I love my name! I was born in 1988, my Dad comes from the Gaeltacht of Connemara so I was given the English name Keely as well as Cadhla in our Irish language! I was always told it also means "beautiful"and "Battle maiden" which I think is pretty cool!
All of the different spellings are not very aesthetic and fail to give it the justice it deserves. It's one of the most beautiful + unusual sounding names imo.
― Anonymous User 4/14/2024, edited 4/14/2024
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Doesn’t really sound like a name to be honest. I don’t like it.
― Anonymous User 11/2/2021
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My name is Keely and I think it is strangely beautiful. This is a name fit for mature but youthful people.
Hello, I’m also a Keely, any other way of spelling my lovely name just looks like a completely different name to me... whenever someone spells it incorrectly I’m quick to correct them with the explanation “2 e’s not 3”. I’m now in my mid 40’s and my name was very unheard of growing up in the 70’s. My mum knitted me a bright red jumper with my name in black capital letters right across the front, I think that might have been a 70’s thing?! I was almost called Polly, another brilliant name.
― Anonymous User 2/21/2019
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My name was going to be Keely, Kyleigh, or Kaylie. My parents went with Kyleigh Grace.
My name is Keely only spelled Keleigh. My Aunt wanted my mom to spell it like Vivian "Leigh" for uniqueness (as if the name itself wasn't unique). My middle name is Shay. Yes, there's a Keely Shae Smith actress but I am about 10 years older therefore I had it first. :) My mom heard the name after the jazz singer paired with a performing artist "Shay" in Rocky Mountain News entertainment section. I love my name, never had another in all my school years. I knew of one other in a town 30 miles away and she was named after me but spelled different. Since then I have had two more babies named after me. Downfall was it would often be mispronounced Keylay or Kelly Ka-lie (don't ask phonetically, some make zero sense). But I often get compliments.
― Anonymous User 5/28/2017
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My name is Keyley. Same pronunciation, but my mom wanted it to be "different" (as if Keely weren't already a strange name). I hated my name as a kid because everyone misspelled it or pronounced it wrong and I could never find anything with my name on it in a store. But, I love my name now. I think it sounds like something a fairy tale character would be named (Kili from The Hobbit). I was named Keyley Shaye after Keely Shaye Smith the host of Unsolved Mysteries and Keely Smith the Jazz singer. And to those saying a professional adult named Keely is silly or tacky, I'm a paramedic and firefighter named Keyley and I'm in medical school. My name hasn't stopped me from being a professional and accomplishing a lot, and I'm only 21. I have come across 5 other Keely's. 4 of them girls and 1 boy.
My name's Keely, as a kid I hated it. I thought it was the worst name ever but over the years I've started to like it more, not many people are called Keely, that's what I like best because I don't have such a basic name... but people always spell it wrong (Keeley) Or pronounce it wrong- they call me Kelly or Kylie.
My name is Keely but it's spelled wrong a lot even by one of my grandpa's! They misspell it Keeley and Keeli but it's okay. I've only met one other person with this name but it just means I'm unique.
I was born with the surname Keeley, but many of my friends would call me this as a nickname as they preferred it over my first name, Susan. When I married and had children I named my firstborn (daughter) Keeley (my surname) Harrington (her maternal grandmother's surname). I love the name and all others I met would comment positively on it. Most importantly, my daughter loves her name. She is now a 40 year old professional and wears her name proudly.
I've never met anyone with this name before, which is also mine. Many people compliment me on it and always ask if it's an Irish name and it is. I like my name and I am proud to have it. People say it fits me. It's a unique and cute name.
So yea, it's comments like the ones above that made me cringe when hearing someone try to pronounce my name for the first time as a kid. Imagine how that is for a child, hearing people trip over it then the other kids laugh? Yea, that was awesome. But luckily I grew up to not be an inconsiderate asshole and have since learned that my name is better than any Ashley, Brittany or Kimberly, and it fits me.
I think it sounds fun and feminine, I always preferred it over Kiley or Caley, but all the spellings look so tacky, maybe it's better suited as a nickname.
I have difficulty taking this name seriously. To be honest, I think "Keely" sounds ditzy and far too feminine. It might be a cute name for a toddler, but the name falls to shambles in adulthood. Could you imagine any professional adult named Keely? I know I can't.