Head to head · Boys' names
Keegan vs Westley
#621 vs #619 in 2025
Westley is a whisker ahead (#619 vs #621 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Westley is back after a long quiet spell, Keegan is stepping back from its peak.
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, Westley leads 4 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: Keegan —, Westley #921 — Westley higher
- 1890s: Keegan —, Westley #829 — Westley higher
- 1900s: Keegan —, Westley #908 — Westley higher
- 1910s: Keegan —, Westley #1449 — Westley higher
- 1920s: Keegan —, Westley #1537 — Westley higher
- 1930s: Keegan —, Westley #1599 — Westley higher
- 1940s: Keegan —, Westley #1357 — Westley higher
- 1950s: Keegan —, Westley #1312 — Westley higher
- 1960s: Keegan #3420, Westley #1270 — Westley higher
- 1970s: Keegan #2224, Westley #1050 — Westley higher
- 1980s: Keegan #713, Westley #843 — Keegan higher
- 1990s: Keegan #385, Westley #1082 — Keegan higher
- 2000s: Keegan #247, Westley #1686 — Keegan higher
- 2010s: Keegan #288, Westley #1066 — Keegan higher
- 2020s: Keegan #566, Westley #695 — Keegan higher
Westley stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Keegan has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Keegan | Westley |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #921 |
| 1890s | — | #829 |
| 1900s | — | #908 |
| 1910s | — | #1449 |
| 1920s | — | #1537 |
| 1930s | — | #1599 |
| 1940s | — | #1357 |
| 1950s | — | #1312 |
| 1960s | #3420 | #1270 |
| 1970s | #2224 | #1050 |
| 1980s | #713 | #843 |
| 1990s | #385 | #1082 |
| 2000s | #247 | #1686 |
| 2010s | #288 | #1066 |
| 2020s | #566 | #695 |
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.
Westley
western meadow or clearing
From Old English west plus lēah, a word covering woodland, a clearing in woodland, and the pasture left behind — hence both "west meadow" and "west wood" in different reference books, describing the same landscape.
Old English west + lēah → Westley (English place name) → Westley (surname) → Wesley (given name) → Westley
How it traveled
Westley and Wesley are the same English place name, recorded in more than one county and spelled more than one way before spelling settled down; the surname came from the place, as English surnames usually did. Wesley became a first name largely in honor of John Wesley, the eighteenth-century preacher whose Methodist movement crossed the Atlantic and took root hard in America, which is why the name has been on US records for well over a century.
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.
Westley
WEST-lee
Stress on the first syllable. In ordinary speech the t often disappears into the s-l cluster, so Westley and Wesley sound identical to most ears — the difference lives mainly on paper.
- Wes — The standard short form, used for Westley and Wesley alike, and long established as a given name in its own right.
- West — Informal, and increasingly used as a standalone name on its own.
- Westy — Playground and family use; rarely survives into adulthood outside sports teams.
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
Choose Westley if you want…
- a name on the way upup 127 places on the charts in five years
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.
Westley
Strengths
- Wes is a ready-made short form with a long independent history, so the name comes with a casual version already built in.
- Everyone can pronounce it correctly on first sight, even readers who have never seen this spelling.
- On US records without interruption for well over a century, so it reads as neither invented nor dated.
To consider
- The t will be dropped constantly. Expect Wesley on forms, name tags and email addresses, and expect to spell it out most times it is asked for.
- Because it sounds just like the far more common Wesley, the rarity is real on paper but not to the ear — a Westley may still hear his name called across a room and find someone else answering.
- The Princess Bride connection is affectionate rather than awkward, but it is durable: some people will meet the name and immediately think of that film, and say so.
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 Westley 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 Westley?
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 Keegan and Westley — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Keegan or Westley — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Keegan or Westley?
- Westley, in 2025: Westley ranked #619 with 453 babies; Keegan ranked #621 with 449 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Keegan or Westley?
- Westley. Over the last five years Keegan moved down 125 places; Westley moved up 127 places.
- Which is the older name, Keegan or Westley?
- Keegan entered the US charts in 1965; Westley entered the US charts in 1887. On the American record, Westley is the older name.
- How many people are named Keegan and Westley?
- About 38,000 people named Keegan are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 8,900 people named Westley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Keegans or Westleys in the classroom?
- Keegan will almost certainly be the only one in school. Westley 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, Westley and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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