Keishawn
African American name possibly derived from "Keith" and "Shawn".
Name Census estimates that about 816 living Americans carry the first name Keishawn. It is a predominantly male name (92.4% of registrations). The average person named Keishawn today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keishawn births was 2000 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keishawn. 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
816
~ 1 in 420,042 Americans
Peak year
2000
53 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,644
Tracked since 1981
Census
Keishawn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 665 people with the first name Keishawn, which placed it at #16,809 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
#16,809
National first-name rank
People counted
665
665 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keishawn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keishawn is Black at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Keishawn 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 Keishawn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.8% · 577
- Two or more races5.7% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 23
- White1.8% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Keishawn
Keishawn leans heavily male at 92.4% of total registrations, but 63 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keishawn as a male name
- Ranked #11,644 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (50 births)
Keishawn as a female name
- Ranked #14,053 in 2000
- 6 female births in 2000
- Peak: 1985 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keishawn leans strongly male. 582 people counted with this name were male (87.4%), compared with 84 female bearers (12.6%).
Popularity
Keishawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keishawn 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 378 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
Keishawn 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 Keishawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keishawns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Florida, New York, California recorded the most babies named Keishawn, while Missouri, Ohio, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keishawn
The name Keishawn has its origins in the African American community, where it emerged as a modern invention and combination of existing names and sounds. It is believed to have been created in the late 20th century, likely derived from the more common African American names Keith and Shawn.
While the name Keishawn does not have a direct translation or meaning from any specific language, it incorporates elements from various cultural influences. The "Kei" portion may be inspired by the prefix "Kai" found in Hawaiian names, which means "sea" or "ocean." The "shawn" part likely comes from the Irish name Seán or its English variant Sean, meaning "God is gracious."
There are no known historical references or appearances of the name Keishawn in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records prior to its modern usage. The earliest recorded examples of the name are likely from birth records in the United States from the late 20th century.
Throughout history, a few notable individuals have borne the name Keishawn:
1. Keishawn Bierria (born 1995) is an American football linebacker who played for the University of Washington and was signed by the Denver Broncos in the NFL.
2. Keishawn Johnson (born 1971) is a former American professional football wide receiver who played for the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys in the NFL from 1992 to 2001.
3. Keishawn Nicholson (born 1998) is an American professional soccer player who currently plays as a forward for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship.
4. Keishawn Porters (born 1996) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Salt Lake City Stars in the NBA G League.
5. Keishawn Jackson (born 1995) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Memphis Hustle in the NBA G League.
While the name Keishawn is relatively new and does not have a long historical lineage, it has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly among African American families, as a unique and modern combination of sounds and cultural influences.
People
Keishawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keishawn 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
Keishawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keishawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 816 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keishawn 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 420,042 US residents.
Is Keishawn a common name?
We classify Keishawn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 830 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keishawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Keishawn was 2000, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keishawn 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 Keishawn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 665 people with the name Keishawn, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,809 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 Keishawn 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 Keishawn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keishawn leans strongly male. 582 people counted with this name were male (87.4%), compared with 84 female bearers (12.6%). 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 Keishawn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keishawn is Black at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Keishawn most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keishawn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.8% (577 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 Keishawn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keishawn a male name?
Yes, 92.4% of people registered as Keishawn 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 Keishawn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keishawn 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 Keishawn 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 Keishawn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.