Holding steady, #4,758 for girls today.
Popularity of Keturah since 1890
Babies named Keturah per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1992, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Keturah's real moment was 1982.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 15 |
| 1900s | 17 |
| 1910s | 47 |
| 1920s | 47 |
| 1930s | 7 |
| 1940s | 36 |
| 1950s | 55 |
| 1960s | 117 |
| 1970s | 451 |
| 1980s | 685 |
| 1990s | 784 |
| 2000s | 563 |
| 2010s | 488 |
| 2020s | 229 |
Meaning & origin
Keturah has been in continuous use since at least 1890, but it has never broken into the top 1,000 U.S. names. Its most popular year was 1982, though even then it remained quite rare. The name's trajectory has been stable, neither surging nor declining dramatically. With a current ranking of 4,758 and an incidence of 1 in 57,402 newborns, Keturah remains a distinctive choice. Its biblical roots give it a quiet, traditional appeal, and it is especially favored among families seeking Old Testament names that are uncommon but established.
Keturah appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name of Abraham's wife after Sarah's death, mother of six sons. The name is traditionally linked to the Hebrew root q-t-r, meaning 'to make smoke' or 'incense,' though some scholars suggest an Arabian origin via the incense trade route. Keturah has been used among English-speaking Christians since the Protestant Reformation, particularly by Puritans, and has maintained a steady but rare presence in the U.S.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Ket, Ketti
Sibling names for Keturah
Names that share Keturah's style, for a brother or sister.
