Head to head · Boys' names
Keegan vs Kylian
#621 vs #622 in 2025
Keegan is a whisker ahead (#621 vs #622 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Keegan is stepping back from its peak, Kylian is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Kylian has the edge.
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, Keegan leads 5 measures of 6; Kylian leads 1.
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
- 1960s: Keegan #3420, Kylian — — Keegan higher
- 1970s: Keegan #2224, Kylian — — Keegan higher
- 1980s: Keegan #713, Kylian — — Keegan higher
- 1990s: Keegan #385, Kylian — — Keegan higher
- 2000s: Keegan #247, Kylian #8810 — Keegan higher
- 2010s: Keegan #288, Kylian #6142 — Keegan higher
- 2020s: Keegan #566, Kylian #622 — Keegan higher
Keegan stood higher in every recorded decade — 7 of 7.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Keegan | Kylian |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | #3420 | — |
| 1970s | #2224 | — |
| 1980s | #713 | — |
| 1990s | #385 | — |
| 2000s | #247 | #8810 |
| 2010s | #288 | #6142 |
| 2020s | #566 | #622 |
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
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.
Kylian
Most often read as "church" or "little church one"
The underlying Irish name Cillian is usually traced to cill, "church" or "monastic cell", with a diminutive ending — roughly "little one of the church". A competing reading connects it to ceallach, an old Irish word taken as "strife" or "contention". Scholars have not agreed, and both readings are seriously held.
Cillian → Chilianus → Kilian → Killian → Kylian
How it traveled
The root name is Irish: Cillian, borne by a seventh-century monk who left Ireland for Franconia and became the patron saint of Würzburg, where his feast is still kept. Through Latin the name settled into German as Kilian and into Czech as Kilián, staying alive on the continent long after it had thinned out at home.
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
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.
Kylian
KEE-lee-ahn (French) or KIL-ee-un (English)
French speakers say KEE-lee-ahn, sometimes compressed to kee-LYAHN. In English-speaking countries the Irish-derived KIL-ee-un is common, and the y in this spelling also pulls some readers toward KY-lee-un. Whichever you choose, expect to state it.
- Ky — The most natural short form in English, informal, and used as a standalone given name by some families.
- Kyli — Informal, mostly household use; close enough to Kylie that it tends to stay inside the family.
- Lian — Takes the back half instead of the front; also a given name in its own right in several languages.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Keegan if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsKeegan is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesKeegan is 2 syllables to Kylian's 3
Choose Kylian if you want…
- a name on the way upup 376 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itKylian runs 3 syllables, Keegan 2
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
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.
Kylian
Strengths
- Backed by a documented line running from seventh-century Ireland through German, Czech and French use — an old name in a modern spelling.
- Recognizable across several European languages, so relatives and travel documents abroad rarely find it strange.
- Short, obvious nickname in Ky, with the full form still easy to say for a child learning to write it.
To consider
- It has at least two live pronunciations — the French KEE-lee-ahn and the English KIL-ee-un — and no default in American classrooms. Deciding which one is yours before the birth certificate saves years of gentle correction.
- Kilian, Killian and Cillian all exist alongside this spelling, so the y will need repeating at doctor's offices and on school lists.
- In American ears the opening syllable sits close to Kylie, and some people will hear or write it that way at first.
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 Keegan and Kylian 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 Keegan and Kylian?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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 Keegan and Kylian — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Keegan or Kylian — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Keegan or Kylian?
- Keegan, in 2025: Keegan ranked #621 with 449 babies; Kylian ranked #622 with 448 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Keegan or Kylian?
- Kylian. Over the last five years Keegan moved down 125 places; Kylian moved up 376 places.
- Which is the older name, Keegan or Kylian?
- Keegan entered the US charts in 1965; Kylian entered the US charts in 2005. On the American record, Keegan is the older name.
- How many people are named Keegan and Kylian?
- About 38,000 people named Keegan are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 3,700 people named Kylian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Keegans or Kylians in the classroom?
- Keegan will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kylian 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 Keegan, Kylian and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap