How popular is the baby name Key in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Key.

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Popularity of the baby name Key


Posts that mention the name Key

Baby names with KEY: Keyla, Hawkeye, Mickey

keys

What’s the key to finding a great baby name?

Perhaps it’s checking out a long list of names that contain the word KEY!

Below you’ll find a long list of names that contain the letter sequence “k-e-y.” Most of these names come directly from the U.S. SSA’s baby name data.

  • Akeya, Akeyia
  • Akeyla, Akeylah
  • Akeyra
  • Beckey
  • Bjarkey
  • Buckey
  • Chakeya
  • Corkey
  • Dickey
  • Frankey
  • Hawkeye
  • Ikey
  • Ikeya, Ikeyia
  • Jackey
  • Jakey
  • Jakeya
  • Jakeyla
  • Karthikeyan
  • Kartikeya, Karthikeya
  • Key, Keye
  • Keya, Keyah
  • Keyahna
  • Keyair
  • Keyaira, Keyairah, Keyairra
  • Keyajah
  • Keyaki
  • Keyala
  • Keyan, Keyaan
  • Keyana, Keyanna, Keyanah, Keyannah
  • Keyanda
  • Keyandra
  • Keyandre
  • Keyandrea
  • Keyani, Keyanni
  • Keyania
  • Keyansh
  • Keyanta
  • Keyante
  • Keyara, Keyarah, Keyarra
  • Keyari, Keyarie
  • Keyaria
  • Keyasha
  • Keyashia
  • Keyasia
  • Keyatta
  • Keyaun
  • Keyauna
  • Keyawna
  • Keydan
  • Keyden
  • Keydi
  • Keydon
  • Keydra
    • Siblings named Keydra, Keyden, and Keyvar were mentioned in name quotes #115 earlier this year.
  • Keydren
  • Keydy
  • Keyan
  • Keyen
  • Keyera, Keyerah, Keyerra
  • Keyeria
  • Keyetta
  • Keygan
  • Keyia
  • Keyiana
  • Keyik
  • Keyilah
  • Keyion
  • Keyiona
  • Keyira
  • Keyisha
  • Keyjuan
  • Keyla, Keylah, Keyhla
  • Keylan
  • Keyland
  • Keylani, Keylanie
  • Keyle
  • Keylea
  • Keylee, Keyleigh, Keylie, Keyly
  • Keyleen
  • Keylei
  • Keylen
  • Keyler
  • Keyleth
  • Keyli
  • Keyliana
  • Keylianis
  • Keylianiz
  • Keylin
  • Keylli, Keylly
  • Keylon
  • Keylor
  • Keylyn
  • Keymani
  • Keymar
  • Keymari
  • Keymarion
  • Keymaya
  • Keymi
  • Keymia, Keymiah, Keymiyah
  • Keymon
  • Keymoni
  • Keymond
  • Keymonte
  • Keymora
  • Keymya
  • Keyna
  • Keynan
  • Keynen
  • Keyner
  • Keynia, Keyniah
  • Keynon
  • Keynu
  • Keyo
  • Keyoka
  • Keyomi
  • Keyon
  • Keyona, Keyonah, Keyonna
  • Keyonce
  • Keyonda
  • Keyondra
  • Keyondre
  • Keyondria
  • Keyone
  • Keyoni, Keyonie
  • Keyonia, Keyonnia
  • Keyonis
  • Keyonn
  • Keyonne
  • Keyonni, Keyonnie
  • Keyonta
  • Keyontae, Keyontay
  • Keyontai
  • Keyonte
  • Keyora
  • Keyosha
  • Keyoshia
  • Keyra, Keyrra
  • Keyren
  • Keyri, Keyry
  • Keyria
  • Keyrin
  • Keyron
  • Keysa
  • Kaysan
  • Keysean, Keyshaun, Keyshawn
  • Keyser
  • Keysha
  • Keyshana, Keyshanna
  • Keyshauna, Keyshawna
  • Keyshia
  • Keyshla
  • Keyshon
  • Keyshona
  • Keyshonda
  • Keyshone
  • Keyshun
  • Keysi
  • Keysia
  • Keyson
  • Keystal
  • Keyston
  • Keyuana, Keyuanna
  • Keyun
  • Keyuna, Keyunna
  • Keyundra
  • Keyunta
  • Keyuntae
  • Keyur
  • Keyva
  • Keyvan
  • Keyveon
  • Keyvin
  • Keyvion
  • Keyvon
  • Keyvonna
  • Keyvonte
  • Keywan
  • Keywana, Keywanna
  • Keywanda
  • Keywon
  • Keyziah
  • Lakeya, Lakeyah
  • Lakeycha
  • Lakeyda
  • Lakeydra
  • Lakeyia
  • Lakeyla
  • Lakeyn
  • Lakeysa
  • Lakeysha
  • Lakeyshia
  • Lakeysia
  • Lakeyta
  • Lekeya
  • Lekeysha
  • Luckey
  • Mackey
  • Mackeyla
  • Makeya
  • Markey
  • Markeya
  • Markeyda
  • Markeyia
  • Markeyla
  • Markeysha
  • Markeyta
  • Mckeyla
  • Mickey
  • Mikey
  • Mikeya
  • Mikeyia
  • Mikeyla
  • Myrkey
  • Nakeya, Nakeyah, Nakeyia
  • Nakeysha
  • Nekeya
  • Nekeysha
  • Nickey
  • Nickeya, Nikeya, Nikeyia, Nikkeya
  • Nykeya
  • Oakey
  • Okey
  • Pinkey
  • Rakeya
  • Rickey
  • Rickeya
  • Rikey
  • Rockey
  • Rokeya
  • Sakeya
  • Sankey
  • Shakeya, Shakeyia
  • Shakeyda
  • Shakeyla
  • Shakeyra
  • Shakeyta
  • Shikeyla
  • Smokey
  • Starkey
  • Sukey
  • Takeya, Takeyah, Takeyia
  • Takeyla
  • Takeyoshi
  • Takeyra
  • Takeysha
  • Takeyshia
  • Takeyuki
  • Tekeya, Tekeyah
  • Tekeyla
  • Tikeya, Tikeyah
  • Tkeya, Tkeyah
  • Tkeyha
  • Tykeyah
  • Vickey
  • Whiskey
  • Zakeya, Zakeyah, Zakeyia
  • Zikeyah

