O'Keffee Surname

8,193,072nd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 5 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
Ireland

O'Keffee Surname Definition:

This ancient Munster sept derive" from Art Caemh-the last two letters being pronounced in Irish as F, or rather as V-who was himself the son of Finguine, King of Munster, whose death in 902 the Four Masters record, as they do that of Ceallach O'Caemh in 1063.

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O'Keffee Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England31:18,572,686338,250
Ireland21:2,354,47019,715
Australia11:26,995,701270,794
South Africa11:54,177,704343,732
United States11:362,458,9331,988,048
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland81:553,73317,655
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland41:935,80421,348

O'Keffee Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This ancient Munster sept derive" from Art Caemh-the last two letters being pronounced in Irish as F, or rather as V-who was himself the son of Finguine, King of Munster, whose death in 902 the Four Masters record, as they do that of Ceallach O'Caemh in 1063." D'Alton.

— Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

O'KEEFE: The descendant of Kief. Kief, in the Danish, signifies brave, stout, courageous.

— Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock

User-submitted Reference

O'Keeffe likely comes from, caomh, meaning 'kind' or 'gentle' in the Irish Gaelic language. The feminine form of the original is Ní Chaoimh. As the primary sept of the Eóganacht Glendamnach, the family were once Kings of Munster from the 6th to the 8th centuries.

- leeanthonyfl
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:
  • Religious Adherence in:
    Ireland

O'Keffee Demographics

O'Keffee Religious Adherence
in Ireland

Sample size: 8 (1901)

Religious Adherence
in Ireland

View the most religious surnames in Ireland

O'Keffee Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name O'Keffee Come From? nationality or country of origin

O'Keffee occurs in England more than any other country/territory. It may be found in the variant forms:. Click here to see other possible spellings of this surname.

How Common Is The Last Name O'Keffee? popularity and diffusion

O'Keffee is the 8,193,072nd most widely held surname on earth, borne by around 1 in 1,457,509,183 people. The surname O'Keffee occurs predominantly in Europe, where 100 percent of O'Keffee live; 100 percent live in Northern Europe and 100 percent live in British Isles.

The last name O'Keffee is most prevalent in England, where it is borne by 3 people, or 1 in 18,572,686. In England O'Keffee is most common in: Greater London, where 67 percent are found and Durham, where 33 percent are found. Apart from England O'Keffee occurs in 4 countries. It is also found in Ireland, where 40 percent are found and Australia, where 20 percent are found.

O'Keffee Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of O'Keffee has changed through the years. In Ireland the share of the population with the last name contracted 75 percent between 1901 and 2014.

O'Keffee Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those carrying the surname is predominantly Catholic (100%) in Ireland.

Phonetically Similar Names

Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ASimilarity (high to low)Similarity (low to high)Prevalent jurisdiction A-ZPrevalent jurisdiction Z-A
SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
O'Keeffee9421/
O'Keffe9328/
Okeffee934/
O'Kefee931/
O'Keeffe8820,142/
O'Kieffe8852/
O'Keiffe8845/
O'Keefee8811/
Okeeffee888/
O'Keaffe880/
Okeffe8629/
O'Kefe865/
Okefee862/
O'Keeffer820/
O'Keefe8022,477/
Okeeffe803,563/
Okieffe8047/
O'Keife8037/
Okeiffe8017/
Okeefee8015/
Okeffie806/
O'Kiefe802/
Gokeffe801/
Okaeffe801/
Okeaffe800/
Okefe77367/
Oikeeffe757/
Okkeeffe753/
O'Keeffa750/
Okeefe7119,196/
Okefie71384/
Okeife7155/
Okiffe7136/
Gokefe7127/
Ozkefe7125/
Okiefe7113/
Okeffi718/
Okeafe715/
Okefer712/
Okesfe712/
Akeffe711/
O'Coffeey711/
Okedfe711/
Okefeh711/
Okaffe710/
Okeefep675/
Ekaeffe673/
Ookeefe672/
Okeefes671/
Okeafer671/
Ockeefe670/
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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 O'Keffee
  • 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