Keri
A feminine name of Celtic origin meaning "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 29,568 living Americans carry the first name Keri. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Keri today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keri births was 1975 (1,517 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keri. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Keri is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 325 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1970s, recent registration numbers for Keri have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
30K
~ 1 in 11,592 Americans
Peak year
1975
1,517 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2005 SSA rank
#12,470
Tracked since 1946
Gender
Gender distribution for Keri
Keri leans heavily female at 99.0% of total registrations, but 325 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keri as a male name
- Ranked #12,470 in 2005
- 5 male births in 2005
- Peak: 1984 (19 births)
Keri as a female name
- Ranked #12,760 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1975 (1,502 births)
Popularity
Keri: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keri from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 12,428 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
Keri 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 Keri during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Keri, while Vermont, Alaska, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 574 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keri
The name Keri has its origins in the Greek language and culture. It is a variant spelling of the Greek name Keira, which itself is derived from the ancient Greek word "keir" meaning "to burn with a passion" or "to radiate light and heat." This name was particularly popular in ancient Greece during the classical period, around the 5th century BC.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Keri can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who mentioned a woman named Keri in his work "The Histories." This text, written in the 5th century BC, is considered one of the foundational works of Western literature and history.
In Greek mythology, there was a figure named Keri, who was one of the Hesperides, the nymphs who tended to the garden of golden apples in the west. This mythological reference suggests that the name has been associated with beauty, fertility, and the natural world since ancient times.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Keri was Keri of Samos, a Greek lyric poet who lived in the 7th century BC. Her work, though only fragments remain, was highly regarded in her time and helped establish the lyric poetic tradition in ancient Greece.
In the 4th century BC, there was a famous Greek courtesan named Keri, who was known for her beauty, wit, and intelligence. She was a companion to many influential men of her time, including the philosopher Aristotle, and was celebrated for her contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of ancient Athens.
During the Byzantine era, there was a notable figure named Keri Tzamplakonia, who lived in the 11th century AD. She was a influential noblewoman and landowner in the Byzantine Empire, and her name is recorded in various historical documents and land deeds from that period.
Throughout history, the name Keri has been used by several other notable individuals, including Keri Hulme, a New Zealand author and novelist who won the Booker Prize in 1985 for her novel "The Bone People"; Keri Russell, an American actress best known for her roles in the TV series "Felicity" and "The Americans"; and Keri Hilson, an American singer-songwriter and actress who rose to prominence in the late 2000s.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Keri
People
Keri + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keri 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
Keri: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keri?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29,568 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keri 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 11,592 US residents.
Is Keri a common name?
We classify Keri as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 32,372 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keri most popular?
The single biggest year for Keri was 1975, when 1,517 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keri is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Keri a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Keri 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.
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.