Keshauna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Arabic.
Name Census estimates that about 248 living Americans carry the first name Keshauna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keshauna today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keshauna births was 1999 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keshauna. 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
248
~ 1 in 1,382,074 Americans
Peak year
1999
19 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2009 SSA rank
#18,795
Tracked since 1977
Census
Keshauna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 226 people with the first name Keshauna, which placed it at #35,529 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
#35,529
National first-name rank
People counted
226
226 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keshauna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keshauna is Black at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and Hispanic (1.8%). 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 Keshauna 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 Keshauna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.8% · 203
- Two or more races5.8% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 4
- White1.3% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Keshauna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keshauna from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 122 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Keshauna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keshauna 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 Keshauna 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 Keshauna
The name Keshauna is believed to have originated from the African continent, with its roots tracing back to the Yoruba language of present-day Nigeria. The name is thought to be derived from the combination of two Yoruba words, 'Ke' meaning 'to celebrate' and 'shauna' meaning 'gift', suggesting that the name may have been given to a child born during a time of celebration or considered a special gift.
While the exact origins of the name are uncertain, some historians have speculated that it may have been used in various forms among the Yoruba people as early as the 16th century. However, the earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the late 19th century, when it appeared in historical records of former West African colonies.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Keshauna was Keshauna Oluwole, a prominent Yoruba trader and community leader who lived in the late 1800s in what is now southwestern Nigeria. Oluwole was known for her business acumen and her efforts in promoting education and economic opportunities for women in her community.
In the early 20th century, the name gained some recognition with Keshauna Gbadebo, a Nigerian activist and educator who fought for women's rights and advocated for access to education for girls. Born in 1905, Gbadebo played a significant role in establishing several schools and educational programs in her home country.
Another notable figure was Keshauna Adeyemi, a Nigerian artist and sculptor who lived from 1920 to 2002. Adeyemi's works, which often depicted traditional Yoruba themes and cultural elements, were widely celebrated and exhibited both in Nigeria and internationally.
In the realm of literature, Keshauna Ogunlesi, a Nigerian novelist and poet born in 1935, is remembered for her thought-provoking works that explored themes of identity, culture, and social issues. Her debut novel, "The Whispers of the Sahara," published in 1968, received critical acclaim and helped bring Nigerian literature to a broader audience.
Lastly, Keshauna Akinwande, a Nigerian-American entrepreneur and businesswoman born in 1975, has made significant contributions to the tech industry. Akinwande founded several successful technology companies and has been recognized for her efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion in the tech sector.
While the name Keshauna has its roots in the Yoruba culture of West Africa, it has since gained popularity globally, with individuals from various backgrounds adopting the name and carrying on its rich cultural heritage.
People
Keshauna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keshauna 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
Keshauna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keshauna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 248 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keshauna 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 1,382,074 US residents.
Is Keshauna a common name?
We classify Keshauna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 256 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keshauna most popular?
The single biggest year for Keshauna was 1999, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keshauna is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keshauna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 226 people with the name Keshauna, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,529 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 Keshauna 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 Keshauna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keshauna appears almost entirely female. Of the 227 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Keshauna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keshauna is Black at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and Hispanic (1.8%). 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 Keshauna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keshauna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (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 Keshauna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keshauna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keshauna 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 Keshauna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keshauna 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 Keshauna 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 share the name Keshauna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.