As a deity name
Name 582 of the Hanuman Sahasranāma — Rasvin Samhita / Brahmanda Purana, as taught by Lord Ram / Sages
Name 792 of the Krishna Sahasranāma — Mahabharata / Padma Purana, as taught by Sages and Devotees
Name 102 of the Narasimha Sahasranāma — Brahmanda Purana / Narasimha Purana, as taught by Sages to Assembly of Devotees
Name 151 of the Rama Sahasranāma — Padma Purana / Skanda Purana, as taught by Lord Shiva to Goddess Parvati
As a Hindi name
केशव · noun · masculine
विष्णु का एक नाम · कृष्णचंद्र का एक नाम । राधारमण । गौपीनाथ · ब्रह्मा । परमेश्वर — Śabdasāgara
केशव · adj
सुंदर बालोंवाला । प्रशस्त केशवाला — Śabdasāgara
केशव · keśava · adj.
(f. -ā), Having long or much or handsome hair; long-haired, hairy — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 889
केशव · masculine
an epithet of Krishna, eighth avatar of Vishnu; a male given name, Keshav or Keshava, from Sanskrit
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi केशव — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Learned borrowing from Sanskrit केशव (keśava).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
keśava mfn. (Pāṇ. v, 2, 109) having long or much or handsome hair, AV. viii, 6, 23; ŚBr.; KātyŚr.
keśava (as), m. N. of Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa, MBh.; Hariv.; R. &c.
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
having long or much or handsome hair
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (3)Why this matches what you typed
The spelling you confirmed, केशव, is itself a dictionary headword — no grammatical transformation stands between what you typed and the meaning above.
Gender counterpart
The kosha attests this stem in the feminine, the masculine, and the neuter — the same name serves without alteration.
Dictionary citations
keśava mfn. (Pāṇ. v, 2, 109) having long or much or handsome hair, AV. viii, 6, 23; ŚBr.; KātyŚr.
keśava (as), m. N. of Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa, MBh.; Hariv.; R. &c.
(hence) of the month Mārgaśīrṣa, VarBṛS. cv, 14
Rottleria tinctoria, L.
N. of the author of a lexicon called Kalpa-dru
Alternative readings
More than one analysis survives full verification. That ambiguity is real, so we show every reading rather than pick one silently.
Caveats
Sources contain errors and engines have limits; every claim above carries its citation so you can verify it. This is guidance about names and their sources — not religious or astrological consultation. How we work · Our sources