Boys' name · peaked in 1997
Keenan name popularity since 1925
18,515 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Keenan (1.8% girls, 98.2% boys). Half of them were born in 1996 or earlier, so the typical Keenan is about 30 years old in 2026. Keenan peaked in 1997 as the #354 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 18,515
- Named Keenan, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,307 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.2% boys
- 339 girls · 18,176 boys
- Most popular in
- Oregon
- 2.39× its national share
Peak year is the year Keenan made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Keenan births per year, 1925–2025
1997 was the biggest year for Keenan both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1986 and 1991, Keenan became 2.2× more common, from 1 in 6,720 baby boys to 1 in 3,030.
- Steepest fall: Between 1997 and 2002, its share of baby boys fell by 51%, from 1 in 2,630 to 1 in 5,330.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Keenan's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Keenan.
Decade by decade
Babies named Keenan in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 70 | #2,322 |
| 1950s | 0 | 292 | #1,387 |
| 1960s | 6 | 866 | #886 |
| 1970s | 45 | 1,173 | #744 |
| 1980s | 88 | 2,519 | #529 |
| 1990s | 110 | 5,987 | #381 |
| 2000s | 56 | 3,683 | #593 |
| 2010s | 29 | 2,481 | #932 |
| 2020–25 | 5 | 1,105 | #1,307 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 boys got the name.
Generation fingerprint
36.9% of babies named Keenan from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Keenan is most popular
The index compares Keenan's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Keenan.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 2.39× | 333 |
| Colorado | 2.25× | 413 |
| Washington | 1.74× | 431 |
| Louisiana | 1.59× | 425 |
| Illinois | 1.28× | 930 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Keenan and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Keenan (this page) | 18,176 | 1997 |
| Keenen | 1,181 | 1991 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Keenan's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Keenan.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Keenan (1997).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data