Keegen
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "little fire" or "descendant of Aodh".
Name Census estimates that about 296 living Americans carry the first name Keegen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Keegen today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keegen births was 2006 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keegen. 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
296
~ 1 in 1,157,954 Americans
Peak year
2006
28 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,157
Tracked since 1995
Census
Keegen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 345 people with the first name Keegen, which placed it at #26,793 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
#26,793
National first-name rank
People counted
345
345 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keegen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keegen is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.8%) and Hispanic (6.4%). 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 Keegen 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 Keegen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 281
- Two or more races7.8% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 7
- Black or African American1.2% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 4
Popularity
Keegen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keegen from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 185 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Keegen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keegen 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 Keegen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keegens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Keegen
The name Keegen is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic name Cian, which means "ancient" or "enduring." It is believed to have originated in the early medieval period, around the 5th or 6th century, when the Gaelic language and culture were flourishing in Ireland.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Keegen can be traced back to various Irish manuscripts and genealogical records from the 9th and 10th centuries. In these texts, the name appears in various spellings, such as Cian, Kian, and Keegan, reflecting the evolving nature of the language and the variations in regional dialects.
One of the most notable historical references to the name Keegen can be found in the Irish Mythological Cycle, where Cian, the son of Dian Cecht, is mentioned as a skilled physician and warrior. This legendary figure is said to have lived during the time of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the mythical race that inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Keegen or its variations. One of the earliest recorded figures was Cian mac Maílmuaidh, a 10th-century Irish king of the Uí Fhiachrach Aidne dynasty, who ruled in the region of modern-day County Galway.
Another prominent figure was Cian Ó Mathghamhna (c. 1290-1370), an Irish poet and Chief Ollamh of Ireland, renowned for his contributions to the preservation of Irish language and literature during the Norman invasion of Ireland.
In more recent times, Keegan Bradley (born 1986) is an American professional golfer who has won several PGA Tour events, including the 2011 PGA Championship.
Keegan Michael Key (born 1971) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer, best known for his work on the sketch comedy series "Key & Peele" and his roles in various films and television shows.
Keegan Lowe (born 1993) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the San Jose Barracuda in the American Hockey League (AHL).
While the name Keegen has its roots in Irish culture and history, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries, where it is often used as a given name for boys.
People
Keegen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keegen 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
Keegen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keegen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 296 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keegen 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 1,157,954 US residents.
Is Keegen a common name?
We classify Keegen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 299 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keegen most popular?
The single biggest year for Keegen was 2006, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keegen 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 Keegen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 345 people with the name Keegen, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,793 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 Keegen 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 Keegen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keegen leans strongly male. 325 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 23 female bearers (6.6%). 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 Keegen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keegen is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.8%) and Hispanic (6.4%). 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 Keegen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keegen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (281 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 Keegen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keegen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keegen 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 Keegen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keegen 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 Keegen 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 Keegen?
You can see how many Americans are named Keegen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.