Keaten
Keaten is an Irish name meaning "descendant of the fiery one".
Name Census estimates that about 358 living Americans carry the first name Keaten. It is a predominantly male name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Keaten today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keaten births was 2006 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keaten. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Keaten with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
358
~ 1 in 957,414 Americans
Peak year
2006
29 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2020 SSA rank
#11,318
Tracked since 1989
Census
Keaten in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 376 people with the first name Keaten, which placed it at #25,264 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
#25,264
National first-name rank
People counted
376
376 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keaten
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keaten is White at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.4%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Keaten 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 Keaten at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.4% · 325
- Two or more races6.4% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 13
- Black or African American1.9% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Keaten
Keaten leans heavily male at 98.6% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keaten as a male name
- Ranked #11,318 in 2020
- 6 male births in 2020
- Peak: 2006 (29 births)
Keaten as a female name
- Ranked #19,064 in 2007
- 5 female births in 2007
- Peak: 2007 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keaten leans strongly male. 338 people counted with this name were male (88.3%), compared with 45 female bearers (11.7%).
Popularity
Keaten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keaten from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 185 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keaten 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 Keaten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keaten
The name Keaten is a modern English variant of the Irish name Cathan, which traces its origins to the Gaelic Celtic languages. Cathan is derived from the Old Irish word "cath," meaning "battle" or "warrior." The name likely emerged during the early medieval period when the Gaelic cultures thrived in Ireland and parts of Scotland.
In ancient Irish mythology and folklore, the name Cathan is associated with several legendary figures known for their bravery and prowess in battle. One notable example is Cathan Mor, a mythical warrior-king who is said to have led his people to victory against invading forces in the 5th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Cathan can be traced back to the 9th century, when it appears in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle documenting the history of medieval Ireland. Throughout the Middle Ages, the name was particularly popular among the Irish nobility and warrior classes.
One of the most famous historical figures to bear the name Cathan was Cathan O'Conor, a 12th-century King of Connacht, a powerful province in western Ireland. He played a significant role in the political struggles of his time and is renowned for his military campaigns against the Anglo-Norman invaders.
In the 16th century, a notable bearer of the name was Cathan Ó Maoil Chonaire, a renowned Irish poet and scholar who composed works in both Irish and Latin. His poetic works celebrated Irish culture and traditions, and he is considered one of the most influential literary figures of the Gaelic Renaissance.
Another notable figure was Cathan MacMurrough, a 17th-century Irish chieftain and military leader who fought against the English forces during the Confederate Wars of the 1640s. He is remembered for his fierce resistance and his role in defending Irish sovereignty.
As the name evolved over time, variations such as Keaten emerged as anglicized forms, particularly in the English-speaking world. While the name is not as common today as it once was, it remains a significant part of Irish cultural heritage and a reminder of the rich history and traditions of the Gaelic peoples.
People
Keaten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keaten 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
Keaten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keaten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 358 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keaten 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 957,414 US residents.
Is Keaten a common name?
We classify Keaten as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 363 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keaten most popular?
The single biggest year for Keaten was 2006, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keaten is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keaten in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 376 people with the name Keaten, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,264 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 Keaten 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 Keaten?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keaten leans strongly male. 338 people counted with this name were male (88.3%), compared with 45 female bearers (11.7%). 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 Keaten?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keaten is White at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.4%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Keaten most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keaten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.4% (325 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 Keaten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keaten a male name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Keaten 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.
Is Keaten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keaten 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 Keaten 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 people are called Keaten?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.