Kei
Masculine
Kei is given to both — 651 boys and 186 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Kei is a Japanese name of a specific kind: a single sound that can be written with dozens of different characters, each giving a different meaning. It is used on both sexes and is one of the shortest Japanese names in ordinary use. Its American record is small and recent, peaking in 2015.
How old is the name Kei?
Kei first appears in US birth records in 1920 — 105 years ago. The typical Kei alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 600 people named Kei are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kei most popular?
Kei peaked in 2015, reaching #3365 nationally. Today it ranks #6143, 2,778 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Kei
Japanese naming allows an unusual amount of freedom within a strict frame. The government maintains a list of characters permitted in names, currently about three thousand, and parents may combine them and assign readings with considerable latitude — the same characters can be read several ways and the same reading written many ways. Short single-syllable names like Kei, Rei, Sho and Jun became fashionable from the late twentieth century, part of a general move away from the longer -ro and -ko forms of earlier generations. American use follows Japanese and Japanese-American families.
Meaningnot established
depends entirely on the characters chosen
Japanese writes names in kanji, and Kei corresponds to a very large number of characters: among the commonest are those meaning blessing or favor, respect, celebration, jewel, wisdom, and scenery or view. A family chooses the sound and then the characters, and two boys called Kei may carry entirely different senses. So the meaning is a family fact rather than a property of the name, which is the ordinary situation in Japanese.
Pronouncing Kei
KAY
One syllable in Japanese, a long vowel close to the English a of day. English speakers reach it correctly on sight, which is not true of most Japanese names.
Nicknames for Kei
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
- 1920
- Most boys named
- 201533 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3365reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- −36.4%14 in 2025, from 22
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.
Kei in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kei in Japanese — same name
- Keiji in Japanese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Keis among us
people named Kei are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 122,005 born in 2025 was named Kei
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 Karin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kei's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Karin climbed just as high around 1968, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Karin's path sketches the road Kei is walking now.
Kei 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
Kei beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kei in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters and one syllable, immediately sayable by any English speaker.
- It is genuinely unisex in Japan, which suits families who do not want a sex-marked name.
- The romanisation is stable and needs no accents.
- The meaning depends entirely on the characters and cannot be given generally.
- It is identical in sound to Kay, which is a separate English name.
- One-syllable names leave a bearer with no nickname in reserve.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kei to the vote.
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What they receive
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Kei
Masculine · #6143 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Keis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Kei are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kei in 2025?
- Kei ranks #6143 among US boy names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kei?
- About 1 in every 122,005 US boys born in 2025 was named Kei — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kei with classmates?
- Kei will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kei
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ruel#6143 · Cornell#6143 · Vasco#6143 · Kemper#6143 · Yates#6143 · Roark#6143 · Raja#6143 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kei? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kei 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
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