Kees

Boys' name

Diminutive of Cornelis

Kees has been given to 141 babies in the U.S. since 1985. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2003, with 11 recorded.

Babies named Kees, 2022

1 in 677,000

Kees over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kees: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Cornelis

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Kees means

Kees is a diminutive of Cornelis.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Kees is used in Dutch.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈkeːs/ for Kees.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Cornelis.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Dutch, Kees is pronounced /keːs/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 141 boys were recorded with the name Kees between 1985 and 2022. Its highest annual count was 11 in 2003; its best national rank was #6,506 in 2003.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Kees?

Kees had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2022, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2022: 1 in 677,000; 5 of 3,385,755 births
Among boys only: 1 in 349,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2022: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 469,366 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Kees sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2022 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 469,366 children born in 2022 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kees. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Keess were born

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

Median birth year: 2003; About 22 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 53.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 75.9%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 141; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 53.2% of all recorded uses (75).

Is Kees 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 2003 (11)
Years since peak: 22; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 41.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #6,506; 2003

Spellings of Kees

Kees is not the most common spelling — Lee is, with 42.4% against Kees's 0.03%.

Lee42.4%233,627
Kent12.6%69,322
Reed6.6%36,056
Ken6.0%33,013
Jess4.6%25,063
Reese3.6%19,606
Kris2.6%14,400
Keon1.7%9,123

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.

Kees around the world

Where Kees 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
1999–2003
#3,467
in 2003
Canada
2006–2012
#2,715
in 2012
South Australia
1956–1979
#486
in 1979

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Kees by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #6,506; 2003
Peak year: 2003; 11 that year
First recorded: 1985
Last recorded: 2022
All-time count: 141
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Kees

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

Keeon Keen Keean Keene Keena Keeran Keelin Brees Raees Keevan Keelen Keelon Keeghan Rees Keeyon Keeton Keevon Keelyn Keegen Keeven Keedan Keefe Keefer Keeyan

Sibling names for Kees

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

For a sister

Shreya Anastacia Delanie Abigale Ashtyn Hailie Sydnee Iyana

For a brother

Alexandre Jair Estevan Dallin Zakary Domenic Octavio Alexandro

Explore around Kees

Top names of 2003, Kees's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 2003 Boys' names starting with K Dutch Boy Names