Some of the above are non-traditional spellings of more common names such as Becky, Vicky, and Keith.

Which KEY name do you like most? Let me know in the comments!

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from Top view of old vintage keys by Ivan Radic under CC BY 2.0.

Baby born on Key West, named Key West

Key West house

In July of 1948, Harry and Allene Jennings of Key West, Florida — the southernmost city in the contiguous U.S. — welcomed a baby boy.

What did they name him?

Key West Jennings.

My source article noted that “he will never have any trouble remembering his birthplace.”

P.S. One famous resident of Key West during the 1930s was author Ernest Hemingway (the father of John Hadley Nicanor and the grandfather of Margaux and Mariel).

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Key West Historic District 543 by Gillfoto under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Musical baby names: Harper, Piper, Harmony, Melody

musical notes

Looking for baby names with musical associations?

Here are a few ideas (plus links to each name’s popularity graph):

  • Adagio, a musical term meaning “at ease” in Italian
  • Aria, a solo sung (with orchestral accompaniment) in an opera
  • Bell, a percussive instrument
  • Brio, a musical term meaning “vivacity” in Italian
  • Cadence, the final chords in a musical phrase
  • Calypso, a type of Caribbean music
  • Calliope, a keyboard instrument
    • The mother of bandleader Harry James played a circus calliope.
  • Carol, a type of festive song
  • Celesta, a keyboard instrument
  • Chanson, a lyric-driven French song
  • Chord, a harmonic set of three or more notes
  • Clarion, a medieval brass instrument
  • Coda, the concluding section of a piece of music
  • Dolce, a musical term meaning “sweet” in Italian
  • Dorian, a type of musical scale
  • Harmony, the sound of two or more notes being played simultaneously
  • Harper, a surname that originally referred to someone who played the harp
  • Jazz, a genre of music
  • Key, the scale around which a piece of music is built
  • Lydian, a type of musical scale
  • Lyric (often used in the plural), the words of a song
  • Mandolin, a stringed instrument
  • Medley, a single piece of music created from existing songs
  • Melody, the sequence of notes in a musical phrase
  • Music, an art form in which patterns of sounds are created as a means of emotional expression
  • Octave, the interval between one pitch and another with double/half its frequency
  • Piper, a surname that originally referred to someone who played a pipe
  • Reed, the vibrating piece of a woodwind instrument
  • Rhythm, the variation of strong and weak elements of sounds over time
  • Sonata, a piece of music played by instruments
    • Composer Bear McCreary welcomed a baby girl named Sonatine in 2014.
  • Song, a piece of music performed by a single voice
  • Staccato, a musical term meaning “disconnected” in Italian
  • Symphony, music written for an orchestra
  • Tango, a type of music (and dance)
  • Timbre (pronounced TAM-ber), the perceived sound of a musical note
  • Verse, a portion of a song
  • Viola, a stringed instrument

