Name Awesome

Keir

#10,203 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Possibly dark

Keir has been given to 1,117 babies in the U.S. since 1963. In 2025 it ranked #10,203 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1970, with 63 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 94% boys, 6% girls all-time.

Babies named Keir, 2025

1 in 474,000

Keir over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

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

19632025

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.

Keir: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly dark

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Keir means

Keir may mean “dark”, associated with ciar.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic ciar (“dark”) or Old Norse [Term?]. Hanks (2006) derived the name from Pictish/Proto-Brythonic *kaɨr (“a fort”), possibly via Scots keir.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Keir is used in English.

Keir comes through Scottish Gaelic ciar, Proto-Brythonic *kaɨr and Scots keir.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Keir is pronounced /kɪɹ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,053 boys were recorded with the name Keir between 1963 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 63 in 1970; its best national rank was #1,028 in 1970.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #6,829 in 2020 to #10,203 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #4,625 in 2015 to #10,203 in 2025.

In the United States, 64 girls were recorded with the name Keir between 1969 and 1994. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1970; its best national rank was #4,896 in 1970.

How common is Keir?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 474,000
7 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 244,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#10,203
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
328,272 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Keir 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 328,272 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Keir. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Keirs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Keir was born before 1988 — so the typical Keir is around 37 today.

Median birth year
1988
About 37 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
25.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
30.8%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,053
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 25.9% of all recorded uses (273).

Is Keir 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
−3,556
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−3,374
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−5,578
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.33×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
11.1%
Peak was 1970 (63)
Years since peak
55
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
47.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,028
1970

Spellings of Keir

Keir is not the most common spelling — Kevin is, with 51.6% against Keir's 0.05%.

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 Keir is used

Across 1910–2025, Keir was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 651,805 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Illinois1 in —
  3. 3New Jersey1 in —
  4. 4New York1 in —
  5. 5Ohio1 in —
  6. 6Pennsylvania1 in —

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. Keir has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Keir around the world

Where Keir 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
    1996–2023
    #4,108
    in 2023
  • Scotland
    1975–2025
    #647
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2019–2019
    #418
    in 2019
  • Canada
    1992–2020
    #2,283
    in 2020
  • South Australia
    1953–2008
    #467
    in 2008

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

Keir by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#10,203
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,374
Best rank ever
#1,028
1970
Peak year
1970
63 that year
First recorded
1963
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,053
Count in 2025
7

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,896
1970
Peak year
1970
11 that year
First recorded
1969
Last recorded
1994
All-time count
64
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Keir

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

KeiKeiranKeitaKeiferKeiganKeilanKeionKeivonAmeirKeidenKeilKeithanKeijiMeirKeianJameirKeinanKeishawnZyeirKeisonKeilerKeironKeinZyheir

Sibling names for Keir

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 Keir

Top names of 1970, Keir's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1970Boys' names starting with K