Keela
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of the Irish name Caoilfhionn meaning "slender and fair".
Name Census estimates that about 989 living Americans carry the first name Keela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keela today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keela births was 1978 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keela. 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 Keela with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
989
~ 1 in 346,567 Americans
Peak year
1978
33 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,373
Tracked since 1956
Census
Keela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 951 people with the first name Keela, which placed it at #12,880 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
#12,880
National first-name rank
People counted
951
951 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keela is White at 59.5%. The next largest groups are Black (28.7%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Keela 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 Keela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.5% · 566
- Black or African American28.7% · 273
- Two or more races5.8% · 55
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 12
Popularity
Keela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keela from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 259 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keela 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 Keela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keelas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia recorded the most babies named Keela, while Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keela
The name Keela is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "kila," which means "play" or "sport." It is thought to have originated around the 5th century BCE during the Vedic period in ancient India.
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and Upanishads, the name Keela is mentioned as a name given to children who were born with a playful and joyful nature. It was believed that these children were blessed with the qualities of innocence, curiosity, and a love for life.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Keela can be found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic poem that dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In the Mahabharata, there is a character named Keela, who is described as a skilled archer and a devoted friend of the Pandava princes.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Keela. One of the earliest was Keela Devi, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 10th century CE in the Chola Empire of South India. She is known for her contributions to the field of Sanskrit literature and for her works on philosophy and spirituality.
Another famous Keela was Keela Narayan, a prominent Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 14th century CE. He is credited with making significant contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the areas of algebra and trigonometry.
In the 16th century, there was a Keela Singh, a brave warrior and military leader from the Rajput clan of Rajasthan, India. He is known for his heroic battles against the Mughal Empire and for his unwavering loyalty to his people.
During the 19th century, Keela Bai was a renowned Indian classical dancer and courtesan from the state of Uttar Pradesh. She was celebrated for her mastery of the Kathak dance form and for her contributions to the preservation of Indian cultural traditions.
In more recent times, Keela Shastri was an Indian politician and social activist who lived from 1908 to 1992. She was a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement and worked tirelessly for the upliftment of women and the underprivileged communities in India.
People
Keela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keela 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
Keela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 989 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keela 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 346,567 US residents.
Is Keela a common name?
We classify Keela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,065 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keela most popular?
The single biggest year for Keela was 1978, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keela is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 951 people with the name Keela, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,880 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 Keela 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 Keela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keela appears almost entirely female. Of the 952 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Keela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keela is White at 59.5%. The next largest groups are Black (28.7%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Keela most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.5% (566 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 Keela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keela 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 Keela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keela 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 Keela 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 Keela?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.