Keitha
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "kathara" meaning pure or clean.
Name Census estimates that about 992 living Americans carry the first name Keitha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keitha today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keitha births was 1969 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keitha. 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 Keitha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
992
~ 1 in 345,518 Americans
Peak year
1969
63 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2001 SSA rank
#16,648
Tracked since 1915
Census
Keitha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,152 people with the first name Keitha, which placed it at #11,247 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
#11,247
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,152 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keitha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keitha is White at 64.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Keitha 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 Keitha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.0% · 737
- Black or African American29.9% · 345
- Two or more races3.3% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 13
Popularity
Keitha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keitha from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 303 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keitha 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 Keitha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keithas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, New York, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Keitha, while North Carolina, California, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 41 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keitha
The name Keitha has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the Old English word "cýð," which means "famous" or "renowned." This name was particularly popular among the Anglo-Saxons who inhabited parts of what is now England and southern Scotland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keitha can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record compiled in the late 9th century CE. The chronicle mentions a noble woman named Keitha who was involved in a land dispute in the year 867 CE.
In the Middle Ages, the name Keitha gained popularity among the nobility and upper classes. It was often associated with strength, courage, and a sense of honor. One notable figure from this period was Keitha of Mercia, a powerful noblewoman who lived in the 9th century CE and played a significant role in the political affairs of the Kingdom of Mercia.
During the Renaissance period, the name Keitha continued to be used, although it was less common than some other English names. One notable bearer of the name from this era was Keitha Bacon, an English writer and philosopher who lived from 1561 to 1626 CE. She is remembered for her philosophical works and her advocacy for women's education.
In the 18th century, the name Keitha gained popularity among the upper classes in Britain and its colonies. One notable figure from this period was Keitha Montagu, an English writer and social reformer who lived from 1720 to 1800 CE. She was a prominent figure in the Bluestocking Circle, a group of women who promoted education and intellectual discourse.
Another famous bearer of the name was Keitha Nightingale, the pioneering English nurse who lived from 1820 to 1910 CE. She is widely regarded as the founder of modern nursing and is remembered for her efforts to improve healthcare standards and promote better sanitation practices in hospitals.
Overall, the name Keitha has a long and rich history that spans various periods and cultures. While its popularity has waxed and waned over the centuries, it has consistently been associated with strength, courage, and a sense of honor.
People
Keitha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keitha 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
Keitha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keitha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 992 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keitha 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 345,518 US residents.
Is Keitha a common name?
We classify Keitha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,449 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keitha most popular?
The single biggest year for Keitha was 1969, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keitha is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keitha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,152 people with the name Keitha, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,247 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 Keitha 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 Keitha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keitha leans strongly female. 1,130 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 18 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Keitha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keitha is White at 64.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Keitha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keitha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.0% (737 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 Keitha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keitha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keitha 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 Keitha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keitha 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 Keitha 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 Keitha as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.