Keirah
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew word "kara" meaning "to call".
Name Census estimates that about 409 living Americans carry the first name Keirah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keirah today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keirah births was 2008 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keirah. 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 Keirah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
409
~ 1 in 838,030 Americans
Peak year
2008
31 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,799
Tracked since 1994
Census
Keirah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 360 people with the first name Keirah, which placed it at #26,062 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
#26,062
National first-name rank
People counted
360
360 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keirah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keirah is White at 40.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.3%) and Hispanic (14.2%). 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 Keirah 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 Keirah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.8% · 147
- Black or African American28.3% · 102
- Hispanic or Latino14.2% · 51
- Two or more races12.8% · 46
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 4
Popularity
Keirah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keirah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 190 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keirah 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 Keirah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keirahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Ohio, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Keirah, while Florida, California, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keirah
The name Keirah is a unique and intriguing one with a rich tapestry of origins and meanings woven throughout its history. Its roots can be traced back to the ancient Hebrew language, where it is believed to have been derived from the word "keir," meaning "wall" or "fortification." This connection to strength and resilience is a recurring theme in the name's evolution.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keirah can be found in the biblical Book of Ezra, where it is mentioned as a town in the region of ancient Judah. While its direct association with a specific individual is unclear, this reference suggests that the name has been in use for centuries, likely originating during the time of the Israelites' settlement in Canaan.
In the Middle Ages, the name Keirah gained prominence in certain regions of Europe, particularly in areas with a strong Jewish presence. During this time, it was often used as a feminine variant of the masculine name Keir or Kier, which was popular among Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Germany and Eastern Europe.
One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name Keirah was Keirah bat Yitzchak, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and poet from Provence, France. Her writings, which explored themes of faith and devotion, were highly regarded in her time and continue to be studied by scholars today.
In the 16th century, Keirah Abravanel, a Jewish scholar and philosopher from Portugal, made significant contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah. Her works, which delved into the complex symbolism and spiritual teachings of the Zohar, were widely influential and helped shape the understanding of these esoteric traditions.
Moving into the 19th century, Keirah Raphael was a prominent Jewish educator and advocate for women's education in England. Born in 1819, she was a pioneering figure who established one of the first schools for Jewish girls in London, providing them with opportunities for learning and personal growth that were rare at the time.
In more recent history, Keirah Vasil, a 20th-century artist from Greece, gained recognition for her unique style of abstract expressionism. Born in 1925, her vibrant and emotionally charged paintings captured the essence of the human experience and earned her a place among the notable artists of her era.
While the name Keirah may not be as common as some others, its rich history and diverse cultural influences have imbued it with a sense of strength, resilience, and intellectual curiosity. From its ancient Hebrew roots to its modern-day bearers, the name continues to carry a unique and captivating resonance.
People
Keirah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keirah 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
Keirah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keirah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 409 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keirah 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 838,030 US residents.
Is Keirah a common name?
We classify Keirah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 414 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keirah most popular?
The single biggest year for Keirah was 2008, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keirah is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keirah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 360 people with the name Keirah, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,062 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 Keirah 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 Keirah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keirah appears almost entirely female. Of the 355 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Keirah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keirah is White at 40.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.3%) and Hispanic (14.2%). 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 Keirah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keirah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.8% (147 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 Keirah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keirah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keirah 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 Keirah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keirah 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 Keirah 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 Keirah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.