Keilee
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Kelly.
Name Census estimates that about 509 living Americans carry the first name Keilee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keilee today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keilee births was 2007 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keilee. 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
509
~ 1 in 673,388 Americans
Peak year
2007
40 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,733
Tracked since 1989
Census
Keilee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 407 people with the first name Keilee, which placed it at #23,894 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
#23,894
National first-name rank
People counted
407
407 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keilee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keilee is White at 56.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.8%) and Hispanic (13.3%). 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 Keilee 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 Keilee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.0% · 228
- Black or African American13.8% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 54
- Two or more races10.8% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 9
Popularity
Keilee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keilee 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 249 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
Keilee 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 Keilee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keilees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Keilee
The name Keilee has its origins in the Gaelic language, which was spoken by the Celtic peoples of Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. It is believed to have derived from the Gaelic word "caileag," meaning "little girl" or "lassie." This name gained popularity in the medieval period, particularly in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keilee can be found in the 13th-century Scottish Gaelic manuscript, the Book of Deer. This ancient text, which contains various religious writings and chronicles, mentions a woman named Keilee who lived in the village of Deer in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
In the 15th century, a notable figure named Keilee MacLeod was recorded as the chieftain of the MacLeod clan on the Isle of Skye. She was known for her leadership and fierce defense of her clan's lands during the tumultuous years of the Scottish clan wars.
During the 16th century, the name Keilee appeared in the famous Scottish ballad "The Lament of the Border Widow," which tells the story of a woman named Keilee whose husband was killed in a border skirmish between the Scottish and English. This ballad has become an important part of Scottish folklore and has been passed down through generations.
In the 17th century, a woman named Keilee MacDonald was documented as a renowned herbalist and healer in the Highlands of Scotland. Her knowledge of traditional medicinal plants and remedies was highly sought after, and she was revered for her healing abilities.
The 18th century saw the birth of Keilee Cameron, a Scottish poet and songwriter from Lochaber. Her works, which celebrated the beauty of the Scottish Highlands and the resilience of its people, were widely acclaimed and have been preserved in various anthologies.
Throughout history, the name Keilee has maintained a strong connection to its Scottish and Gaelic roots, representing the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the Celtic peoples. While not as commonly used today as it once was, the name remains a testament to the enduring legacy of Scottish and Celtic culture.
People
Keilee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keilee 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
Keilee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keilee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 509 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keilee 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 673,388 US residents.
Is Keilee a common name?
We classify Keilee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 516 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keilee most popular?
The single biggest year for Keilee was 2007, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keilee is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keilee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 407 people with the name Keilee, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,894 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 Keilee 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 Keilee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keilee appears almost entirely female. Of the 402 people counted with this name, 99.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Keilee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keilee is White at 56.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.8%) and Hispanic (13.3%). 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 Keilee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keilee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.0% (228 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 Keilee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keilee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keilee 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 Keilee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keilee 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 Keilee 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 Keilee?
You can see how many Americans are named Keilee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.