Keanu

Did you know?

A few things about Keanu you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Keanu

Keanu Reeves

Canadian actor and musician (born 1964)

Choose Keanu and your child shares a first name with Keanu Reeves, a Canadian actor and musician. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Keanu, like who?” Keanu Reeves's Wikipedia article is available in 124 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Keanu Reeves on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Birgit Fostervold, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 4,000 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Keanu, 427 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Keanu would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryKeanu first shows up in US birth records in 1990, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 35 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2020, when it reached #515.
• 📈Then vs nowKeanu is 2.3× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 9,091 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 4,000.
• 🍂TrendKeanu has slipped 133 places over the last five years and now sits at #648. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedKeanu is most popular in Hawaii, where it ranks #90, followed by Nevada (#243) and New Mexico (#311). It's in the top 1,000 in 28 states.
• 💬MeaningIn Hawaiian, Keanu means “the cool breeze”. Our records link it to Hawaiian and Irish roots.
• 🌍OriginKeanu is the #4 most popular Hawaiian boy name in the US. That's out of 156 Hawaiian boy and unisex names in our list.

About the name Keanu

Keanu is a boy name of Hawaiian and Irish origin meaning “the cool breeze”. It has 5 letters and 2 syllables, starting with K and ending in “-anu”. US birth records list Keanu for boys from 1990 to 2025, in 36 of those 36 years. Its best year was 2020, when it ranked #515 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #648, with 427 babies.

Origin:Hawaiian namesIrish names