Keithan
Masculine · “wood”
Keith is not a Gaelic word. It is Brittonic, from the older Celtic language of southern Scotland that Gaelic later replaced, and it is one of very few Scottish surnames that preserve a trace of it: the word is probably the one that gives Welsh coed, a wood.
How old is the name Keithan?
Keithan first appears in US birth records in 1965 — 60 years ago. The typical Keithan alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 800 people named Keithan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Keithan most popular?
Keithan peaked in 1976, reaching #2826 nationally. Today it ranks #6803, 3,977 places below that high. See the whole 1976 chart.
Where it comes from
From coed to Keithan
The story of Keithan
Southern and eastern Scotland spoke a Brittonic language, the same family as Welsh and Cornish, before Gaelic and then English displaced it, and the survivals are mostly in place names: Aberdeen, Peebles, Lanark and Keith all show it. The Keiths became hereditary Marischals of Scotland and one of the great families of the realm. The surname crossed to America, became a boy's given name in the twentieth century and was extremely popular in the 1950s and 1960s, and extended forms followed. Keithan adds the -an ending that was becoming productive in American naming, and its best year is 1976.
Meaningscholars disagree
wood, forest
Keith is a place in East Lothian and the name of a great Scottish family. Its element is generally read as Brittonic, related to Welsh coed, a wood, rather than as Gaelic; a derivation from a word for wind has also been proposed. The -an ending of this modern spelling is an American addition with no meaning.
How the name formed
- coed
- Keith
- Keithan
Related forms: Coed · Keith · Keaton
Pronouncing Keithan
KEE-thun
Two syllables with the stress on the first. The th is voiceless, as in Keith itself, not the voiced one of father.
Nicknames for Keithan
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
- 1965
- Most boys named
- 201032 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2826reached in 1976
- Change vs 2024
- +50.0%12 in 2025, from 8
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.
Keithan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Coed in Welsh — related form
- Keith in English — related form
- Keaton in English — related form
Keithans among us
people named Keithan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 142,340 born in 2025 was named Keithan
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 Abdon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Keithan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Abdon climbed just as high around 1915, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Abdon's path sketches the road Keithan is walking now.
Keithan 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
Keithan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Keithan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A genuine Scottish place and surname with a rare Brittonic element.
- Keith is available inside it and is completely established.
- Seven letters and no pronunciation ambiguity.
- Keith is far more common and will be written instead.
- The added ending dates the name closely to the 1970s and 1980s.
- It is close to Keaton and Keegan and gets confused with both.
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What they receive
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Keithan
Masculine · #6803 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Keithans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Keithan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Keithan in 2025?
- Keithan ranks #6803 among US boy names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Keithan?
- About 1 in every 142,340 US boys born in 2025 was named Keithan — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Keithan with classmates?
- Keithan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Keithan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zeb#6803 · Buster#6803 · Fabien#6803 · Eston#6803 · Tyjuan#6803 · Fuad#6803 · Aaiden#6803 · Sanford#6803
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Keithan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Keithan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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