Keya
Feminine · “Bengali "screwpine flower”
In Bengali, keya is a flower — the fragrant blossom of the screwpine, whose distilled water flavors sweets and rice across South Asia. It is one of a set of Bengali names taken directly from plants: Keya, Champa, Bakul, Juthika.
How old is the name Keya?
Keya first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Keya alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 1,900 people named Keya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Keya most popular?
Keya peaked in 1972, reaching #1303 nationally. Today it ranks #7491, 6,188 places below that high. See the whole 1972 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From keya to Keya
The story of Keya
Bengali naming has a strong tradition of flower and plant names for girls, and they carry specific associations from poetry rather than generic prettiness: Champa is the fragrant magnolia, Bakul a flower that keeps its scent after falling, Juthika the jasmine that opens at night, Keya the screwpine, associated with the monsoon because it flowers in the rains. Kewra water is a staple flavouring in biryani and in sweets across northern India and Pakistan. The American figures for Keya peak in 1972, which is early for South Asian immigration and suggests that many bearers are modern formations rather than Bengali names; both readings are live.
Meaningscholars disagree
Bengali "screwpine flower"
Bengali and Hindi keya names the flower of Pandanus, the screwpine, whose distilled essence is kewra water. The American Keya may instead be a modern formation on Ke- with the -ya ending, which is productive in American naming, and the record does not distinguish. The Lakota word for the turtle is also keya, and is unrelated.
How the name formed
- keya
- Keya
Related forms: কেয়া · केया
Pronouncing Keya
KAY-ah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Bengali says KEH-ya with a shorter first vowel and the ya as a single glide; American speakers usually lengthen the first syllable.
Nicknames for Keya
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
- 1967
- Most girls named
- 198061 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1303reached in 1972
- Change vs 2024
- −12.5%14 in 2025, from 16
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.
Keya in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- কেয়া in Bengali — transliteration
- केया in Hindi — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Illinois, Texas.
Keyas among us
people named Keya are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 114,805 born in 2025 was named Keya
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 Rema test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Keya's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rema climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rema's path sketches the road Keya is walking now.
Keya 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
Keya beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Keya in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is short, four letters, and easy to say in most languages.
- The Bengali reading is concrete and tied to a real, familiar flower.
- Kay works as an immediate short form.
- Two unrelated readings are live and the spelling does not distinguish them.
- Kaia, Kaya and Keyah all compete for the same sound.
- English and Bengali say the first vowel differently.
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What they receive
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Keya
Feminine · #7491 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Keyas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Keya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Keya in 2025?
- Keya ranks #7491 among US girl names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Keya?
- About 1 in every 114,805 US girls born in 2025 was named Keya — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Keya with classmates?
- Keya will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Keya
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 Keya? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Keya and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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