# Keith (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/keith/  
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 | boys |
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Meaning | “wood”, “from the battleground”, “sprout”, “offspring” |
| Pronunciation | /kiːθ/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 440,123 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 437,907 / 2,216 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 633, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

* As a Scottish surname, from the placename in Moray, Scotland, from Scottish Gaelic Cèith, meaning "wood" or "from the battleground," which is probably borrowed from Pictish *ᚉᚓᚈ (cēt) meaning "wood", or a forest, from Proto-Brythonic *koɨd. * As a German surname, from Middle High German kit (“sprout, offspring”); compare Middle High German kint.

## What it means

Keith is grouped under forest.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 41 | 2,616 |
| 1989 | 26 | 3,829 |
| 1990 | 23 | 4,309 |
| 1991 | 13 | 6,787 |
| 1992 | 15 | 6,150 |
| 1993 | 14 | 6,433 |
| 1994 | 11 | 7,876 |
| 1995 | 5 | 14,538 |
| 1996 | 8 | 10,041 |
| 1997 | 5 | 14,897 |
| 2000 | 9 | 10,321 |
| 2002 | 6 | 14,518 |
| 2003 | 8 | 11,871 |
| 2004 | 8 | 12,190 |
| 2007 | 8 | 13,306 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 806 | 368 |
| 2012 | 842 | 362 |
| 2013 | 761 | 393 |
| 2014 | 754 | 412 |
| 2015 | 729 | 424 |
| 2016 | 634 | 485 |
| 2017 | 587 | 493 |
| 2018 | 571 | 503 |
| 2019 | 512 | 550 |
| 2020 | 461 | 598 |
| 2021 | 470 | 592 |
| 2022 | 382 | 694 |
| 2023 | 373 | 713 |
| 2024 | 337 | 756 |
| 2025 | 311 | 801 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 15 | 1,522 |
| 2012 | 16 | 1,507 |
| 2013 | 15 | 1,539 |
| 2014 | 11 | 1,935 |
| 2015 | 14 | 1,673 |
| 2016 | 7 | 2,804 |
| 2017 | 9 | 2,324 |
| 2018 | 13 | 1,786 |
| 2019 | 12 | 1,869 |
| 2020 | 5 | 3,334 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,451 |
| 2022 | 7 | 2,755 |
| 2023 | 9 | 2,325 |
| 2024 | 5 | 3,688 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,137 |

## People named Keith

- Keith Richards, British musician, guitarist of the Rolling Stones
- Keith Haring, American artist and social activist (1958-1990)
- Keith Jarrett, American jazz/classical pianist and composer (born 1945)
- Keith Emerson, British recording artist; keyboard player and composer (1944–2016)
- Keith Flint, British singer and musician (1969-2019)
- Keith Moon, English rock musician, drummer of The Who (1946–1978)
- Keith David, American actor
- Keith Ferguson, American voice actor (born 1972)
- LaKeith Stanfield, American actor and rapper
- Keith Carradine, American actor and singer
- Keith Urban, Australian-American musician (born 1967)
- Keith Ellison, American politician (born 1963)

## 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.