Head to head · Boys' names
Dominick vs Keegan
#622 vs #621 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Keegan is a whisker ahead (#621 vs #622 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Dominick leads 3 measures of 6; Keegan leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Dominick #755, Keegan — — Dominick higher
- 1890s: Dominick #506, Keegan — — Dominick higher
- 1900s: Dominick #343, Keegan — — Dominick higher
- 1910s: Dominick #216, Keegan — — Dominick higher
- 1920s: Dominick #244, Keegan — — Dominick higher
- 1930s: Dominick #326, Keegan — — Dominick higher
- 1940s: Dominick #384, Keegan — — Dominick higher
- 1950s: Dominick #409, Keegan — — Dominick higher
- 1960s: Dominick #446, Keegan #3420 — Dominick higher
- 1970s: Dominick #473, Keegan #2224 — Dominick higher
- 1980s: Dominick #436, Keegan #713 — Dominick higher
- 1990s: Dominick #306, Keegan #385 — Dominick higher
- 2000s: Dominick #233, Keegan #247 — Dominick higher
- 2010s: Dominick #323, Keegan #288 — Keegan higher
- 2020s: Dominick #530, Keegan #566 — Dominick higher
Dominick stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Dominick took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Dominick | Keegan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #755 | — |
| 1890s | #506 | — |
| 1900s | #343 | — |
| 1910s | #216 | — |
| 1920s | #244 | — |
| 1930s | #326 | — |
| 1940s | #384 | — |
| 1950s | #409 | — |
| 1960s | #446 | #3420 |
| 1970s | #473 | #2224 |
| 1980s | #436 | #713 |
| 1990s | #306 | #385 |
| 2000s | #233 | #247 |
| 2010s | #323 | #288 |
| 2020s | #530 | #566 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Dominick
of the Lord; belonging to the Lord
From Latin dominus, 'lord' or 'master'. In medieval Christian Europe the name was often given to children born on a Sunday.
Dominicus → Dominic → Dominick
How it traveled
The root is the Latin adjective Dominicus, formed from dominus, 'lord', and used in the early Church for what belonged to God — including a child born on the Lord's day. It spread widely after Dominic de Guzmán, the Castilian priest who founded the Order of Preachers in the early thirteenth century; the friars carried the name across Catholic Europe, and it settled deeply in Italy as Domenico and in Spain as Domingo.
Keegan
descendant of Aodhagán — 'little Aodh', from Aodh, 'fire'
The chain is well documented: the Irish personal name Aodh ('fire') gave the diminutive Aodhagán, which gave the surname Mac Aodhagáin or Ó Aodhagáin, anglicized as Keegan and Egan.
Aodh → Aodhagán → Mac Aodhagáin → MacEgan / Keegan → Keegan
How it traveled
The Mac Aodhagáin were among Ireland's hereditary brehon families, legal scholars who kept and taught native Irish law under the Gaelic lordships, particularly in Connacht and in Ormond in the south. Their name was built from Aodhagán, a diminutive of the old personal name Aodh, meaning fire.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Dominick
DOM-uh-nik
Stress on the first syllable. The middle vowel is light and often nearly disappears in fast speech: DOM-nik.
- Dom — The most common short form in English, informal, and used on its own by plenty of adults.
- Nick — Taken from the end of the name; also a standalone given name in its own right, from Nicholas.
- Nico — Informal, more current among younger bearers, and a given name by itself in Italian and Spanish.
- Dommy — Family-level nickname, usually childhood only.
- Also Nicky.
Keegan
KEE-gən
Stress on the first syllable. The spelling gives the sound away, so it rarely needs repeating.
- Keeg — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates; not used as a name on its own.
- Keegs — Informal and affectionate, common in sports and school settings.
- Kee — Family-level shortening, used mainly with young children.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Dominick if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsDominick is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itDominick runs 3 syllables, Keegan 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Dom, Nick and Nico
Choose Keegan if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesKeegan is 2 syllables to Dominick's 3
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Dominick
Strengths
- Two well-established short forms, Dom and Nick, both usable by an adult and neither invented on the spot.
- An unbroken record in the United States from the earliest years of national name-keeping to the present day.
- Recognizable across Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Polish, which travels well in extended families.
To consider
- Dominic and Dominick both circulate in English, and the -ck spelling will need saying aloud often. Expect the shorter form to be written by default on forms and in emails.
- The meaning is explicitly religious, and the tie to the Dominican order is real. For some families that is the appeal; for others it is worth weighing.
- The name is more strongly represented among adults now than among newborns, so an older Dominick may well be the first one people picture.
Keegan
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English — two syllables, no silent letters, no competing pronunciations.
- Genuine Irish ancestry with a traceable line from Aodh through Aodhagán to the Mac Aodhagáin brehon families.
- Widely recognized as a surname across the English-speaking world, so it is familiar before it is explained.
To consider
- Keagan, Kegan and Keeghan all exist, so the spelling will occasionally be queried even though this one is the most common. A short confirmation, not a lifelong battle.
- It sits in a crowded corner of similar sounds — Keaton, Kian, Kellan, Teagan — and can be misheard among them in a noisy room.
- Its strongest years are recent enough that most people carrying it are teenagers and young adults, so it currently reads as a name of that generation rather than an old family one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Dominick and Keegan in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Dominick and Keegan?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Dominick and Keegan — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Dominick or Keegan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Dominick or Keegan?
- Keegan, in 2025: Keegan ranked #621 with 449 babies; Dominick ranked #622 with 448 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Dominick or Keegan?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Dominick moved down 176 places; Keegan moved down 125 places.
- Which is the older name, Dominick or Keegan?
- Dominick entered the US charts in 1881; Keegan entered the US charts in 1965. On the American record, Dominick is the older name.
- How many people are named Dominick and Keegan?
- About 51,000 people named Dominick are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 38,000 people named Keegan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Dominicks or Keegans in the classroom?
- Dominick will almost certainly be the only one in school. Keegan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Dominick, Keegan and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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