Keala
Hawaiian name meaning "the path, the way, or journey".
Name Census estimates that about 838 living Americans carry the first name Keala. It is a predominantly female name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Keala today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keala births was 2005 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keala. 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 Keala with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
838
~ 1 in 409,015 Americans
Peak year
2005
50 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2008 SSA rank
#6,495
Tracked since 1969
Census
Keala in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 917 people with the first name Keala, which placed it at #13,247 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
#13,247
National first-name rank
People counted
917
917 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Two or more races
31.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keala
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keala is Two or More Races at 31.3%. The next largest groups are White (20.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.8%). 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 Keala 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 Keala at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Two or more races31.3% · 287
- White20.7% · 190
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.8% · 182
- Hispanic or Latino15.5% · 142
- Black or African American11.8% · 108
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Keala
Keala leans heavily female at 97.5% of total registrations, but 22 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keala as a male name
- Ranked #13,604 in 2008
- 5 male births in 2008
- Peak: 1981 (7 births)
Keala as a female name
- Ranked #6,495 in 2024
- 18 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (50 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keala leans strongly female. 782 people counted with this name were female (85.9%), compared with 128 male bearers (14.1%).
Popularity
Keala: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keala from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 298 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keala 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 Keala during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kealas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Hawaii, Washington recorded the most babies named Keala, while Washington, Hawaii, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 70 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keala
The given name Keala has its origins in the Hawaiian language. It is a modern variation of the traditional Hawaiian name Keʻala, which can be traced back to the 18th century or earlier. The name is derived from the Hawaiian words "keʻa," meaning "the path" or "the way," and "la," which refers to the sun or daylight.
In Hawaiian culture, names often have deep symbolic meanings and connections to nature. The name Keʻala can be interpreted as "the path of the sun" or "the way of light." This name may have been given to children born during a significant celestial event or to signify the wish for the child to have a bright and illuminated path in life.
While there are no known historical records of the name Keʻala appearing in ancient Hawaiian chants or religious texts, it is likely that the name has been in use for generations among the indigenous Hawaiian people.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Keala was Keala Kanahele, a Hawaiian scholar, and activist born in 1944. She played a significant role in the Hawaiian Renaissance movement and worked tirelessly to preserve and promote the Hawaiian language and culture.
Another notable figure was Keala Kennelly, a professional surfer from Hawaii born in 1988. She is a multiple-time winner of the Billabong Pro Maui and has been a dominant force in women's surfing competitions.
In the late 19th century, Keala Haina was a Hawaiian singer and musician who helped popularize traditional Hawaiian music during the monarchical era. She performed for King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani and was credited with introducing the ukulele to Hawaiian music.
Keala Settle, born in 1975, is an American actress and singer of Hawaiian descent. She gained widespread recognition for her role as Lettie Lutz in the 2017 film "The Greatest Showman" and her powerful rendition of the song "This Is Me."
Lastly, Keala Alohi Kaipo Ai was a Hawaiian princess born in 1892. She was a member of the House of Kalākaua and played a crucial role in preserving Hawaiian cultural practices and traditions during the period of American annexation.
People
Keala + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keala 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
Keala: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keala?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 838 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keala 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 409,015 US residents.
Is Keala a common name?
We classify Keala as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 864 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keala most popular?
The single biggest year for Keala was 2005, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keala is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keala in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 917 people with the name Keala, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,247 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 Keala 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 Keala?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keala leans strongly female. 782 people counted with this name were female (85.9%), compared with 128 male bearers (14.1%). 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 Keala?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keala is Two or More Races at 31.3%. The next largest groups are White (20.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.8%). 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 Keala most often in the Census?
Two or More Races is the largest reported group for people named Keala in the 2020 Census, accounting for 31.3% (287 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 Keala in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keala a female name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Keala 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 Keala still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keala 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 Keala 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 Keala as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.