Keli
A feminine name meaning "crown" or "garland" in Hebrew.
Name Census estimates that about 4,008 living Americans carry the first name Keli. It is a predominantly female name (98.9% of registrations). The average person named Keli today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keli births was 1979 (190 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keli. 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 Keli with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.0K
~ 1 in 85,518 Americans
Peak year
1979
190 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1998 SSA rank
#10,497
Tracked since 1955
Census
Keli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,290 people with the first name Keli, which placed it at #4,383 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
#4,383
National first-name rank
People counted
4.3K
4,290 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keli is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.8%) 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 Keli 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 Keli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.6% · 3,159
- Black or African American8.8% · 378
- Two or more races5.8% · 248
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 247
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 208
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 50
Gender
Gender distribution for Keli
Keli leans heavily female at 98.9% of total registrations, but 49 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keli as a male name
- Ranked #10,497 in 1998
- 5 male births in 1998
- Peak: 1975 (7 births)
Keli as a female name
- Ranked #16,424 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1979 (190 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keli leans strongly female. 4,098 people counted with this name were female (95.7%), compared with 182 male bearers (4.3%).
Popularity
Keli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keli 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 1,304 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
Keli 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 Keli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kelis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Keli, while Virginia, Minnesota, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 69 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keli
The name Keli has its origins in Hawaiian culture and language. It is a diminutive form of the name Kelikoku, which means "the chief" or "the leader" in Hawaiian. The name Keli was likely first used as a shortened version of Kelikoku during the late 18th or early 19th century.
In ancient Hawaiian mythology, Keli was the name of a demigod who was known for his strength and bravery. He was said to be the son of the god Ku and the mortal woman Hina. The stories of Keli's exploits were passed down through oral traditions and chants.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keli can be found in the journals of Captain James Cook, who visited the Hawaiian Islands in 1778-1779. Cook's journals mention a chief named Keli who ruled over the island of Kauai at that time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Keli. One of the most famous was Keli'iahonui, who was the king of the island of Kauai in the late 18th century. He was known for his resistance against the rule of Kamehameha I, who was attempting to unify the Hawaiian Islands under his control.
Another notable figure was Keli'i Kalama, a Hawaiian composer and musician who lived in the late 19th century. He was known for his contributions to the Hawaiian Renaissance, a movement that sought to revive and preserve Hawaiian culture and traditions.
In the 20th century, Keli Moniz was a famous Hawaiian surfer who was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in 2005. He was born in 1935 and is credited with helping to popularize the sport of surfing in Hawaii and around the world.
Keli'i Tau'a was a Hawaiian musician and singer who was born in 1945. He was known for his work in promoting and preserving traditional Hawaiian music and dance, and he won several Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, which are considered the highest honors in Hawaiian music.
Overall, the name Keli has a rich history rooted in Hawaiian culture and tradition. It has been associated with leaders, demigods, artists, and influential figures throughout the centuries, reflecting the enduring legacy of this name within the Hawaiian community.
People
Keli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keli 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
Keli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,008 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keli 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 85,518 US residents.
Is Keli a common name?
We classify Keli as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,398 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keli most popular?
The single biggest year for Keli was 1979, when 190 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keli is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,290 people with the name Keli, or 1.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,383 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 Keli 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 Keli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keli leans strongly female. 4,098 people counted with this name were female (95.7%), compared with 182 male bearers (4.3%). 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 Keli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keli is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.8%) 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 Keli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (3,159 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 Keli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keli a female name?
Yes, 98.9% of people registered as Keli 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 Keli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keli 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 Keli 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 Keli?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Keli at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.