Keeva
Feminine · “Irish "gentle”
Caoimhe is said KEE-va, and the mh in the middle is a v because the m has been lenited — softened by a grammatical rule that Irish writes into the spelling. The letters are not decoration; they record a mutation the language performs on its own consonants.
How old is the name Keeva?
Keeva first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Keeva is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Keeva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Keeva most popular?
Keeva peaked in 2013, reaching #3573 nationally. Today it ranks #7491, 3,918 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Where it comes from
From caomh to Keeva
The story of Keeva
Irish spelling looks impenetrable to English readers and is in fact highly regular, but to rules English does not have. Lenition softens a consonant and is written with an h after it: m and b become v, c becomes a back fricative, s becomes h, t and d become fricatives. It is triggered by grammar — after certain possessives, prepositions and in certain noun cases — so the spelling of a word changes as its role in the sentence changes. Caoimhe carries a permanently lenited m. Modern Irish naming abroad often supplies a phonetic respelling alongside, which is where Keeva, Kweeva and Keevah come from. Keeva peaks in America in 2013.
Meaning
Irish "gentle, precious, beautiful"
From Irish caomh, gentle, kind or precious, with a feminine ending. Caoimhe is the Irish spelling and Keeva the English phonetic respelling. The mh represents a lenited m: Irish softens consonants at the start of words and inside them for grammatical reasons, and marks the change with a following h. The same rule gives bh for a lenited b, also said v, as in Siobhán.
How the name formed
- caomh
- Caoimhe
- Keeva
Related forms: Caoimhe · Caoimhe
Pronouncing Keeva
KEE-vah
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Irish spelling Caoimhe is said the same way; the ao is a single long vowel and the mh is a v, so the six letters carry three sounds.
Nicknames for Keeva
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1968
- Most girls named
- 201343 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3573reached in 2013
- Change vs 2024
- −33.3%14 in 2025, from 21
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Keeva in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Caoimhe in Irish — spelling variant
- Caoimhe in Scottish Gaelic — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Massachusetts.
Keevas among us
people named Keeva are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 114,805 born in 2025 was named Keeva
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Samar test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Keeva's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Samar climbed just as high around 1998, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Samar's path sketches the road Keeva is walking now.
Keeva sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Keeva beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Keeva in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and gentle, and the Irish source is genuine.
- It is spelled the way it sounds for English readers.
- It is short, two syllables and easy for a child to write.
- Caoimhe is the correct Irish spelling and some will regard it as the only one.
- The phonetic respelling loses the Irish orthography entirely.
- It is rare in America and will need explaining.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Keeva to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Keeva? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Keeva
Feminine · #7491 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Keevas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Keeva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Keeva in 2025?
- Keeva ranks #7491 among US girl names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Keeva?
- About 1 in every 114,805 US girls born in 2025 was named Keeva — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Keeva with classmates?
- Keeva will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Keeva
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Christie#7491 · Carmelita#7491 · Jetta#7491 · Hildegard#7491 · Rickie#7491 · Billy#7491 · Angelyn#7491 · Jewell#7491
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Keeva? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Keeva and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle