Keeshawn
An Americanized version of the Irish name Ciasán, meaning "descendant of the enlightened one".
Name Census estimates that about 201 living Americans carry the first name Keeshawn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Keeshawn today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keeshawn births was 2000 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keeshawn. 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
201
~ 1 in 1,705,245 Americans
Peak year
2000
25 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,120
Tracked since 1994
Census
Keeshawn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 208 people with the first name Keeshawn, which placed it at #37,486 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
#37,486
National first-name rank
People counted
208
208 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keeshawn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keeshawn is Black at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (5.3%). 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 Keeshawn 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 Keeshawn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.3% · 167
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.3% · 11
- Two or more races5.3% · 11
- White2.9% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Keeshawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keeshawn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 119 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
Keeshawn 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 Keeshawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keeshawns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Keeshawn
The name Keeshawn is a relatively modern variant of the traditional Irish name Cian. Its origins can be traced back to the 5th century AD in Ireland, where it was derived from the Old Irish word "cían," meaning "ancient" or "enduring."
The earliest recorded use of the name Cian dates back to the 5th century AD, when it was borne by Cian of the Curly Hair, a warrior and poet who appears in several Irish legends and tales. In the 8th century AD, the name was also recorded as the name of Cian mac Fergusa, a King of Munster and ancestor of the Dál gCais dynasty.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name remained popular among the Irish nobility and ruling classes. One notable bearer of the name was Cian mac Máelmuaid, a 12th-century King of Munster who played a significant role in the Norman invasion of Ireland.
As the name spread beyond Ireland, it evolved into various spellings and variants, such as Kian, Keian, and eventually, Keeshawn. This latter form emerged in the 20th century, likely influenced by African American naming traditions and the popularity of unique and distinctive names.
While no definitive historical figures are recorded with the exact spelling of Keeshawn, several notable individuals have borne variations of the name throughout history:
1. Cian O'Connor (born 1980), an Irish equestrian and Olympic medalist.
2. Kian Egan (born 1980), an Irish singer and former member of the boy band Westlife.
3. Kian Browne (born 1994), an Irish soccer player.
4. Kian Gohar (born 1991), an Iranian-American squash player.
5. Kian Soltani (born 1992), an Austrian-Iranian cellist.
While the name Keeshawn is a modern variation, it carries the weight of a rich historical legacy rooted in Irish culture and tradition, with a meaning that evokes a sense of timelessness and endurance.
People
Keeshawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keeshawn 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
Keeshawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keeshawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 201 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keeshawn 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 1,705,245 US residents.
Is Keeshawn a common name?
We classify Keeshawn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 204 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keeshawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Keeshawn was 2000, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keeshawn is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keeshawn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 208 people with the name Keeshawn, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,486 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 Keeshawn 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 Keeshawn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keeshawn leans strongly male. 191 people counted with this name were male (90.1%), compared with 21 female bearers (9.9%). 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 Keeshawn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keeshawn is Black at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (5.3%). 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 Keeshawn most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keeshawn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.3% (167 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 Keeshawn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keeshawn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keeshawn 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 Keeshawn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keeshawn 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 Keeshawn 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 Keeshawn as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.