Contents [hide]

Keefe History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Keefe History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

All Irish surnames have underlying meanings that can be traced back to their fullest points when the names first appeared in a Gaelic form. The name Keefe originally appeared in Gaelic as "O Caoimh," which is derived from the word "caomh," which means "gentle."

Early Origins of the Keefe family

The surname Keefe was first found in County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

"In ancient times the O'Keeffes were Marshals and chief military leaders of Desmond. They possessed several castles, and were styled Princes of Fermoy. The principal county for the Keeffes and O'Keefes at present is Cork." 1

Early History of the Keefe family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Keefe research. Another 116 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1640, 1655, 1670, 1691, 1703, 1740, 1747, 1778, 1791 and 1833 are included under the topic Early Keefe History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Keefe Spelling Variations

Within archives, many different spelling variations exist for the surname Keefe. Ancient scribes and church officials recorded names as they were pronounced, often resulting in the name of the single person being recorded under several different spellings. Different spellings that were found include O'Keeffe, O'Keefe, Keefe, Keeffe, Keefer, Keiffe and others.

Early Notables of the Keefe family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Constantine O'Keeffe (born c. 1670) who was admitted to the French aristocracy in 1740 on the basis of...
Another 27 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Keefe Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Keefe Ranking

In the United States, the name Keefe is the 3,913^rd most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 2 However, in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Keefe is ranked the 626^th most popular surname with an estimated 73 people with that name. 3

Keefe migration to the United States +

In the 18th and 19th centuries hundreds of thousands of Irish people immigrated to North American shores. The early settlers were enticed by the promise of their own land, but they were moderately well off in Ireland when they decided to emigrate. Therefore, they were merely carrying out a long and carefully thought out decision. The 1840s saw the emergence of a very different trend: thousands of extremely desperate people crammed into passenger boats hoping to find any type of opportunity. The Irish of this decade had seen their homeland severely stricken by crop failures which resulted in widespread disease and starvation. At whatever time the Irish immigrants came to North America, they were instrumental in the rapid development of the emerging nations of the United States and what would become known as Canada. An exhaustive search of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many persons bearing the name Keefe, or one of its variants:

Keefe Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Elizabeth Keefe, who arrived in Maryland in 1678 4

Keefe Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Thomas Keefe, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1765 4
Daniel Keefe, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1766 4

Keefe Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Henry Keefe, who landed in New York in 1816 4
Michael Keefe, aged 28, who landed in Missouri in 1840 4
John Keefe, who landed in Tippecanoe County, Ind in 1842 4
Dennis Keefe, who landed in Tippecanoe County, Ind in 1842 4
Mathew Keefe, aged 28, who landed in Mobile County, Ala in 1844 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Keefe migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Keefe Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Ellen Keefe, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1813
Richard Keefe, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1829
Mary Keefe, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1830
Joanna Keefe, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1832
Timothy Keefe, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1832
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Keefe migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Keefe Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Catherine Keefe, English silk weaver who was convicted in Surrey, England for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Brothers" on 20th November 1823, arriving in New South Wales, Australia and Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
Mrs. Catherine Keefe, (O'Keefe), (b. 1777), aged 49, Irish house servant who was convicted in Dublin, Ireland for 7 years for shop lifting, transported aboard the "Brothers" on 3rd October 1826, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, listed as having 2 children 6
Mrs. Margaret Keefe, (b. 1791), aged 35, Irish house servant who was convicted in Dublin, Ireland for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Brothers" on 3rd October 1826, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, listed as having 1 child 6
Miss Mary Keefe, (O'Keefe), (b. 1797), aged 29, Irish country servant who was convicted in Limerick, Ireland for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Brothers" on 3rd October 1826, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 6
Michael Keefe, English convict from Lancaster, who was transported aboard the "Albion" on May 29, 1828, settling in New South Wales, Australia 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Keefe migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Keefe Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Miss Sarah Keefe, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Kingston" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 29th December 1858 8
Miss Ann Keefe, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Mystery" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 7th January 1862 8
John Keefe, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Armstrong" in 1865
Ellen Keefe, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Armstrong" in 1865
Patrick Keefe, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Armstrong" in 1865
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Keefe (post 1700) +

Dylan Keefe (b. 1970), American bassist and one of the founding members of the alternative rock band Marcy Playground
Emmett Keefe (1893-1965), American NFL football guard
Kristin Klein Keefe (b. 1970), American volleyball player, member of the USA National Women's Team at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Peter Eugene Keefe (1952-2010), American television producer best known for creating the popular series Voltron
Daniel Joseph Keefe (1852-1929), American founder and the first president of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA)
Jim Keefe (b. 1965), American comic artist who contributes original art and stories to the Flash Gordon comic strip
P. J. Keefe, American head football coach for the Middlebury College Panthers football team from 1910 through 1912
Frank Bateman Keefe (1887-1952), American politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin (1939-1951)
Brian Keefe, American assistant coach for the New York Knicks
Robert Francis "Bobby" Keefe, American Major League Baseball player who played from 1907 to 1912
... (Another 13 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Keefe family +

RMS Titanic

Mr. Arthur Keefe (d. 1912), aged 39, American Third Class passenger from Rahway, New Jersey who sailed aboard the RMS Titanic and died in the sinking and was recovered by RMS Oceanic 9

Citations +

Matheson, Robert E., Special Report on Surnames in Ireland with Notes as to Numeric Strength, Derivation, Ethnology, and Distribution. Dublin: Alexander Thom & Co., 1894. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 30th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/brothers
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 3rd November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/brothers
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2014, November 24) Albion voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1828 with 192 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/albion/1828
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html