Kevi
A unisex name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the name Kevin.
Name Census estimates that about 20 living Americans carry the first name Kevi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 52.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Kevi today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kevi births was 1984 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kevi. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kevi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
20
~ 1 in 17,137,717 Americans
Peak year
1984
6 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
1988 SSA rank
#7,944
Tracked since 1984
Census
Kevi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 479 people with the first name Kevi, which placed it at #21,270 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
#21,270
National first-name rank
People counted
479
479 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kevi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kevi is White at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.5%) and Black (19.6%). 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 Kevi 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 Kevi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.1% · 264
- Hispanic or Latino20.5% · 98
- Black or African American19.6% · 94
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 12
- Two or more races1.7% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Kevi
Kevi is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 21 total registrations, 10 (47.6%) were male and 11 (52.4%) were female.
Kevi as a male name
- Ranked #7,944 in 1988
- 5 male births in 1988
- Peak: 1986 (5 births)
Kevi as a female name
- Ranked #11,518 in 1985
- 5 female births in 1985
- Peak: 1984 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kevi on both sides of the split. Of the 479 people counted with this name, 370 were male (77.2%) and 109 were female (22.8%).
Popularity
Kevi: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Kevi 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 Kevi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 10 | 11 | 21 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Kevi
The name Kevi has its roots in the ancient Sanskrit language, which originated in the Indian subcontinent around the 2nd millennium BCE. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "kavi," which means "poet" or "wise one." In ancient Indian culture, poets and scholars were highly revered, and the name Kevi was often given to those who possessed exceptional wisdom and literary talents.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kevi can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas. These sacred texts, which date back to around 1500-500 BCE, mention several sages and scholars with the name Kevi. These individuals were renowned for their profound knowledge and contributions to the fields of philosophy, religion, and literature.
During the classical period of Indian history, between the 3rd century BCE and the 8th century CE, the name Kevi gained further prominence. Several notable figures from this era bore this name, including Kevi Kalidas, a renowned Sanskrit poet and playwright who lived in the 4th or 5th century CE. His works, such as the epic poem "Raghuvamsa" and the play "Abhijnanasakuntalam," are celebrated as masterpieces of Indian literature.
In the medieval period, the name Kevi continued to be associated with scholars and intellectuals. One notable figure was Kevi Bhatta, a 7th-century Indian philosopher and logician who made significant contributions to the field of Nyaya, one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy.
Beyond India, the name Kevi has also been documented in other parts of the world, although its usage has been relatively rare. In ancient Greece, there was a philosopher named Kevi of Lesbos, who lived in the 6th century BCE and was a contemporary of the famous mathematician Pythagoras.
Another notable figure with the name Kevi was Kevi ibn al-Muqaffa, an 8th-century Persian scholar and writer who played a crucial role in the translation of important literary works from Sanskrit and Pahlavi into Arabic, facilitating the spread of knowledge during the Islamic Golden Age.
While the name Kevi has its roots in ancient India and has been associated with individuals of great intellectual and literary achievements throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon in modern times. However, its rich cultural heritage and connection to wisdom and scholarly pursuits continue to make it a unique and meaningful name choice.
People
Kevi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kevi 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
Kevi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kevi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 20 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kevi 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 17,137,717 US residents.
Is Kevi a common name?
We classify Kevi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 39.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kevi most popular?
The single biggest year for Kevi was 1984, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kevi is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kevi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 479 people with the name Kevi, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,270 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 Kevi 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 Kevi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kevi on both sides of the split. Of the 479 people counted with this name, 370 were male (77.2%) and 109 were female (22.8%). 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 Kevi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kevi is White at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.5%) and Black (19.6%). 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 Kevi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kevi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.1% (264 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 Kevi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kevi a female name?
Yes, 52.4% of people registered as Kevi 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 Kevi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kevi 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 Kevi 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 Kevi?
Want to know how many people share the name Kevi? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.