Kelleen
A feminine name of Irish origin meaning "bright-headed" or "beautiful princess".
Name Census estimates that about 562 living Americans carry the first name Kelleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kelleen today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kelleen births was 1965 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kelleen. 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
562
~ 1 in 609,883 Americans
Peak year
1965
32 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1999 SSA rank
#13,520
Tracked since 1950
Census
Kelleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 622 people with the first name Kelleen, which placed it at #17,634 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
#17,634
National first-name rank
People counted
622
622 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kelleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelleen is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Kelleen 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 Kelleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.9% · 547
- Two or more races3.7% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 20
- Black or African American3.1% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Kelleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kelleen from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 247 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kelleen 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 Kelleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kelleens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kelleen
The name Kelleen is a relatively modern English variant of the ancient Irish name Cailín, which means "young woman" or "girl." The name originates from the Gaelic languages spoken in Ireland and parts of Scotland, dating back to the medieval period.
Cailín itself is derived from the Old Irish word "caille," meaning "veil" or "cowl." In early Irish Christian tradition, young women often wore veils or cowls as a symbol of modesty and purity. As a result, the name Cailín became associated with feminine virtues and the transition from girlhood to womanhood.
While the name Cailín has been in use for centuries, the spelling variation "Kelleen" emerged much later, likely in the 19th or 20th century, as Irish names were adapted and anglicized in English-speaking countries.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kelleen was Kelleen Cunningham, an Irish-American actress born in 1893 in New York City. She appeared in numerous Broadway productions and silent films during the early 20th century.
Another notable bearer of the name was Kelleen Sallee (1916-1994), an American artist and painter known for her abstract expressionist works. Her paintings were exhibited in prestigious galleries across the United States.
In the literary world, Kelleen Hutchins (1929-2012) was a British author and playwright. Her most famous work was the novel "The Burning Glass," published in 1965, which explored themes of identity and self-discovery.
Kelleen Tomlinson (born 1950) is a Canadian actress and voice artist who has lent her talents to numerous animated series, including "X-Men: The Animated Series" and "Spider-Man: The Animated Series."
Lastly, Kelleen Conway (born 1971) is an American singer-songwriter and musician known for her work in the folk and Americana genres. Her album "Afterglow" received critical acclaim upon its release in 2005.
While the name Kelleen may not have a long and storied history like many ancient names, its origins in the Irish language and culture, as well as its association with feminine virtues, have contributed to its enduring appeal and use in the modern era.
People
Kelleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kelleen 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
Kelleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kelleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 562 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kelleen 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 609,883 US residents.
Is Kelleen a common name?
We classify Kelleen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 653 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kelleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Kelleen was 1965, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kelleen is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kelleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 622 people with the name Kelleen, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,634 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 Kelleen 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 Kelleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kelleen appears almost entirely female. Of the 617 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Kelleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelleen is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Kelleen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kelleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (547 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 Kelleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kelleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kelleen 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 Kelleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kelleen 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 Kelleen 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 Kelleen as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.