Keela: Meaning, Pronunciation and Origin
Keela is an Irish girl's name meaning “beautiful.” Here’s how to say it, where it comes from, and names that go well with it.
Updated September 2026
- Meaning
- Beautiful
- Gender
- Girl
- Also spelled
- Kyla
- Popularity in Ireland
- No. 885 for girls (2025)
How do you pronounce Keela?
Keela is pronounced KEE-la. It has two syllables, with the stress on the first. It can also be said KIE-la. Other spellings: Kyla.
What does Keela mean?
Keela is a modern spelling usually linked with the Irish Cadhla, from the old adjective cadhla, “beautiful.” Irish dictionaries mark the word as literary, meaning it belongs to poetry and older writing rather than everyday speech.
Cadhla was also an old personal name. The surname Ó Cadhla, “descendant of Cadhla,” belonged to a family of chiefs of Connemara and to another of Tuath Luimnigh near Limerick, and is now spelled Kiely, Kealy, Keely or Quealy. The link between Keela and Cadhla is traditional rather than certain: some name references instead connect Keela with caol, “slender,” the root of the surname Ó Caolaidhe.
Sources: Ó Dónaill's Irish dictionary (teanglann.ie), Behind the Name, Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923), Wikipedia.
How popular is Keela in Ireland?
In 2025, 3 baby girls in Ireland were named Keela, which made it No. 885 that year. That's down from No. 402 ten years earlier. It was most popular in 2008, when 27 baby girls were named Keela, No. 206 that year. It first appears in the records in 1998, with 7 baby girls.
See the numbers by year
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | No. 885 |
| 2023 | 7 | No. 495 |
| 2022 | 5 | No. 634 |
| 2021 | 8 | No. 464 |
| 2020 | 7 | No. 495 |
| 2019 | 10 | No. 395 |
| 2018 | 14 | No. 319 |
| 2017 | 11 | No. 365 |
| 2016 | 8 | No. 476 |
| 2015 | 11 | No. 402 |
| 2014 | 14 | No. 336 |
| 2013 | 13 | No. 357 |
| 2012 | 14 | No. 354 |
| 2011 | 13 | No. 359 |
| 2010 | 12 | No. 395 |
| 2009 | 16 | No. 299 |
| 2008 | 27 | No. 206 |
| 2007 | 19 | No. 251 |
| 2006 | 8 | No. 431 |
| 2005 | 13 | No. 277 |
| 2004 | 11 | No. 304 |
| 2003 | 3 | No. 655 |
| 2002 | 4 | No. 512 |
| 2001 | 4 | No. 498 |
| 1999 | 3 | No. 528 |
| 1998 | 7 | No. 319 |
Keela in Ogham
Ogham is the oldest way of writing Irish. It was carved along the edges of standing stones, mostly between the 4th and 6th centuries, and read from the bottom up. In later tradition each letter was named after a tree or plant. Here’s Keela, letter by letter.
- CColl, hazel
- EEadhadh, aspen
- EEadhadh, aspen
- LLuis, rowan
- AAilm, pine
Write any name in Ogham with our Ogham translator
Names that go with Keela
Questions about Keela
- How do you pronounce Keela?
- Keela is pronounced KEE-la. Two syllables, stress on the first.
- What does Keela mean?
- Keela means “beautiful.”
- Is Keela a girl's name or a boy's name?
- Keela is a girl's name.
- How popular is Keela in Ireland?
- In 2025, Keela was No. 885 for girls in Ireland, with 3 babies, according to the Central Statistics Office. It was most popular in 2008, at No. 206.