Keziah
A feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "cassia tree".
Name Census estimates that about 4,643 living Americans carry the first name Keziah. It is a predominantly female name (96.3% of registrations). The average person named Keziah today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keziah births was 2024 (329 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keziah. 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 Keziah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Keziah is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 173 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Keziah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.6K
~ 1 in 73,822 Americans
Peak year
2024
329 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#865
Tracked since 1972
Census
Keziah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,277 people with the first name Keziah, which placed it at #5,294 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
#5,294
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,277 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
46.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keziah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keziah is Black at 46.4%. The next largest groups are White (22.5%) and Hispanic (12.9%). 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 Keziah 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 Keziah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American46.4% · 1,520
- White22.5% · 736
- Hispanic or Latino12.9% · 424
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.8% · 287
- Two or more races8.5% · 278
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 32
Gender
Gender distribution for Keziah
Keziah leans heavily female at 96.3% of total registrations, but 173 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keziah as a male name
- Ranked #5,325 in 2024
- 18 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (18 births)
Keziah as a female name
- Ranked #865 in 2024
- 311 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (311 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keziah leans strongly female. 3,175 people counted with this name were female (96.9%), compared with 103 male bearers (3.1%).
Popularity
Keziah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keziah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,631 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Keziah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keziah 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 Keziah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keziahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Keziah, while Idaho, Kansas, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 85 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keziah
Keziah is a Hebrew given name that has its roots in the Old Testament. It is derived from the Hebrew word "kassia," which means "cinnamon" or "cassia." The name first appeared in the Book of Job, where it was given to one of the three daughters of Job. This biblical reference dates the name back to ancient times, likely before the 6th century BC.
The name Keziah was relatively uncommon in ancient times, but it did appear in historical records and texts throughout the centuries. One notable example is Keziah Beecher, an American missionary and educator who lived from 1799 to 1862. She was a pioneering figure in the field of education for women in the early 19th century.
Another notable bearer of the name was Keziah Goudey, an English Puritan woman who was born in the late 16th century. She was known for her religious writings and her involvement in the Puritan movement in England during the 17th century.
In the 18th century, Keziah Hussey was a prominent Quaker minister and writer from England. She was born in 1701 and was known for her spiritual writings and her advocacy for women's rights within the Quaker community.
During the 19th century, Keziah Batchelder was an American educator and writer. She was born in 1804 and was a prominent figure in the field of education in New England. She wrote several books on teaching methods and educational philosophy.
Another notable Keziah was Keziah Churchill, an American Revolutionary War heroine who lived from 1735 to 1802. She is known for her bravery and resourcefulness during the Siege of Fort Massachusetts, where she helped defend the fort against a Native American attack.
While the name Keziah has biblical origins and historical references, it has remained a relatively uncommon name throughout the centuries. However, its unique and distinctive sound has made it a popular choice for parents seeking a name with a rich historical and cultural background.
People
Keziah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keziah 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
Keziah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keziah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,643 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keziah 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 73,822 US residents.
Is Keziah a common name?
We classify Keziah as "Rare". It ranks above 96.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,706 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keziah most popular?
The single biggest year for Keziah was 2024, when 329 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keziah is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keziah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,277 people with the name Keziah, or 1.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,294 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 Keziah 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 Keziah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keziah leans strongly female. 3,175 people counted with this name were female (96.9%), compared with 103 male bearers (3.1%). 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 Keziah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keziah is Black at 46.4%. The next largest groups are White (22.5%) and Hispanic (12.9%). 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 Keziah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keziah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.4% (1,520 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 Keziah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keziah a female name?
Yes, 96.3% of people registered as Keziah 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 Keziah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keziah 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 Keziah 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 Keziah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.