Recorded 1888–2025 · United States
Keith was most popular in 1957, when 12,483 American babies were given the name — ranking #67 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,646, with 311 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 440,123 people named Keith.
Keith first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1888, which makes it about 137 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 137 of the 138 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 440,123 American births named Keith between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 341,670 are estimated to be alive today.
311 American babies were named Keith in 2025, ranking #1,646 that year.
Keith is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 375 births a year, against 778 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -52% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Keith is a boy’s name — 0.5% of the 440,123 Americans given it were girls and 99.5% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 341,670 Americans named Keith are alive today — 78% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 57 years old, and half are between 44 and 66.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Scottish · a place name meaning "wood"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Keith on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org