Keefe Surname

25,829th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 20,842 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Isle of Man

Keefe Surname Definition:

An unknown surname, probably derived from a place name.

1797. Married — William Hearn and Margaret Keefe: St. George, Hanover Square.

1800. — Michael Shine and Margaret Keif: ibid.

1806. — John Keeffe and Sarah Shaw: ibid.

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Keefe Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States15,8651:22,8462,867
England1,9251:28,9443,908
Canada1,4471:25,4633,429
Australia7971:33,8724,466
New Zealand1511:29,9895,243
Wales1231:25,1592,628
South Africa901:601,97445,802
Philippines811:1,249,85596,172
Indonesia461:2,874,982163,265
France321:2,075,710171,237
Singapore301:183,5907,666
Ireland291:162,3777,171
Israel281:305,63026,425
Scotland241:223,07611,507
Zimbabwe201:771,91253,776
Thailand151:4,709,223352,754
Northern Ireland141:131,7887,342
Brazil141:15,291,024280,658
Denmark121:470,39330,183
Spain121:3,896,00372,236
Germany81:10,063,182283,807
Isle of Man61:14,3043,169
United Arab Emirates51:1,832,45558,414
Hong Kong51:1,467,0975,611
Norway51:1,028,45761,363
Netherlands51:3,377,435111,911
China51:273,464,31313,838
United States Virgin Islands51:22,0752,767
Fiji41:223,5982,635
Japan31:42,614,76459,022
Bahamas21:195,8761,708
Sweden21:4,923,378241,212
Switzerland21:4,106,458122,336
Chile21:8,808,23765,417
Russia21:72,061,528727,117
Cyprus21:442,4389,493
Mexico21:62,063,10283,384
Italy21:30,578,344160,757
Cambodia11:15,487,14614,824
Zambia11:15,849,92253,989
Vietnam11:92,646,0548,382
Brunei11:418,7313,893
Benin11:10,335,602103,742
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Bahrain11:1,348,60810,432
Saint Lucia11:178,7813,800
Cameroon11:20,769,068227,406
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
Croatia11:4,228,60499,289
Qatar11:2,357,99976,403
New Caledonia11:276,22310,363
Micronesia11:106,2431,380
Malawi11:17,119,10934,144
Jersey11:99,2026,620
Dominican Republic11:10,432,93236,508
DR Congo11:73,879,570260,543
India11:767,065,3821,851,717
Ecuador11:15,905,84650,210
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland3611:12,2711,664
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England1,1081:21,9993,106
Wales1451:10,817658
Scotland371:101,1685,037
Jersey51:10,3761,795
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States4,8141:10,4321,368

Keefe (909) may also be a first name.

Keefe Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

An unknown surname, probably derived from a place name.

1797. Married — William Hearn and Margaret Keefe: St. George, Hanover Square.

1800. — Michael Shine and Margaret Keif: ibid.

1806. — John Keeffe and Sarah Shaw: ibid.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(Celtic) Kind, Beloved, Gentle [Irish and Gaelic caomh (mh as v), genit. caoimh, as in Irish O'Caoimh (O’Keeffe) = ‘Grandson or Des­cendant of Caomh’]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(Irish) Grandson of Caomh (beautiful, gentle).

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

From the Danish, Kieffer; a personal name.

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Keefe Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Keefe Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Keefe (Arabic: كيفي) is borne by more people in The United States than any other country or territory. It may be found as a variant:. Click here to see other potential spellings of this surname.

How Common Is The Last Name Keefe? popularity and diffusion

The last name is the 25,829th most commonly occurring last name world-wide It is held by approximately 1 in 349,657 people. The last name occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 83 percent of Keefe are found; 83 percent are found in North America and 83 percent are found in Anglo-North America. Keefe is also the 269,059th most widely held first name globally, borne by 909 people.

It is most widespread in The United States, where it is held by 15,865 people, or 1 in 22,846. In The United States it is mostly found in: Massachusetts, where 15 percent live, New York, where 9 percent live and California, where 7 percent live. Apart from The United States it occurs in 57 countries. It is also found in England, where 9 percent live and Canada, where 7 percent live.

Keefe Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Keefe has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the Keefe last name rose 330 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it rose 174 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it declined 15 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Ireland it declined 92 percent between 1901 and 2014 and in Scotland it declined 35 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Keefe Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those bearing the Keefe last name is predominantly Catholic (97%) in Ireland.

In The United States Keefe are 2.5% more likely to be registered Democrats than the national average, with 55.73% registered with the party.

The amount Keefe earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 48.14% less than the national average, earning 179,471 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 254.78% more than the national average, earning R 843,084 per year; in United States they earn 12.44% more than the national average, earning $48,518 USD per year and in Canada they earn 4.35% less than the national average, earning $47,520 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Keeffe911,786/
Keefee9122/
Ckeefe915/
Keefes912/
Keefeh911/
Keefie910/
Keeafe910/
Keefet910/
Keiefe910/
Keef891,045/
Kefe89779/
Keepfer8374/
Keeffee8315/
Keiefer831/
Keesfee831/
Keefeeh831/
Kefey801,935/
Keife80139/
Kefea8058/
Kiefe8050/
Keffe8036/
Kefei8035/
Keefa8032/
Koefe8027/
Kefez8022/
Kaefe808/
Kefee807/
Kuefe807/
Kefeh805/
Kheef805/
Keeff804/
Keefi803/
Keafe802/
Kefet802/
Keefs801/
Keufe801/
Kefed801/
Kefeu801/
Kehfe801/
Keetf800/
Keefeeth7713/
Keieffer770/
Kef751,168/
Koeffe73327/
Kepfer73273/
Kieffe7372/
Kepfeu7350/
Keufer7348/
Keufeu7338/
Keyfes7310/
Keffee736/
Kaefeu734/
Kiefee733/
Keffeh733/
Cheefe732/
Keiffe731/
Koepfe731/
Keffey731/
Khefer731/
Kayefe731/
Keafeu731/
Keyafe731/
Keifes731/
Kefetz731/
Kaefie731/
Kheefi731/
Keuffe731/
Kheefh731/
Kheife731/
Keeeew731/
Keaffe730/
Keifey730/
Keeffi730/
Keeffa730/
Kefffe730/
Kheyefets711/
Kefi674,674/
Kefa674,530/
Kafe673,092/
Kief671,113/
Kofe67673/
Keyf67547/
Keff67340/
Keif67200/
Keuffer67179/
Köfe6787/
Kife6752/
Cefe6739/
Kepf6736/
Keifetz6727/
Keew6725/
Keev6724/
Kefy6723/
Keyfetz6714/
Keaf6711/
Khechfe6711/
Keaffer6710/
Khef6710/
Keuf676/
Kieffei675/
Khefets674/
Qeef674/
Keuffey673/
Keyfets672/
Kefp672/
Kehf672/
Kewf672/
Kcef672/
Keisfer671/
Kefferr671/
Kheyfer671/
Kueffeh671/
Kepffeu671/
Kouefeu671/
Kowefet671/
Queefet671/
Kheafer671/
Qkef671/
Qefe671/
Kaiefer671/
Kajeefa671/
Kqef671/
Hkef671/
Kkef671/
Ketphee671/
Kevf671/
Kgef671/
Kefz671/
Keupfer670/
Keiffee670/
Keffeer670/
Keiffey670/
Keipfer670/

Keefe Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Keefe in the Arabic language
كيفيkyfy-

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Keefe
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis