Given name & surname
Keefe
“a handsome and beloved man”
Keefe is used as a given name and a surname. One interpretation is “a handsome and beloved man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “a handsome and beloved man.”
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1952. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Keefe through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 658
- 658 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1963
- 33 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2012. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 33 in 1963. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 593 as a first name in 2020; 10,378 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Keefe’s family of names
Keefe has a related form in Keaf. Keefe has a related form in Keafe. Keefe has a related form in Keef.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 8
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Keefe
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Keefe, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Kinney
Kinney is a surname from Irish.
>99% boys
Keir
“having dark features”
>99% boys
Rafer
“a wealthy man”
>99% boys
Kraig
“from the rocky place; as solid as a rock”
>99% boys
Kelvin
“a friend of ships; a man of the river”
>99% boys
Cary
“from the river” · “from the fort on the hill”
95% boys · 5% girls
Gregor
“watchful” · “one who is vigilant; watch-”
>99% boys
Derry
“from the oak grove” · “from the grove of oak trees”
92% boys · 8% girls