Killeen
Of Irish origin, meaning "coastal meadow" or "bright-headed one".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Killeen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Killeen today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Killeen births was 1968 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Killeen. 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 Killeen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1968
6 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1988 SSA rank
#12,819
Tracked since 1968
Census
Killeen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 118 people with the first name Killeen, which placed it at #50,661 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
#50,661
National first-name rank
People counted
118
118 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Killeen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Killeen is White at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Killeen 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 Killeen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.2% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 8
- Black or African American5.1% · 6
- Two or more races2.5% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 2
Popularity
Killeen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Killeen from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Killeen 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 Killeen 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 Killeen
The given name Killeen is believed to have originated from the Irish Gaelic language. It is derived from the old Irish words "coill" meaning "wood" and "inne" meaning "ridge" or "island." The name is thought to have its roots in the early medieval period in Ireland, around the 5th to 8th centuries AD.
Killeen is closely related to the Irish place name Killeen, which is a townland in County Laois. This suggests that the name may have initially been a descriptive term used to identify people from that particular area or region. Over time, it evolved into a personal name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Killeen can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. The annals mention a man named Killeen O'Donnell, who was a prominent figure in the O'Donnell clan in the late 15th century.
Another notable figure in history with the name Killeen was Killeen O'Malley, an Irish chieftain who lived in the 16th century. He was a leader of the O'Malley clan and played a significant role in the Nine Years' War against the English in the late 1500s.
In the 17th century, there was a Killeen Fitzgerald, who was a member of the prominent Fitzgerald family in Ireland. He was involved in the Irish Confederate Wars and fought against the English parliamentary forces.
Moving forward to the 18th century, there was a Killeen O'Connor, who was a renowned Irish poet and storyteller. He was known for preserving and promoting Irish culture and traditions through his works.
In more recent times, one of the most famous individuals with the name Killeen was Killeen McGee (1890-1966), an Irish-American labor union leader and activist. He played a significant role in the labor movement in the United States, advocating for workers' rights and better working conditions.
Throughout history, the name Killeen has maintained its Irish roots and cultural significance. While it may have evolved in spelling and pronunciation over time, its origins can be traced back to the ancient Irish language and the medieval period in Ireland.
People
Killeen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Killeen 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
Killeen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Killeen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Killeen 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Killeen a common name?
We classify Killeen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Killeen most popular?
The single biggest year for Killeen was 1968, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Killeen is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Killeen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 118 people with the name Killeen, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,661 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 Killeen 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 Killeen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Killeen leans strongly female. 114 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Killeen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Killeen is White at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Killeen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Killeen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.2% (97 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 Killeen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Killeen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Killeen 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 Killeen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Killeen 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 Killeen 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 have the name Killeen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.