| Frequency Comparisons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Rank | Frequency % | Per million people | |
| United States | ||||
| United States (Current snapshot) | 46,747 | 663 | 0.017 | 173 |
| United States (1880 census) | 9,714 | 619 | 0.019 | 194 |
| Change since 1880 | +37033 | -44 | -0.002 | -21 |
| Other Countries | ||||
| Australia | 800 | 2030 | 0.005 | 49 |
| United Kingdom | 3,656 | 1708 | 0.008 | 80 |
| Top States for KEITH by Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Total | Rank in State | Frequency % | Per million people |
| Texas | 3,548 | 723 | 0.017 | 170 |
| California | 3,204 | 1030 | 0.009 | 95 |
| Florida | 2,400 | 834 | 0.015 | 150 |
| Tennessee | 2,241 | 384 | 0.039 | 394 |
| Ohio | 2,188 | 575 | 0.019 | 193 |
| Top States for KEITH by Frequency | ||||
| State | Total | Rank in State | Frequency % | Per million people |
| Kentucky | 1,774 | 328 | 0.044 | 439 |
| Tennessee | 2,241 | 384 | 0.039 | 394 |
| Alabama | 1,747 | 396 | 0.039 | 393 |
| Oklahoma | 1,206 | 360 | 0.035 | 349 |
| South Carolina | 1,271 | 504 | 0.032 | 317 |
'A figure of zero indicates that we don't have data for this name (usually because it's quite uncommon and our stats don't go down that far). It doesn't mean that there's no-one with that name at all!
For less common surnames, the figures get progressively less reliable the fewer holders of that name there are. This data is aggregated from several public lists, and some stats are interpolated from known values. The margin of error is well over 100% at the rarest end of the table!
For less common surnames, the frequency and "per million" values may be 0 even though there are people with that name. That's because they represent less than one in a million of the population, which ends up as 0 after rounding.
It's possible for a surname to gain in rank and/or total while being less common per million people (or vice versa) as there are now more surnames in the USA as a result of immigration. In mathematical terms, the tail has got longer, with a far larger number of less common surnames.
Figures for top states show firstly the states where most people called KEITH live. This obviously tends to be biased towards the most populous states. The second set of figures show where people called KEITH represent the biggest proportion of the population. So, in this case, there are more people called KEITH in Texas than any other state, but you are more likely to find a KEITH by picking someone at random in Kentucky than anywhere else.
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Scotland
Language of origin: Gaelic
Ethnic origin: Celtic
Religious origin: Christian
Name derivation: From given name or forename
Data for religion and/or language relates to the culture in which the KEITH surname originated. It does not necessarily have any correlation with the language spoken, or religion practised, by the majority of current American citizens with that name.
Data for ethnic origin relates to the region and country in which the KEITH surname originated. It does not necessarily have any correlation with the ethnicity of the majority of current American citizens with that name.
| Classification | Total | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| White (Hispanic) | 753 | 1.61 |
| Mixed Race | 729 | 1.56 |
| Native American/Alaskan | 486 | 1.04 |
| Asian/Pacific | 243 | 0.52 |
| White (Caucasian) | 37,945 | 81.17 |
| Black/African American | 6,591 | 14.1 |
Ethnic distribution data shows the number and percentage of people with the KEITH surname who reported their ethnic background as being in these broad categories in the most recent national census.
(origin: Local) From the parish and lands of Keith, in Banffshire, Scotland. The name Keith is said to be derived from the Gaelic Gaoth, wind, pronounced somewhat similarly to Keith. The old village and kirk are called Arkeith, which may be a corruption of the Gaelic Ard Gaoth, signifying "high wind," which corresponds to its locality, which is peculiarly exposed to gusts of wind. In some old charters, Keith is written Gith, which still more resembles Gaith. I think the name is derived from the Welsh Caeth, a place surrounded, shut up, inclosed, a deep hollow, a strait. The root of the word is the Welsh Cau, to close, to shut up. Concerning this family, the traditional account is, that they came from Germany in the reign of the Emperor Otho, and from the principality of Hesse, from which they were expelled in some revolution. The first person of this family of whom our oldest historians take notice, is Robert De Keith, to whom Malcom II., King of Scotland, gave the barony of Keith, in East Lothian, as a reward for killing Camus, a Danish general, who then invaded Scotland with a numerous army. The battle was fought at Barry, seven miles from Dundee, where an obelisk, called Camus' stone, still preserves the memory of the victory, and it is said the king, dipping his three fingers in the blood of the general, stroked them along the field of the Scotch champion's shield, to whom, besides the landed estate before mentioned, he gave the dignity of Great Marshal of Scotland.
Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.
KEITH. Several parishes and places in Scotland bear this name, which seems to be a Celtic descriptive term ( Caeth) signifying ' confined or narrow.' The place from which the ancient family of Keith, hereditary Earls-Marshal of Scotland from 1010, derive their surname, is in the parish of Humbie, at the south-western extremity of Haddingtonshire. The district is still known as Keith-Marshall, though the estate has long passed away from the family. This is a sufficient origin of both name and familj to satisfy ordinary curiosity, but the inventive genius of Scottish genealogists goes much further.
Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.
The following names have similar spellings or pronunciations as KEITH.
This does not necessarily imply a direct relationship between the names, but may indicate names that could be mistaken for this one when written down or misheard.
Matches are generated automatically by a combination of Soundex, Metaphone and Levenshtein matching.