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Keeley

#1,567 in 2025Girls' name

Descendant of Caollaidhe

Keeley has been given to 6,741 babies in the U.S. since 1957. In 2025 it ranked #1,567 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2007, with 253 recorded.

Babies named Keeley, 2025

1 in 24,600

Keeley over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Keeley: meaning, origin, and history

Descendant of Caollaidhe

surname transfer

What Keeley means

Keeley means “descendant of Caollaidhe”, associated with Caollaidhe.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

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

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Keeley (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Keeley is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Keeley comes through Irish Ó Caollaidhe.

Keeley is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,692 girls were recorded with the name Keeley between 1957 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 253 in 2007; its best national rank was #899 in 1997.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #3,522 in 2020 to #1,567 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,943 in 2015 to #1,567 in 2025.

In the United States, 49 boys were recorded with the name Keeley between 1969 and 2005. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1973; its best national rank was #4,720 in 1969.

How common is Keeley?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 24,600
135 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 11,900
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,567
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
17,023 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Keeley sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 17,023 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Keeley. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Keeleys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Keeley was born before 2003 — so the typical Keeley is around 22 today.

Median birth year
2003
About 22 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
31.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
56.9%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
6,692
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 31.0% of all recorded uses (2,072).

Is Keeley rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+5
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,955
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+376
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.30×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
53.4%
Peak was 2007 (253)
Years since peak
18
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
19.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#899
1997

Spellings of Keeley

Keeley is not the most common spelling — Kelly is, with 52.4% against Keeley's 0.74%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Keeley is used

Across 2016–2025, Keeley was most concentrated in Illinois — about 1 in 11,111 girls, against 1 in 26,490 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in 100,000).

19 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Illinois1 in 11,111
  2. 2Kansas1 in 11,111
  3. 3Washington1 in 12,500
  4. 4Pennsylvania1 in 14,286
  5. 5North Carolina1 in 16,667
  6. 6Ohio1 in 16,667
  7. 7Iowa1 in 20,000
  8. 8Oregon1 in 20,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Keeley around the world

Where Keeley ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #3,333
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1996–2023
    #749
    in 2023
  • Northern Ireland
    1998–2023
    #391
    in 2023
  • Ireland
    1996–2023
    #856
    in 2023
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #2,256
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1965–2013
    #536
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Keeley

People whose public names include Keeley, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Keeley by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,567
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,955
Best rank ever
#899
1997
Peak year
2007
253 that year
First recorded
1957
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,692
Count in 2025
135

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,720
1969
Peak year
1973
6 that year
First recorded
1969
Last recorded
2005
All-time count
49
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Keeley

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KeeganKeeshaHenleyBrileyTenleyKenleyKeelyKarleyKeelieKayleyHolleyHalleyCaileyEnsleyAnsleyTinleyWesleyBexleyKeelynOakleyAdleyWrenleyCarleyBerkley

Names with a curve like Keeley

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Keeley, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

KeilaShylaUniqueKatiaDenissePriyaAnisaKalliAleaJohanaJaciKinsey

Sibling names for Keeley

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Keeley

Top names of 2007, Keeley's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1997Girls' names starting with K