# Keeley (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/keeley/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Irish |
| Meaning | “descendant of caollaidhe”, “slender”, “graceful” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Kealey, Kealy, Keely |
| US babies named this | 6,741 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 49 / 6,692 (99% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,865, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized from Irish Ó Caollaidhe (“descendant of Caollaidhe”), a personal name based on the adjective caol (“slender, graceful”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 187 | 1,274 |
| 2012 | 159 | 1,441 |
| 2013 | 173 | 1,348 |
| 2014 | 149 | 1,500 |
| 2015 | 104 | 1,943 |
| 2016 | 83 | 2,296 |
| 2017 | 84 | 2,246 |
| 2018 | 79 | 2,317 |
| 2019 | 51 | 3,147 |
| 2020 | 43 | 3,522 |
| 2021 | 91 | 2,097 |
| 2022 | 122 | 1,717 |
| 2023 | 140 | 1,527 |
| 2024 | 135 | 1,572 |
| 2025 | 135 | 1,567 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 5 | 4,721 |
| 1971 | 5 | 5,293 |
| 1973 | 6 | 4,814 |
| 1976 | 6 | 5,284 |
| 1997 | 6 | 8,724 |
| 1999 | 6 | 9,328 |
| 2000 | 5 | 11,328 |
| 2001 | 5 | 11,500 |
| 2005 | 5 | 12,429 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 148 | 323 |
| 2012 | 101 | 448 |
| 2013 | 91 | 460 |
| 2014 | 49 | 794 |
| 2015 | 36 | 984 |
| 2016 | 27 | 1,241 |
| 2017 | 18 | 1,681 |
| 2018 | 12 | 2,187 |
| 2019 | 16 | 1,782 |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,615 |
| 2021 | 9 | 2,711 |
| 2022 | 3 | 5,669 |
| 2023 | 6 | 3,598 |
| 2024 | 7 | 3,318 |
| 2025 | 7 | 3,333 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3 | 2,901 |
| 1999 | 3 | 2,943 |
| 2000 | 4 | 2,501 |

## People named Keeley

- Keeley Hawes, British actress
- Keeley Hazell, English model

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.