Other musical terms I’ve seen used as baby names include Allegro (“cheerful”), Largo (“broad”), Lento (“slow”), Condoleezza (based on con dolcezza, “with sweetness”), and Blues (the middle name of Justin Bieber’s son, born in 2024).

Sources: Wiktionary, Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica

Image: Adapted from Clarinet Concerto No.1, Op.26 (public domain)

[Latest update: Jul. 2025]

One-syllable boy names: Colt, Wynn, Dax, Zane

single tree

Looking for a boy name that’s short and to-the-point? Something that might work particularly well as a middle name?

Check out this list of several hundred one-syllable boy names:

  • Abe, Alf, Arch, Ace/Ayce, Ames, Ash/Ashe
  • Baine/Bane/Bayne, Banks/Banx, Bar, Barnes, Bash, Bates, Bay, Baz, Bear, Beau/Bo/Bow, Beck, Becks/Bex, Ben, Benz, Birch, Blade/Blayde, Blain/Blaine/Blayne/Blane, Blair/Blaire, Blaise/Blaze/Blayze/Blaize, Bless, Blessed, Blake/Blayke, Bliss, Blitz, Blue/Blu, Blythe, Bond, Boone, Booth, Boyce, Boyd, Brad, Bram, Brance, Brave, Brax, Bray, Breck, Breeze/Brees, Brent, Brett/Bret, Brex, Brick, Brix/Brixx, Brigg, Briggs, Bright, Brock/Broc, Bronx, Bronze, Brook, Brooks, Bruce, Bryce/Brice, Buck, Burk/Burke, Burl/Berl, Burns
  • Cade/Cayde, Cain/Caine, Cale, Camp, Carl, Carr, Case, Cash/Cache, Catch, Caz, Chad, Chance, Chap, Charles, Chase, Chaz, Chen, Chet, Chez, Chip, Chris, Church, Clark/Clarke, Clash, Claude, Claus, Clay, Clayt, Cliff, Clint, Clive, Cloud, Clutch, Clyde, Coast, Cole, Colt, Cord, Court, Cove, Craig, Crane, Cree, Creed, Creek, Crew, Crews, Croix, Cross, Crown, Cruz, Czar
  • Dahl, Daire/Dare, Dale, Dan, Dane/Dain/Daine/Dayne/Dayn, Dart, Dash, Dawes, Dax, Dean, Dee, Del/Dell, Derl, Deuce, Din, Dirk, Doc/Dock, Dolph, Don, Dor, Dov, Doyle, Drake, Dream, Dre, Drew/Dru, Dodge, Dowd, Duane/Dwayne, Duff, Duke, Dune, Dutch
  • Earl, East, Ebb, Edge, Ernst
  • Fate, Finch, Finn, Fitz, Fjord, Fleet, Flex, Flint, Flip, Floyd, Flynn, Ford, Fox, Frank, Franz, Fred, Friend, Fritz, Frost
  • Gabe, Gad, Gage/Gauge, Gaines/Gains, Gal, Gale, Garth, Gates, Gay, Gent, Geoff, George, Gibb, Gibbs, Gil/Gill, Giles, Glade, Glenn/Glen, Graham, Grant, Graves, Gray/Grey, Great, Green/Greene, Griff, Grimm/Grim, Gur, Gus, Gust, Guy
  • Haines, Hale, Hall, Hank, Hans, Hatch, Hawk/Hawke, Hayes/Haze/Hayze/Haize, Heath, Heir, Hicks, Hill, Hines, Hoke, Holmes, Holt, Hoss, Hoyt, Hud, Hugh, Hume, Hunt, Hyde
  • Ives
  • Jacques, Jace/Jayce/Jase, Jack, Jake, James/Jamez, Jax, Jay/Jae, Jazz/Jaz, Jeff, Jess, Jin, Jett, Job, Joe/Jo, Joel, John/Jon, Jones, Josh, Joss, Jove, Juan, Judd/Jud, Jude, Judge, June, Jung
