Keeva
A feminine name of Irish origin meaning "beautiful and gentle".
Name Census estimates that about 640 living Americans carry the first name Keeva. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keeva today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keeva births was 2013 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keeva. 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 Keeva with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
640
~ 1 in 535,554 Americans
Peak year
2013
43 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,863
Tracked since 1968
Census
Keeva in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 519 people with the first name Keeva, which placed it at #20,044 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
#20,044
National first-name rank
People counted
519
519 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keeva
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keeva is White at 49.7%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Two or More Races (7.9%). 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 Keeva 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 Keeva at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.7% · 258
- Black or African American31.8% · 165
- Two or more races7.9% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Popularity
Keeva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keeva from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 295 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Keeva remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keeva 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 Keeva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keevas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Massachusetts, New York recorded the most babies named Keeva, while New York, Massachusetts, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keeva
The given name Keeva has its origins in the Irish language, where it is derived from the Gaelic word "caomh," meaning gentle or kind. This name has been in use since the early medieval period in Ireland and parts of Scotland, particularly in regions with a strong Celtic cultural influence.
Keeva is believed to have first appeared in ancient Irish texts and manuscripts dating back to the 8th or 9th century. However, the earliest recorded instance of the name is found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, which mentions a person named Keeva mac Cennfhaelaidh in the year 1022.
During the Middle Ages, the name Keeva was primarily associated with members of the Irish nobility and ruling classes. One notable figure was Keeva Ó Briain, a 12th-century King of Thomond, a medieval Irish kingdom located in present-day County Clare. Another prominent individual was Keeva Ó Conchobhair, a 13th-century chieftain of the Uí Briúin Bréifne dynasty, who played a significant role in the Irish resistance against the Anglo-Norman invasion.
In the 16th century, the name Keeva gained some recognition beyond Ireland due to the travels and writings of the English explorer and writer Richard Hakluyt. In his work "The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation," published in 1598-1600, Hakluyt mentions encountering an Irishman named Keeva O'Toole during his travels in the Americas.
Another notable figure was Keeva O'Donnell, a 17th-century Irish warrior and commander who fought against English rule during the Irish Confederate Wars. He was known for his bravery and military tactics, and his exploits were recorded in various contemporary accounts.
In the 19th century, the name Keeva gained some popularity among Irish-American communities in the United States. One prominent individual was Keeva O'Shaughnessy, a Irish-American journalist and activist who advocated for Irish independence and played a role in the Fenian movement, a revolutionary organization dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish republic.
While the name Keeva has remained relatively uncommon globally, it has maintained a presence in Ireland and among Irish diasporas around the world. Its rich historical roots and associations with Irish culture and heritage have contributed to its enduring appeal within these communities.
People
Keeva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keeva 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
Keeva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keeva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 640 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keeva 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 535,554 US residents.
Is Keeva a common name?
We classify Keeva as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 657 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keeva most popular?
The single biggest year for Keeva was 2013, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keeva 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 Keeva in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 519 people with the name Keeva, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,044 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 Keeva 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 Keeva?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keeva leans strongly female. 508 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 13 male bearers (2.5%). 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 Keeva?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keeva is White at 49.7%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Two or More Races (7.9%). 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 Keeva most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keeva in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.7% (258 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 Keeva in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keeva a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keeva 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 Keeva still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keeva 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 Keeva 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 named Keeva?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.