Kealy
Girl name · 3 babies recorded · 1974–2025
Kealy: 3 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 3 births in 1995.
Kealy is a modern given name with Irish roots, typically derived from the surname Ó Caollaidhe, meaning “descendant of Caollaidhe”—a personal name based on caol, the Gaelic word for “slender” or “fair.” It arrived in Scotland via Ulster and has been used as a fresh, unisex alternative to its more common cousin Keeley. While no widely famous bearers immediately spring to mind, the name carries a quiet, contemporary charm and appears sporadically on Scottish birth registers. No notable places are directly linked, but the root caol also appears in place-names like Caol, a village near Fort William. Spelling variations include Keely, Keeley, and Kealie, with Keeley the most established variant elsewhere.
Girl 1 of 52 years
- Peak year
- 19953 babies
- Latest (1995)
- #6393 babies
- Total births
- 3since 1995
- 5-year trend
- ≈ stablevs prior 5y