English
Keir
Keir comes from Scottish Gaelic ciar ‘dark’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃i-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃i-reconstructed
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*keirosreconstructed
- Old Irishc. 600–900cíar‘dark’
- Scottish Gaelicmodernciar‘dark’
- Englishearliest quotation 2025Keir
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃i-reconstructed
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*keirosreconstructed
- Old Irishc. 600–900cíar‘dark’
- Scottish Gaelicmodernciar‘dark’
- Englishearliest quotation 2025Keir
Earliest quotation: 2025, Reuters, UK teenager jailed for minimum of 52 years for Southport gir: “A British teenager who killed three young girls at…”
The story
Hanks (2006) derived the name from Pictish/Proto-Brythonic *kaɨr (‘a fort’), possibly via Scots keir.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃i-
Today it means
name A surname.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃i- / Keir