Keegan
Meaning
from the Irish surname Mac Aodhagáin, 'descendant of Aodhagán', a double diminutive of Aodh 'fire'
The story
Keegan started as an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of Mac Aodhagáin. Inside it sits Aodhagán, a diminutive of a diminutive of Aodh, the Old Irish name that meant fire. A small fire, twice softened, carried through centuries of Irish family names before America picked it up as a first name. The record dates that adoption precisely: 14 boys in the 1960s, then 328, then 1,721 in the 1980s, 6,591 in the 1990s, and 14,057 in the 2000s, with 12,718 in the 2010s and 3,090 so far this decade. Girls carried it too, 1,278 of them in the 2000s alone. It rode the same wave that lifted so many Irish surnames into American first names, and it did so while naming, quietly, the smallest possible flame.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Keegan peaked in the 2010s.
When you meet Keegan
Most people given the name Keegan in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Keegan deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Keegan truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Keegan fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Keegan travels
Irish American · A distinctive modern Irish American heritage choice.
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