Name Awesome

Kei

#6,280 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Intelligent

Kei has been given to 837 babies in the U.S. since 1920. In 2025 it ranked #6,280 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2015, with 33 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 78% boys, 22% girls all-time.

Babies named Kei, 2025

1 in 237,000

Kei over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Kei over time

In 2025, Kei went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19202025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Kei: meaning, origin, and history

Intelligent

Japanese

What Kei means

Kei means “intelligent”.

Origin, language, and formation

Kei is used in English. Its origins include Japanese.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 651 boys were recorded with the name Kei between 1920 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 33 in 2015; its best national rank was #3,401 in 2015.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,140 in 2020 to #6,280 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,401 in 2015 to #6,280 in 2025.

In the United States, 186 girls were recorded with the name Kei between 1978 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 12 in 1994; its best national rank was #6,515 in 1980.

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 Kei?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 237,000
14 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 122,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#6,280
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
164,137 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kei 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 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 164,137 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kei. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Keis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kei was born before 2009 — so the typical Kei is around 16 today.

Median birth year
2009
About 16 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
32.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
68.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
638
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 32.6% of all recorded uses (212).

Is Kei 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
−1,648
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,140
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,879
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.42×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
42.4%
Peak was 2015 (33)
Years since peak
10
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
25.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,401
2015

Where Kei is used

Across 1910–2025, Kei was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 198,099 across all states with data.

11 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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. Kei has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Kei around the world

Where Kei 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
    #5,137
    in 2025
  • France
    2007–2025
    #5,809
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2016–2016
    #2,748
    in 2016

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Kei by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#6,280
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,140
Best rank ever
#3,401
2015
Peak year
2015
33 that year
First recorded
1920
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
651
Count in 2025
14

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#6,515
1980
Peak year
1994
12 that year
First recorded
1978
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
186
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kei

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

KeirKeitaKeivonKeidenKeiganKeilKeiranKeiferKeijiKeilanKeionKeithanKeianKeinanKeisonKeilerKeironKeishawnKeinKeizerKeitonKeithenKeilenKeilyn

Sibling names for Kei

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 Kei

Top names of 2015, Kei's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2015Boys' names starting with KJapanese Names