Keria
Feminine name of Greek origin meaning "power, authority" or "lady".
Name Census estimates that about 454 living Americans carry the first name Keria. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keria today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keria births was 1991 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keria. 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 Keria with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
454
~ 1 in 754,966 Americans
Peak year
1991
29 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2018 SSA rank
#13,153
Tracked since 1975
Census
Keria in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 724 people with the first name Keria, which placed it at #15,776 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
#15,776
National first-name rank
People counted
724
724 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keria
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keria is Black at 41.0%. The next largest groups are White (40.7%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Keria 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 Keria at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.0% · 297
- White40.7% · 295
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 59
- Two or more races6.8% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 9
Popularity
Keria: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keria 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 171 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Keria remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keria 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 Keria during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kerias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Keria
The name Keria has its origins in ancient Greek, derived from the word "kerios," meaning "wax" or "beeswax." It is believed to have been a surname initially, given to those involved in the production or trade of beeswax. Over time, it transitioned into a given name, particularly in regions influenced by Greek culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keria can be traced back to the 5th century BCE, where it appeared in a Greek play by Aristophanes. In this work, a character named Keria was portrayed as a young woman from a family of beeswax traders. This reference provides insight into the name's connection to the wax industry during that period.
During the Byzantine Empire, the name Keria gained popularity, particularly among families with Greek roots or ties to the Orthodox Church. It was often given to daughters born into families involved in the production or trade of candles, which were essential for religious ceremonies and illumination.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Keria of Arles emerged as a prominent figure in the Cathar movement, a Christian religious sect in southern France. Her influence and teachings contributed to the spread of Catharism throughout the region, solidifying the name's association with religious contexts.
Another historical figure bearing the name Keria was a 14th-century Greek scholar and scribe known as Keria Palaiologina. She was renowned for her expertise in calligraphy and her contributions to preserving ancient Greek literature through her meticulous transcriptions of manuscripts.
In the 16th century, a Greek noblewoman named Keria Kantakouzene played a significant role in the cultural and political life of the Ottoman Empire. As the wife of a prominent Ottoman statesman, she wielded considerable influence and was known for her patronage of the arts and literature.
Moving into the 19th century, Keria Mavromichali, a Greek revolutionary and military leader, fought alongside her husband in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. Her bravery and leadership on the battlefield earned her a place in Greek history as a symbol of patriotism and resistance.
While the name Keria has its roots in ancient Greek culture and was historically associated with the wax trade, religious movements, and scholarly pursuits, it has since evolved and been embraced by families across various regions and backgrounds, carrying a unique and intriguing history.
People
Keria + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keria 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
Keria: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keria?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 454 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keria 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 754,966 US residents.
Is Keria a common name?
We classify Keria as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 467 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keria most popular?
The single biggest year for Keria was 1991, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keria is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keria in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 724 people with the name Keria, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,776 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 Keria 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 Keria?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keria appears almost entirely female. Of the 731 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Keria?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keria is Black at 41.0%. The next largest groups are White (40.7%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Keria most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keria in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.0% (297 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 Keria in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keria a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keria 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 Keria still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keria 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 Keria 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 Keria?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.