Kieth
Scottish Gaelic form of the Old English name Cæghath, meaning "hedge of battle."
Name Census estimates that about 2,133 living Americans carry the first name Kieth. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kieth today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kieth births was 1964 (88 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kieth. 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
2.1K
~ 1 in 160,691 Americans
Peak year
1964
88 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2010 SSA rank
#10,277
Tracked since 1915
Census
Kieth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,563 people with the first name Kieth, which placed it at #6,292 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
#6,292
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,563 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kieth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kieth is White at 71.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Kieth 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 Kieth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.2% · 1,826
- Black or African American17.5% · 449
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 96
- Two or more races3.4% · 86
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 50
Popularity
Kieth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kieth from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 652 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kieth 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 Kieth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kieths live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, New York, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Kieth, while New Jersey, Minnesota, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kieth
The name Kieth is a variant of the more common English name Keith, which has its origins in Scotland and northern England. It is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name Cái, which means "battle" or "warrior." The earliest known spelling of the name is "Ket," which dates back to the 12th century.
The name Keith is believed to have been introduced to Scotland by the Norman conquerors in the 11th century. It became particularly popular in the Scottish Highlands, where it was used by several prominent clans, including the Clan Keith and the Clan MacKie. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Robert de Keith, a Scottish nobleman who lived in the 12th century and was the progenitor of the Clan Keith.
In the Middle Ages, the name Keith was often associated with military prowess and bravery on the battlefield. Several knights and warriors bearing this name are mentioned in medieval chronicles and records. For example, Sir William Keith, a 14th-century Scottish knight, was renowned for his valor and loyalty to King Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Over the centuries, the name Kieth has been used by various notable individuals, including Kieth Jarrett (born 1945), an American jazz pianist and composer; Kieth Mitchell (born 1946), an American professional basketball player; and Kieth Lee (born 1983), an English professional wrestler.
Other historical figures bearing the name Kieth or its variants include Kieth Merrill (1925-2021), an American actor and director; Kieth Rendleman (1894-1974), an American politician and lawyer; and Kieth Stroup (1781-1838), an American pioneer and frontiersman.
It is worth noting that while the name Kieth is a variant spelling of Keith, it has been used independently by some individuals and families throughout history. Regardless of the spelling, the name has maintained its connection to its Celtic roots, evoking a sense of strength, courage, and warrior spirit.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kieth
People
Kieth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kieth 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
Kieth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kieth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,133 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kieth 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 160,691 US residents.
Is Kieth a common name?
We classify Kieth as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,837 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kieth most popular?
The single biggest year for Kieth was 1964, when 88 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kieth is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kieth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,563 people with the name Kieth, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,292 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 Kieth 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 Kieth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kieth appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,559 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Kieth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kieth is White at 71.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Kieth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kieth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.2% (1,826 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 Kieth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kieth a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kieth 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 Kieth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kieth 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 Kieth 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 named Kieth?
Find out how many people share the name Kieth on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.