Keshawn
An English / Unknown origin name possibly meaning "brave guardian" or "guardian scholar".
Name Census estimates that about 6,223 living Americans carry the first name Keshawn. It is a predominantly male name (94.6% of registrations). The average person named Keshawn today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keshawn births was 2000 (396 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keshawn. 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 Keshawn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.2K
~ 1 in 55,079 Americans
Peak year
2000
396 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,404
Tracked since 1973
Census
Keshawn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,638 people with the first name Keshawn, which placed it at #4,138 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
#4,138
National first-name rank
People counted
4.6K
4,638 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keshawn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keshawn is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Keshawn 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 Keshawn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.8% · 4,073
- Two or more races5.6% · 258
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 133
- White1.9% · 90
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 67
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 17
Gender
Gender distribution for Keshawn
Keshawn leans heavily male at 94.6% of total registrations, but 342 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keshawn as a male name
- Ranked #2,404 in 2024
- 58 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (380 births)
Keshawn as a female name
- Ranked #19,099 in 2007
- 5 female births in 2007
- Peak: 1995 (21 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keshawn leans strongly male. 4,383 people counted with this name were male (94.4%), compared with 258 female bearers (5.6%).
Popularity
Keshawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keshawn from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 3,037 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
Keshawn 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 Keshawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keshawns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. Florida, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Keshawn, while Minnesota, Kansas, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 161 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keshawn
The name Keshawn has its origins in the African-American community, emerging in the late 20th century. It is a blend of the names Ke'shon and Shawn, with potential influences from other names like Keyon and Deshawn. The first part, "Ke," is derived from the prefix "Ke-" or "Ki-," which has roots in various African languages and can signify concepts like "the born one" or "the child."
While the name itself is relatively modern, its components may have ties to older African naming traditions. However, there are no clear historical references or records of the name Keshawn appearing in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical documents prior to the 20th century.
The earliest documented examples of the name Keshawn can be traced back to the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, coinciding with the rise of unique and blended names within the African-American community. As the name grew in popularity, it gained recognition and usage among various cultural groups.
Over the years, several notable individuals have borne the name Keshawn. One of the earliest recorded instances is Keshawn Young (born 1983), an American football player who played for several teams in the National Football League (NFL) from 2006 to 2012. Another prominent figure is Keshawn Martin (born 1990), an American professional basketball player who has played in various leagues, including the NBA G League and overseas.
Keshawn Bryant (born 1992) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the long jump and has represented the United States in international competitions. Keshawn Huff (born 1996) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Lakeland Magic in the NBA G League.
Additionally, Keshawn Burks (born 2000) is a rising talent in American football, playing as a wide receiver for the University of Southern California. He was a highly recruited high school prospect and is considered a promising prospect for the future.
These individuals, spanning various fields such as sports, entertainment, and academia, have contributed to the visibility and recognition of the name Keshawn across different communities and generations.
People
Keshawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keshawn 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
Keshawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keshawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,223 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keshawn 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 55,079 US residents.
Is Keshawn a common name?
We classify Keshawn as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,330 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keshawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Keshawn was 2000, when 396 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keshawn is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keshawn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,638 people with the name Keshawn, or 1.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,138 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 Keshawn 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 Keshawn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keshawn leans strongly male. 4,383 people counted with this name were male (94.4%), compared with 258 female bearers (5.6%). 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 Keshawn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keshawn is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Keshawn most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keshawn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.8% (4,073 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 Keshawn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keshawn a male name?
Yes, 94.6% of people registered as Keshawn 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 Keshawn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keshawn 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 Keshawn 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 share the name Keshawn?
You can see how many people have the name Keshawn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.