Kieth
Masculine · “wood”
Kieth transposes the two vowels of a name that only has one sound in it. Keith is said with a single long e, and swapping the letters that write it changes nothing at all — which is why the spelling has survived in the record for over a century without ever being corrected out of it.
How old is the name Kieth?
Kieth first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Kieth alive today was born around 1964, making them about 61 years old. About 2,100 people named Kieth are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kieth most popular?
Kieth peaked in 1964, reaching #806 nationally. See the whole 1964 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Keith to Kieth
The story of Kieth
The family that took the name from the place held the office of Earl Marischal of Scotland for something like five hundred years, from the twelfth century until the last of them backed the wrong side in a rising and lost everything. The Marischal was responsible for the royal regalia and for the safety of the king's person in parliament, which made the family one of the most consistently important in the country. Their name went to America with Scottish emigration, moved to the front, and became one of the standard men's names of the twentieth century. This spelling is what happens when a familiar name is written quickly.
Meaning
wood
The Scottish place behind the name comes from a Brittonic word for a wood or forest. It is one of the older place-name elements in the country, predating both Gaelic and English there.
How the name formed
- Keith
- Kieth
Pronouncing Kieth
KEETH
One syllable, rhyming with teeth. Keith and Kieth are said identically, which is exactly why the transposition survives.
Nicknames for Kieth
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
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 196488 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #806reached in 1964
- Change vs 2008
- −12.5%7 in 2010, 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.
Kieths among us
people named Kieth 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
Kieth 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
- One syllable and five letters, with no possible mispronunciation.
- It works in front of long surnames, where fuller names get crowded.
- The place and family behind it are documented back to the twelfth century.
- Keith is the standard spelling and will be restored by every form and autocorrect.
- Two letters out of order read as a mistake rather than a variant.
- It reads clearly as a name of the middle of the twentieth century.
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Kieth
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Kieths are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Kieth are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kieth in 2025?
- Kieth is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Kieth with classmates?
- Kieth 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 Kieth? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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