Keygan
A masculine name with Celtic origins, meaning "powerful" or "handsome".
Name Census estimates that about 404 living Americans carry the first name Keygan. It is a predominantly male name (97.3% of registrations). The average person named Keygan today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keygan births was 2008 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keygan. 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
404
~ 1 in 848,402 Americans
Peak year
2008
34 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,385
Tracked since 1996
Census
Keygan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 403 people with the first name Keygan, which placed it at #24,052 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
#24,052
National first-name rank
People counted
403
403 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keygan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keygan is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.2%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Keygan 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 Keygan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 318
- Two or more races11.2% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 19
- Black or African American4.0% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Keygan
Keygan leans heavily male at 97.3% of total registrations, but 11 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keygan as a male name
- Ranked #13,385 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2008 (34 births)
Keygan as a female name
- Ranked #18,259 in 2012
- 5 female births in 2012
- Peak: 2009 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keygan leans strongly male. 347 people counted with this name were male (88.1%), compared with 47 female bearers (11.9%).
Popularity
Keygan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keygan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 188 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
Keygan 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 Keygan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keygans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Keygan
The name Keygan is believed to have originated from the ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of modern-day Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It is derived from the Old Irish words "caec" meaning "blind" and "an" meaning "little one" or "diminutive." This combination of words suggests that the name may have been used to describe a child born with a visual impairment or blindness.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keygan can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history dating back to the 15th century. The annals mention a Keygan mac Domhnaill, who was a prominent chieftain of the O'Donnell clan in the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, a Scottish soldier named Keygan MacDonald fought alongside the Marquis of Montrose during the Scottish Civil War. He was known for his bravery and loyalty to the royalist cause.
Another notable figure with the name Keygan was an Irish poet and bard who lived in the 18th century. Keygan O'Reilly was renowned for his compositions in the Gaelic language, which preserved the oral traditions and cultural heritage of Ireland.
During the 19th century, a Welsh artist named Keygan Davies gained recognition for his landscape paintings depicting the rugged beauty of the Welsh countryside. His works are now part of the national collection at the National Museum of Wales.
In the early 20th century, Keygan O'Connor was a prominent Irish nationalist and politician who played a key role in the struggle for Irish independence. He served as a member of the Irish Republican Army and later as a member of the Irish Parliament.
While the name Keygan has its roots in ancient Celtic culture, it has been adopted and used in various parts of the world over the centuries. Its unique meaning and historical significance have made it a distinctive choice for parents seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Keygan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keygan 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
Keygan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keygan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 404 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keygan 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 848,402 US residents.
Is Keygan a common name?
We classify Keygan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 408 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keygan most popular?
The single biggest year for Keygan was 2008, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keygan is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keygan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 403 people with the name Keygan, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,052 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 Keygan 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 Keygan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keygan leans strongly male. 347 people counted with this name were male (88.1%), compared with 47 female bearers (11.9%). 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 Keygan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keygan is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.2%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Keygan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keygan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (318 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 Keygan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keygan a male name?
Yes, 97.3% of people registered as Keygan 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 Keygan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keygan 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 Keygan 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 Keygan?
Find out how many Americans are named Keygan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.