Keithen
Masculine · “Keith with an ending”
Keithen takes the Scottish name Keith and gives it a second syllable, softening a single hard beat into a two-part name. Behind it stands a family that held one of Scotland's great offices and, in one siege, kept the crown jewels of the kingdom out of an invader's hands.
How old is the name Keithen?
Keithen first appears in US birth records in 1964 — 61 years ago. The typical Keithen alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 600 people named Keithen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Keithen most popular?
Keithen peaked in 1967, reaching #2760 nationally. See the whole 1967 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Keith (place) to Keithen
The story of Keithen
The Keiths took their name from lands in East Lothian and became hereditary Earls Marischal of Scotland, with their stronghold at Dunnottar, a castle on a cliff above the North Sea. When Cromwell's army invaded, the Honours of Scotland, the crown, scepter and sword, were sent to Dunnottar for safety. As the siege tightened they were smuggled out, by tradition carried past the besiegers by the wife of a local minister, and hidden under the floor of a nearby church until the king returned. Keithen is a modern American extension of the family's name.
Meaningscholars disagree
Keith with an ending; Keith is read as wood
Keith is a Scottish place-name and surname, usually traced to a Brittonic word for wood, though some scholars think it may be a Pictish survival. The -en ending of Keithen has no older source; it is a modern extension.
How the name formed
- Keithplace
- Keithsurname
- Keith
- Keithen
Pronouncing Keithen
KEE-thun
Stress on the first syllable, with the th of think. The second syllable is light.
Nicknames for Keithen
Limited
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
- 1964
- Most boys named
- 200621 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2760reached in 1967
- Change vs 2020
- −44.4%5 in 2023, from 9
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.
Keithens among us
people named Keithen are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Keithen sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It sounds familiar because Keith is familiar, yet it is rarely given.
- Keith is built in as a short form.
- It carries a real Scottish history through its root.
- People may hear it as Keaton or Keegan and spell it accordingly.
- The ending is modern, so it has no meaning of its own beyond Keith's.
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Keithen
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Keithens 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 Keithen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Keithen in 2025?
- Keithen is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Keithen with classmates?
- Keithen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Kenneth#294 · Kevin#221 · Kyle#508 · Keith#800 · Karl#1585 · Kaleb#295 · Kurt#2258 · Kelly#1867
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Keithen? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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