Keean
Of Celtic origin, meaning "ancient" or "ancient warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 418 living Americans carry the first name Keean. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Keean today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keean births was 2004 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keean. 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 Keean with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
418
~ 1 in 819,986 Americans
Peak year
2004
25 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,372
Tracked since 1987
Census
Keean in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 378 people with the first name Keean, which placed it at #25,170 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
#25,170
National first-name rank
People counted
378
378 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keean
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keean is White at 53.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (15.3%) and Black (11.9%). 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 Keean 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 Keean at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.4% · 202
- Two or more races15.3% · 58
- Black or African American11.9% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.9% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.7% · 14
Popularity
Keean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keean 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 153 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Keean remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keean 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 Keean 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 Keean
The given name Keean has its roots in the ancient Gaelic language, originating from the regions of Ireland and Scotland during the medieval period. The name is derived from the old Irish word "cian," which means "ancient" or "distant," implying a connection to something enduring or timeless.
In the early days, the name Keean was predominantly found among the Celtic tribes of Ireland and Scotland, where it was often associated with individuals of noble or prominent lineage. It is believed that the name first appeared in ancient Irish manuscripts and genealogical records dating back to the 7th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keean can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a Keean mac Conchobair, who was a prominent chieftain and warrior in the 12th century.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Keean. One such individual was Keean Ó Dálaigh, a renowned Irish poet and historian who lived in the 16th century. His works were highly regarded and contributed significantly to the preservation of Irish literary traditions.
Another prominent figure was Keean MacCormaic, a Scottish clan chief who played a crucial role in the Scottish Wars of Independence against England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. His bravery and leadership were celebrated in Scottish folklore and historical accounts.
In the 18th century, Keean O'Reilly was a revered Irish harpist and composer whose music played a significant role in the preservation and revival of traditional Irish harp music during a period of cultural suppression.
The name Keean also found its way into the literary world, with Keean O'Sullivan being a notable Irish novelist and playwright in the late 19th century. His works explored themes of Irish identity and cultural heritage, earning him recognition as a significant figure in the Irish literary renaissance.
While the name Keean has ancient roots and a rich historical background, it remains a relatively uncommon name in modern times, adding to its unique and distinctive character.
People
Keean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keean 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
Keean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 418 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keean 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 819,986 US residents.
Is Keean a common name?
We classify Keean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 424 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keean most popular?
The single biggest year for Keean was 2004, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keean 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 Keean in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 378 people with the name Keean, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,170 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 Keean 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 Keean?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keean leans strongly male. 367 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 10 female bearers (2.7%). 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 Keean?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keean is White at 53.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (15.3%) and Black (11.9%). 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 Keean most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.4% (202 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 Keean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keean a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keean 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 Keean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keean 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 Keean 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 have the name Keean?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.