84 male bearers (17.9%).
Popularity
Keani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keani from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 172 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Keani remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keani 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 Keani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Hawaii, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Keani, while Texas, California, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keani
The name Keani is of Hawaiian origin, derived from the combination of the Hawaiian words "ke" meaning "the" and "ani" meaning "beautiful." It is a relatively modern name, first recorded in the late 19th century after the Hawaiian language was written down using the Latin alphabet.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Keani dates back to the late 1800s in Hawaii. One of the first documented individuals with this name was Keani Kekipi, a Hawaiian woman born around 1870 on the island of Oahu. She was known for her traditional hula dancing and her efforts to preserve Hawaiian culture.
Another notable figure named Keani was Keani Rawlins, a Hawaiian politician and activist born in 1892. She was one of the first Native Hawaiian women to be elected to the Territorial Legislature of Hawaii and played a significant role in advocating for Hawaiian rights and sovereignty.
In the early 20th century, Keani Keaweamahi was a renowned Hawaiian singer and musician, born in 1901. She helped popularize traditional Hawaiian music and was known for her beautiful voice and skill in playing the ukulele.
During the mid-20th century, Keani Napuakamoi was a prominent Hawaiian artist and educator, born in 1923. She was known for her vibrant paintings depicting Hawaiian landscapes and cultural scenes, and she also taught art at various schools in Hawaii.
Another notable figure with the name Keani was Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, a contemporary Hawaiian politician and environmental activist born in 1988. She has served as a member of the Maui County Council and has been a vocal advocate for environmental protection and sustainable development in Hawaii.
The name Keani has remained popular among Hawaiians and those with Hawaiian heritage, as it represents the beauty and cultural richness of the Hawaiian islands. Its melodic sound and meaningful roots in the Hawaiian language have contributed to its enduring appeal.
People
Keani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keani 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
Keani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 554 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keani 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 618,690 US residents.
Is Keani a common name?
We classify Keani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 563 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keani most popular?
The single biggest year for Keani was 2007, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keani is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 474 people with the name Keani, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,431 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Keani in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Keani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keani leans strongly female. 385 people counted with this name were female (82.1%), compared with 84 male bearers (17.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Keani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keani is Hispanic at 26.6%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Two or More Races (21.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Keani most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Keani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 26.6% (126 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Keani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keani a female name?
Yes, 90.4% of people registered as Keani in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Keani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keani in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Keani can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Keani?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.