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    The surname O'Keefe

    An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 17,414 people in the United States.

    2 syllables Soundex O210

    O'Keefe: #2,079 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon O'Keefe #2,079, 17,414 people O'Keefe: #2,079 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez O'Keefe #2,079, 17,414 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). O'Keefe is more common than 98.7% of them.

    Origin

    Irish origin

    Anglicized form of Irish Ó Caoimh (“descendant of Caomh”), a personal name based on caomh (“gentle”).

    O'Keefe is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

    One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 17,414 people named O'Keefe in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 17,730 Americans. That is up 3.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 16,829.

    #2,079
    rank among US surnames
    17,414
    people in 2010
    5.9
    per 100,000 Americans
    +3.5%
    change since 2000 (was #1,966)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #2,070Vernon17,48017,663
    #2,071Crowell17,46717,676
    #2,072Blum17,45817,685
    #2,073Jeffers17,45517,688
    #2,074McCormack17,44917,694
    #2,075Mai17,44517,698
    #2,076Dumas17,44217,701

    Who is named O'Keefe

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    95% of people named O'Keefe identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.3% as two or more races.

    • White (not Hispanic) 95%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.7%
    • Two or more races 1.3%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 0.4%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous O'Keefes

    6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • John O'Keefe
      American British neuroscientist, 2014 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine
    • Michael O'Keefe
      American actor, born 1955
    • Dennis O'Keefe
      American actor (1908–1968)
    • Sean O'Keefe
      American politician and businessman, born 1956
    • Stephen O'Keefe
      Australian cricketer, born 1984
    • Johnny O'Keefe
      Australian singer (1935-1978)

    Notable O'Keefes come mostly from the United States (4) and Australia (2).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like O'Keefe

    O'Keefe has the Soundex code O210, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code O210.

    Other Irish surnames

    All 880 Irish surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname O'Keefe come from?
    Anglicized form of Irish Ó Caoimh (“descendant of Caomh”), a personal name based on caomh (“gentle”).
    How common is the surname O'Keefe?
    17,414 people in the United States had the surname O'Keefe in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,730 Americans. It ranked 2,079th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname O'Keefe?
    In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named O'Keefe identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
    Who is the most famous person named O'Keefe?
    John O'Keefe, American British neuroscientist, 2014 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, followed by Michael O'Keefe.
    Where is the surname O'Keefe most common?
    Wikidata records people named O'Keefe in the United States and Australia.
    What type of surname is O'Keefe?
    O'Keefe is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname O'Keefe getting more or less common?
    More common. 16,829 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,414 in 2010, up 3.5%.