Keontay
A name of uncertain origin and obscure meaning, potentially rooted in African languages.
Name Census estimates that about 363 living Americans carry the first name Keontay. It is a predominantly male name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Keontay today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keontay births was 2000 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keontay. 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.
People living today
363
~ 1 in 944,227 Americans
Peak year
2000
30 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,424
Tracked since 1989
Census
Keontay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 281 people with the first name Keontay, which placed it at #30,797 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
#30,797
National first-name rank
People counted
281
281 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keontay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keontay is Black at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.0%) and White (1.1%). 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 Keontay 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 Keontay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.8% · 258
- Two or more races6.0% · 17
- White1.1% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Keontay
Keontay leans heavily male at 98.6% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keontay as a male name
- Ranked #9,424 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (30 births)
Keontay as a female name
- Ranked #13,413 in 1989
- 5 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keontay leans strongly male. 260 people counted with this name were male (90.6%), compared with 27 female bearers (9.4%).
Popularity
Keontay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keontay from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 174 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
Keontay 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 Keontay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keontays live
Origin
Meaning and history of Keontay
The name Keontay is of African origin, though its precise linguistic roots are uncertain. It is believed to have emerged in the late 20th century, likely as a creative combination of existing African names or words.
Some scholars suggest that the name Keontay may be derived from the Yoruba language, which is spoken in parts of West Africa, particularly Nigeria. The "Keon" portion of the name could be related to the Yoruba word "keun," meaning "to be precious" or "to be valuable." However, this connection is speculative, and the etymology remains unclear.
There are no known historical references or ancient texts that mention the name Keontay directly. As a relatively modern name, it does not appear to have any significant historical or religious associations.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Keontay are from the late 20th century, likely in the United States or other regions with African diaspora communities. However, due to the lack of comprehensive records, it is challenging to pinpoint the exact origin and earliest use of the name.
While the name Keontay is not particularly common, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this name throughout history:
1. Keontay Vaughn (born 1985) is an American professional basketball player who played for several teams in the NBA and internationally.
2. Keontay Ingram (born 1999) is an American football running back who currently plays for the University of Southern California.
3. Keontay Jones (born 1995) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the long jump and triple jump events.
4. Keontay Hodges (born 1992) is an American musician and songwriter known for his work in the gospel and contemporary Christian music genres.
5. Keontay Williams (born 1987) is an American entrepreneur and business executive who co-founded a successful tech startup in Silicon Valley.
It is worth noting that due to the relatively recent origin of the name Keontay, there may be limited historical information available, and the individuals mentioned above are among the more prominent examples found in public records.
People
Keontay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keontay 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
Keontay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keontay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 363 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keontay 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 944,227 US residents.
Is Keontay a common name?
We classify Keontay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 368 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keontay most popular?
The single biggest year for Keontay was 2000, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keontay is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keontay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 281 people with the name Keontay, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,797 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 Keontay 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 Keontay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keontay leans strongly male. 260 people counted with this name were male (90.6%), compared with 27 female bearers (9.4%). 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 Keontay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keontay is Black at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.0%) and White (1.1%). 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 Keontay most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keontay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.8% (258 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 Keontay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keontay a male name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Keontay in the SSA data are male. 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 Keontay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keontay 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 Keontay 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 are called Keontay?
Find out how many Americans are named Keontay on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.