Keonia
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly deriving from a Khoi (Khoikhoi) language.
Name Census estimates that about 288 living Americans carry the first name Keonia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keonia today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keonia births was 1988 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keonia. 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
288
~ 1 in 1,190,119 Americans
Peak year
1988
18 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2011 SSA rank
#18,225
Tracked since 1975
Census
Keonia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 224 people with the first name Keonia, which placed it at #35,741 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
#35,741
National first-name rank
People counted
224
224 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keonia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keonia is Black at 90.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and White (2.7%). 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 Keonia 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 Keonia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.6% · 203
- Two or more races5.8% · 13
- White2.7% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 2
Popularity
Keonia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keonia from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 120 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keonia 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 Keonia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keonia
The name Keonia has its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, which was spoken in the region of Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq, around 3500 BCE. It is derived from the Sumerian word "ke-oni," which translates to "radiant one" or "shining light." The name was likely bestowed upon newborns as a symbol of hope and brightness in their lives.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keonia can be found in a cuneiform tablet from the ancient city of Ur, dating back to circa 2500 BCE. The tablet mentions a woman named Keonia, who was a priestess in the temple of the moon goddess Nanna. This suggests that the name held religious significance and was associated with celestial deities in ancient Sumerian culture.
In the 8th century BCE, a notable figure named Keonia is mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest surviving works of literature. Keonia was a wise woman who assisted the hero Gilgamesh on his journey, providing him with guidance and insights. This reference further solidifies the name's ancient roots and its connection to wisdom and enlightenment.
During the Hellenistic period, around 300 BCE, there was a philosopher and mathematician from Alexandria named Keonia. She is credited with contributing to the development of geometry and is said to have written several treatises on the subject, though her works have unfortunately been lost over time.
In the 2nd century CE, a Roman poet named Keonia gained recognition for her lyrical compositions. Her poetry often celebrated the beauty of nature and the human experience, earning her praise from her contemporaries. Some fragments of her work have been preserved in various anthologies.
Another notable figure named Keonia was a medieval scholar and translator who lived in the 9th century CE in the city of Baghdad. She played a crucial role in the translation of ancient Greek texts into Arabic, contributing to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge during the Islamic Golden Age.
Throughout history, the name Keonia has been associated with radiance, wisdom, and intellectual pursuits. While its usage may have waxed and waned over the centuries, it remains a fascinating name with deep roots in ancient civilizations and a rich tapestry of cultural significance.
People
Keonia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keonia 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
Keonia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keonia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 288 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keonia 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 1,190,119 US residents.
Is Keonia a common name?
We classify Keonia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 301 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keonia most popular?
The single biggest year for Keonia was 1988, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keonia is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keonia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 224 people with the name Keonia, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,741 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 Keonia 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 Keonia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keonia leans strongly female. 214 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 7 male bearers (3.2%). 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 Keonia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keonia is Black at 90.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and White (2.7%). 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 Keonia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keonia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.6% (203 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 Keonia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keonia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keonia 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 Keonia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keonia 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 Keonia 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 Americans are named Keonia?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Keonia at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.