Head to head · Boys' names
Keanu vs Uriah
#648 vs #648 in 2025 · Hawaiian vs Hebrew roots
Keanu and Uriah share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#648). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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, Uriah leads 3 measures of 6; Keanu leads 0.
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: Keanu —, Uriah #785 — Uriah higher
- 1890s: Keanu —, Uriah #862 — Uriah higher
- 1910s: Keanu —, Uriah #2076 — Uriah higher
- 1920s: Keanu —, Uriah #2788 — Uriah higher
- 1930s: Keanu —, Uriah #2843 — Uriah higher
- 1940s: Keanu —, Uriah #3037 — Uriah higher
- 1950s: Keanu —, Uriah #3446 — Uriah higher
- 1960s: Keanu —, Uriah #3970 — Uriah higher
- 1970s: Keanu —, Uriah #1459 — Uriah higher
- 1980s: Keanu —, Uriah #1014 — Uriah higher
- 1990s: Keanu #1382, Uriah #1123 — Uriah higher
- 2000s: Keanu #930, Uriah #1035 — Keanu higher
- 2010s: Keanu #1051, Uriah #560 — Uriah higher
- 2020s: Keanu #576, Uriah #669 — Keanu higher
Uriah stood higher in 12 of 14 decades; Keanu took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Keanu | Uriah |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #785 |
| 1890s | — | #862 |
| 1910s | — | #2076 |
| 1920s | — | #2788 |
| 1930s | — | #2843 |
| 1940s | — | #3037 |
| 1950s | — | #3446 |
| 1960s | — | #3970 |
| 1970s | — | #1459 |
| 1980s | — | #1014 |
| 1990s | #1382 | #1123 |
| 2000s | #930 | #1035 |
| 2010s | #1051 | #560 |
| 2020s | #576 | #669 |
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
Keanu
the coolness; the cool breeze
Hawaiian ke (the definite article) plus anu (coolness, chill). English sources often expand it to "cool breeze over the mountains," which is a poetic reading of the same two words rather than a separate meaning.
ke anu (Hawaiian, "the coolness") → Keanu
How it traveled
Keanu comes straight out of the Hawaiian language, where ke anu is ordinary vocabulary before it is ever a name — the sort of naming tradition that draws on weather, place and plant. It reached the continental United States mainly through the actor Keanu Reeves, whose father's family was Hawaiian, and mainland records for the name begin only after his career did.
Uriah
the LORD is my light
From Hebrew Uriyyah: uri, "my light" or "my flame", joined to Yah, the shortened divine name. Some translators render the first element as "flame" rather than "light", but the two readings sit close together rather than competing.
Uriyyah (Hebrew) → Ourias (Greek) → Urias (Latin) → Uriah (English)
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew, built from a word for light and a short form of the divine name, and it appears in the Hebrew Bible for several men, most memorably Uriah the Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba. Greek translators wrote it Ourias, Latin Urias, and English Bibles settled on Uriah, which is the form that has stuck for four centuries.
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
Keanu
kee-AH-noo
That is the common American English pronunciation. In Hawaiian the first syllable is closer to keh, giving keh-AH-noo; both are heard, and Hawaiian speakers will generally use the latter.
- Kea — The usual informal clipping; also stands on its own as a Hawaiian given name and surname.
- K — Initial-only nickname, used casually among friends and teammates rather than by family.
Uriah
yoo-RY-uh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. In Hebrew the name runs oo-ree-YAH, with the weight at the end — worth knowing if the family uses both.
- Uri — The usual short form in English, and a full given name in its own right in Hebrew.
- Ry — Informal, drawn from the stressed middle syllable; used among friends rather than on paperwork.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Keanu if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsKeanu is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalKeanu entered the US charts in 1990
Choose Uriah if you want…
- a long American recordUriah was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Keanu
Strengths
- Spelled exactly as it sounds in Hawaiian — five letters, no silent parts, no competing spellings in wide use.
- Widely recognized in the US thanks to one very well-known bearer, so most people will not ask twice how to say it.
- A transparent meaning in a living language, not a reconstruction: ke plus anu, the coolness.
To consider
- For most Americans the name points to a single famous actor. That association is friendly, but it will come up throughout a child's life, and it is likely to be the first thing anyone mentions.
- The vowel run invites errors: Kianu and Keanue in writing, kee-ANN-oo in speech. Nothing severe, just a lifetime of small corrections.
- It is a word from a living Hawaiian-language tradition. Families with no connection to Hawaii sometimes want to think that through, and some choose it anyway, with care about pronouncing it as Hawaiian speakers do.
Uriah
Strengths
- A biblical name with an unbroken written record from the Hebrew scriptures through Greek and Latin into English, so its spelling and meaning are documented rather than guessed at.
- Uri is a ready-made short form that also stands alone as a given name in Hebrew.
- Recognizable across Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Hebrew-speaking families, since every Bible translation carries a version of it.
To consider
- Dickens gave the name to Uriah Heep, the cringing hypocrite of David Copperfield (1850), and the English rock band that took his name kept the reference alive. Readers of a literary bent may make the connection; many people will not.
- In the Bible, Uriah the Hittite is the loyal soldier King David has killed. It is a sympathetic role, but a tragic one, and some families weigh that.
- Expect to correct the pronunciation now and then — yoo-RY-uh rather than OO-ree-ah — and to be asked whether it is spelled like Uriel or Isaiah.
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 Keanu and Uriah 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 Keanu and Uriah?
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 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 Keanu and Uriah — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Keanu or Uriah — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Keanu or Uriah?
- They tie in 2025: Keanu ranked #648 with 427 babies; Uriah ranked #648 with 427 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Keanu or Uriah?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Keanu moved down 133 places; Uriah moved down 13 places.
- Which is the older name, Keanu or Uriah?
- Keanu entered the US charts in 1990; Uriah was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Uriah is the older name.
- How many people are named Keanu and Uriah?
- About 8,600 people named Keanu are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 11,500 people named Uriah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Keanus or Uriahs in the classroom?
- Keanu will almost certainly be the only one in school. Uriah 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
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