2000
#999
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 31,882
First available Census row
Per 100,000 11.82
Uncommon Last name
Key
An English occupational surname for a maker or seller of keys, or for a gatekeeper or jailer.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 36,435 Americans carry the last name Key. That puts it at #1,083 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 10.63 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 9,407 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Key surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Key with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
36K
1 in 9,407
Census rank
#1,083
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
10.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
32K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 31,773 bearers of the surname Key in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 10.63 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1083rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Key, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Black (23.9%) and Two or More Races (5.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Key
The surname Key is of English origin, and it is believed to have derived from the Old English word "caeg," which means "key." This word was likely used as a nickname for someone who worked as a key maker or locksmith during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded use of the surname Key can be traced back to the 13th century in various parts of England, particularly in counties such as Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Gloucestershire. Some early spellings of the name include Keye, Kaye, and Keay.
In the 13th century, a man named Thomas Key was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1257. Another early record comes from the Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire in 1275, where a Robert le Keye is listed.
The surname Key is also found in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Cai" and "Chei" in this record.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Key was Sir William Key, who was born in Warwickshire in the late 13th century and served as a Knight of the Shire for Warwickshire in the English Parliament in 1313.
Another notable figure was Thomas Key, a 16th-century English clergyman and scholar who was born in Sussex in 1502. He served as the Rector of Wrotham in Kent and was known for his translations of ancient Greek texts.
In the 17th century, John Key, born in 1602 in Gloucestershire, was a prominent English Puritan and minister who served as the Rector of St. Giles' Church in Camberwell, London.
During the 18th century, Benjamin Key, born in 1724 in London, was a renowned English mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the fields of navigation and celestial mechanics.
In the 19th century, Thomas Hewitt Key, born in 1799 in Herefordshire, was a renowned English philosopher and author who wrote extensively on topics such as metaphysics and the philosophy of language.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Key
Among Census respondents with the surname Key, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Black (23.9%) and Two or More Races (5.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Key bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Key surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.8% · 20,891
- Black or African American23.9% · 7,608
- Two or more races5.0% · 1,584
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 1,086
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 318
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 286
Timeline
Historical Census data for Key
Key appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#1,037
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 33,501
+1,619 bearers (+5.1%)
Per 100,000 11.36
Rank movement Down 38 places
2020
#1,083
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 31,773
-1,728 bearers (-5.2%)
Per 100,000 10.63
Rank movement Down 46 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #999 | 31,882 | 11.82 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,037 | 33,501 | 11.36 | +1,619 bearers (+5.1%) | Down 38 places |
| 2020 | #1,083 | 31,773 | 10.63 | -1,728 bearers (-5.2%) | Down 46 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Key surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1,037 | #1,083 | -4.4% |
| Count | 33,501 | 31,773 | -5.2% |
| Per 100K | 11.36 | 10.63 | -6.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Key bearers went from 33,501 to 31,773 (-5.2% change). The surname moved down 46 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,037 to #1,083.
FAQ
Key surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Key?
Name Census estimates that about 36,435 living Americans carry the surname Key. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 9,407 residents.
How common is Key?
Key ranks #1,083 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 10.63 per 100,000 residents, which is about 11 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 31,773 people with the surname Key. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (36,435), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 10.63 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 10.63 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 11 of them to have the surname Key.
Has Key become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Key went from 33,501 recorded bearers to 31,773. That is a decrease of 1,728 (-5.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,037 to #1,083.
What does the Census say about the background of Key?
Among Census respondents with the surname Key, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Black (23.9%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Key in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.8% (20,891 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Key appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (65.8%), Black (23.9%), Two or More Races (5.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Key (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Key mean?
An English occupational surname for a maker or seller of keys, or for a gatekeeper or jailer. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Key (10.63 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Key?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Key at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.