Keyona
A feminine name of unknown origin potentially meaning "born at dawn".
Name Census estimates that about 2,804 living Americans carry the first name Keyona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keyona today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keyona births was 1994 (140 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keyona. 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
2.8K
~ 1 in 122,238 Americans
Peak year
1994
140 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,353
Tracked since 1972
Census
Keyona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,239 people with the first name Keyona, which placed it at #6,964 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
#6,964
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,239 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keyona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keyona is Black at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.9%) and White (6.4%). 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 Keyona 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 Keyona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.2% · 1,795
- Two or more races8.9% · 199
- White6.4% · 144
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 80
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 8
Popularity
Keyona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keyona from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,051 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
Keyona 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 Keyona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keyonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Maryland, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Keyona, while Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keyona
The name Keyona has its roots in the African American community, originating in the late 20th century. The name is thought to be a blend of the names Keisha and Shauna, combining elements of both. It is a relatively modern invention and does not have a direct etymological link to any specific language or culture.
Despite its recent origin, the name Keyona has gained popularity and can be found in historical records from the late 1900s onwards. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was Keyona Strayhorn, an American singer and songwriter born in 1984, known for her work with the hip-hop group Arrested Development.
Another notable figure with the name Keyona is Keyona Jamison, an American basketball player born in 1983. She played professionally in the WNBA for several teams, including the Seattle Storm and the Indiana Fever, and was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. women's basketball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
In the world of literature, Keyona Pearson-Stamps is an American author and poet born in 1984. She has published several works, including the poetry collection "Asphalt, Rose Petals, and Rhyme" (2014), which explores themes of identity, love, and resilience.
Keyona Smith, born in 1991, is an American track and field athlete specializing in the 400-meter hurdles. She has represented the United States at various international competitions, including the World Championships and the Pan American Games.
Keyona Jackson, born in 1987, is an American reality television personality known for her appearances on several VH1 shows, including "Flavor of Love" and "I Love Money." Her participation in these dating and competition shows brought her into the public eye in the late 2000s.
While the name Keyona is relatively new and does not have a long historical lineage, it has gained recognition and prominence in recent decades, particularly within the African American community. Its unique blend of sounds and origins has contributed to its growing popularity as a given name.
People
Keyona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keyona 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
Keyona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keyona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,804 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keyona 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 122,238 US residents.
Is Keyona a common name?
We classify Keyona as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,906 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keyona most popular?
The single biggest year for Keyona was 1994, when 140 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keyona is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keyona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,239 people with the name Keyona, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,964 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 Keyona 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 Keyona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keyona appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,249 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 Keyona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keyona is Black at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.9%) and White (6.4%). 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 Keyona most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keyona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.2% (1,795 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 Keyona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keyona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keyona 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 Keyona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keyona 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 Keyona 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 Keyona?
Find out how many people share the name Keyona on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.