The compact name Keir first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1963:
- 1965: 6 baby boys named Keir
- 1964: 21 baby boys named Keir
- 1963: 13 baby boys named Keir (debut)
- 1962: unlisted
- 1961: unlisted
The spelling Kier debuted that year as well.
What was the influence?
Actor Keir Dullea, whose first big movie role was the lead part in an offbeat romance called David and Lisa (1962). He ended up winning a Golden Globe for “Most Promising Newcomer – Male” in early 1963.
He went on to appear in other movies, none more successful than Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), in which he played another David: astronaut David Bowman, who spoke the famous line, “Open the pod bay doors please, HAL.”
The classic science-fiction flick gave Keir’s name a boost in the late ’60s:
- 1971: 46 baby boys named Keir
- 1970: 63 baby boys named Keir (peak usage)
- 1969: 45 baby boys named Keir
- 1968: 28 baby boys named Keir
- 1967: 6 baby boys named Keir
His full name is pronounced KEER duh-LAY, which is easy to remember if you think of the Noel Coward witticism, “Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow.” I’m not sure how his parents came up with the name Keir, but it could be an Anglicized form of the Irish name Ciar, which means “black.”
(Keir was also on TV a lot, and once appeared in an episode of the short-lived show Channing — just like Joan Hackett, whose character Djuna Phrayne had a big impact on the baby name Djuna.)
What are your thoughts on the name Keir?
Sources: Keir Dullea – Wikipedia, SSA
Images: Screenshots of David and Lisa and 2001: A Space Odyssey
[Latest update: Feb. 2025]