  • Kace/Kayce/Kase, Kade/Kayde, Kai, Kale, Kane/Kayne/Kaine, Karl, Kash, Kaz/Kazz, Keane/Kean/Keene, Keats, Keith, Kemp, Kent, Kern, Key, Kidd, Khan, Kim, King, Kip/Kipp, Kirk, Klaus, Klark, Klein, Knight, Knox, Kole, Kreed, Kris, Krish, Kurt, Kyle
  • Ladd, Lafe, Laird, Laith, Lake, Lance, Lane/Layne/Laine, Lark, Lars, Lee/Leigh, Leib, Leif/Leaf, Leith, Lev, Lex, Light, Lloyd, Locke/Lock, Lord/Lorde, Lorne, Lot/Lott, Luc, Luke, Lux, Lyle, Lynn/Lin, Lynx
  • Mace, Mack/Mac, March, Mark/Marc, Mars, Max, Mayes/Mays/Maze, Meade/Mead, Merle, Mike, Mills, Mitch, Moe/Mo, Moss, Myles/Miles
  • Nash, Nate, Naz, Neil/Neal, Neils, Nels, Ness, Nick, Nile, Niles/Nyles, Nils, Nir, Noel, Noor, North, Noyes
  • Oak, Oakes/Oaks, Om, Or, Oz
  • Pace, Page, Park, Parks/Parx, Parth, Patch, Paul, Pax, Paz, Peace, Peer, Penn, Pierce, Piers, Praise, Pratt, Pride, Priest, Prime, Prince, Psalm, Psalms
  • Quaid/Quade, Quest, Quill, Quinn, Quint
  • Ra, Race, Rage, Raines, Raj, Ralph, Ram, Rance, Rand, Range, Ray, Raz, Reece/Reese/Rhys, Reef, Reeve, Reeves, Reid/Reed, Reign, Rell, Ren, Rex, Rey, Rhett, Rhodes, Ridge, Riggs, Rip/Ripp, Roche, Rock, Rogue, Rolf/Rolfe, Rome, Ross, Roth, Rowe, Roy, Royce, Rudd, Rune, Rush, Rye/Ry, Ryne
  • Sage, Saint, Sam, Saul, Sayre, Scott, Seth/Set, Shade, Shane/Shayne/Shaine, Shaw, Shawn/Shaun/Sean, Shay/Shaye, Sky, Slate, Sloan/Sloane, Smith, South, Spade, Sprague, Steel, Stone, Storm, Styles/Stiles/Stylez, Suede, Swain/Swayne, Swan, Sway, Swift
  • Tad, Tadhg, Taft, Tai, Taj/Tahj/Tajh, Tal, Tank, Tate/Tait/Tayt, Tay/Taye, Taz, Teague, Tex, Thad, Thane/Thaine, Thames, Thor, Thorn/Thorne, Tighe, Todd, Tom/Thom, Townes/Towns, Trace, Track, Trent, Trey, Trigg, Tripp, Tris, Troy, Troyce, True/Tru, Truce, Trust, Truth, Twain, Ty/Tye
  • Val, Vale, Van, Vance, Vane, Vaughn, Vic/Vick, Vince, Von, Voss
  • Wade/Wayde, Wales, Ward, Wayne, Webb, Welch, Wells, West, Wilde, Wilks, Will, Wing, Witt/Whitt, Wolf/Wolfe, Wood, Woods, Worth, Wraith, Wray, Wren, Wright, Wynn/Winn
  • Yale, Yann, Yates, York, Young, Yves
  • Zack/Zach/Zac, Zade/Zaide/Zayde/Zayd, Zale, Zam, Zane/Zain/Zayne/Zaine/Zayn, Zeal, Zed/Zedd, Zell, Zen, Zeth, Zeus, Zev, Ziv, Zvi, Zyn

Please note that I did include names in the gray area between one syllable and two syllables. The deciding factor on these particular names (such as Charles, Miles, and Noel) will be your own interpretation/accent, so be sure to test the names out loud before making any final decisions.

Many of these names also happen to be unisex, so they appear on the one-syllable girl names list as well.

What’s your favorite one-syllable boy name?

Image: Adapted from 1 Drvo 06241 by Olja Simovic under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: July 2023]