Keith

Where Keith comes from

* As a Scottish surname, from the placename in Moray, Scotland, from Scottish Gaelic Cèith, meaning "wood" or "from the battleground," which is probably borrowed from Pictish *ᚉᚓᚈ (cēt) meaning "wood", or a forest, from Proto-Brythonic *koɨd. * As a German surname, from Middle High German kit (“sprout, offspring”); compare Middle High German kint.
— Wiktionary's entry for Keith
  • From a surname
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1888
    First appearance
    #917 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1943
    Keith Richards born
    British musician, guitarist of the Rolling Stones
  3. 1958
    Keith Haring born
    American artist and social activist
  4. 1966
    Peak, #32
    11,614 babies named Keith — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1981
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #58.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
  • A female given name from surname.
Namesakes
  • Keith Richards · British musician, guitarist of the Rolling Stones, born 1943
  • Keith Haring · American artist and social activist, 1958–1989
  • Keith Jarrett · American jazz/classical pianist and composer, born 1945
  • Keith Emerson · British recording artist; keyboard player and composer, 1944–2016
  • Keith Moon · English rock musician, drummer of The Who, 1946–1978

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.