Keely
A feminine name of Gaelic origin meaning "slender and fair".
Name Census estimates that about 12,073 living Americans carry the first name Keely. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keely today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keely births was 1997 (555 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keely. 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 Keely with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 28,390 Americans
Peak year
1997
555 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2006 SSA rank
#2,074
Tracked since 1957
Census
Keely in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,486 people with the first name Keely, which placed it at #2,262 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
#2,262
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
11,486 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keely
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keely is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Keely 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 Keely at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.9% · 9,406
- Two or more races5.7% · 652
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 647
- Black or African American4.3% · 495
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 172
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 114
Gender
Gender distribution for Keely
Out of the 12,654 babies given the name Keely since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Keely as a male name
- Ranked #13,066 in 2006
- 5 male births in 2006
- Peak: 1996 (6 births)
Keely as a female name
- Ranked #2,074 in 2024
- 93 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (555 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keely appears almost entirely female. Of the 11,483 people counted with this name, 99.0% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Keely: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keely from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 3,669 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
Keely 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 Keely during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keelys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Keely, while New Mexico, Connecticut, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 205 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keely
The name Keely is an English feminine given name, originally a diminutive form of the name Cecilia. The name Cecilia itself is derived from the Roman family name Caecilius, which is of uncertain etymology but may be related to the Latin word "caecus," meaning "blind."
In the early Christian era, the name Cecilia became associated with the legendary Saint Cecilia, a Roman martyr who is the patron saint of music and musicians. This association likely contributed to the popularity of the name Cecilia and its diminutive forms, including Keely, in the Christian world.
The earliest recorded use of the name Keely dates back to the 16th century in England. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Keely Halford, an English poet who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Keely. In the 19th century, Keely Stokes (1825-1900) was a British artist and illustrator known for her watercolor paintings. Keely Smith (born 1928) is an American jazz singer who rose to prominence in the 1950s and had a successful career spanning several decades.
Keely Shaye Brosnan (born 1963) is an American journalist and author, best known as the wife of actor Pierce Brosnan. Keely Hodgkinson (born 1992) is a British middle-distance runner who won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Keely Cashion (born 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for her work in the indie rock scene. She has released several critically acclaimed albums and has collaborated with various artists.
While the name Keely has its roots in the ancient Roman world, it has evolved over time and has been embraced by different cultures and societies. Its association with Saint Cecilia and its historical significance have contributed to its enduring popularity as a given name for girls.
People
Keely + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keely 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
Keely: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keely?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,073 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keely 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 28,390 US residents.
Is Keely a common name?
We classify Keely as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,654 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keely most popular?
The single biggest year for Keely was 1997, when 555 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keely 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 Keely in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,486 people with the name Keely, or 3.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,262 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 Keely 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 Keely?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keely appears almost entirely female. Of the 11,483 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Keely?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keely is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Keely most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keely in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.9% (9,406 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 Keely in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keely a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Keely 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 Keely still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keely 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 Keely 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 common is the name Keely?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.