Kieran
Kieran was given to 817 boys in 2025, #389 among boys’ names; 19,218 Americans have been recorded with it since 1918 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 18,600 Americans named Kieran and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (97% of everyone recorded); the median is 16 years old and half are between 8 and 25.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Kieran by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Kieran mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Kieran is “a unisex given name from Irish, an anglicized form of Ciarán.”
Also “a unisex given name from Sanskrit, an anglicized form of किरण (kiraṇa).”
/ˈkɪɹˌɔn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Kieran?
#389 among boys’ names, 2025
Kieran rose from #512 in 2015 to #389 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.29 to 0.48 per 1,000.
828 babies in 2025, the peak
Kieran peaked in 2025, when 828 babies were given it (817 boys, #389 among boys’ names). In 2024 it went to 716 boys.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 817 | #389 | 0.48 |
| 2024 | 716 | #440 | 0.42 |
| 2023 | 636 | #477 | 0.37 |
| 2022 | 621 | #490 | 0.36 |
| 2021 | 598 | #493 | 0.34 |
| 2020 | 558 | #514 | 0.32 |
| 2019 | 581 | #493 | 0.32 |
| 2018 | 579 | #497 | 0.32 |
| 2017 | 567 | #512 | 0.31 |
| 2016 | 540 | #539 | 0.28 |
Every recorded year (99)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 560 | #512 | 0.29 |
| 2014 | 483 | #576 | 0.25 |
| 2013 | 471 | #558 | 0.25 |
| 2012 | 470 | #554 | 0.25 |
| 2011 | 562 | #474 | 0.30 |
| 2010 | 469 | #540 | 0.24 |
| 2009 | 528 | #510 | 0.27 |
| 2008 | 502 | #533 | 0.25 |
| 2007 | 450 | #571 | 0.22 |
| 2006 | 445 | #563 | 0.22 |
| 2005 | 408 | #571 | 0.20 |
| 2004 | 425 | #544 | 0.21 |
| 2003 | 429 | #538 | 0.22 |
| 2002 | 399 | #556 | 0.21 |
| 2001 | 410 | #534 | 0.21 |
| 2000 | 416 | #528 | 0.21 |
| 1999 | 319 | #596 | 0.17 |
| 1998 | 292 | #625 | 0.15 |
| 1997 | 259 | #644 | 0.14 |
| 1996 | 278 | #624 | 0.15 |
| 1995 | 265 | #637 | 0.14 |
| 1994 | 233 | #679 | 0.12 |
| 1993 | 192 | #753 | 0.10 |
| 1992 | 125 | #961 | 0.06 |
| 1991 | 105 | #1,053 | 0.05 |
| 1990 | 109 | #1,014 | 0.05 |
| 1989 | 84 | #1,153 | 0.04 |
| 1988 | 64 | #1,284 | 0.03 |
| 1987 | 60 | #1,261 | 0.03 |
| 1986 | 62 | #1,221 | 0.03 |
| 1985 | 65 | #1,161 | 0.04 |
| 1984 | 74 | #1,037 | 0.04 |
| 1983 | 49 | #1,340 | 0.03 |
| 1982 | 59 | #1,213 | 0.03 |
| 1981 | 50 | #1,319 | 0.03 |
| 1980 | 43 | #1,457 | 0.02 |
| 1979 | 50 | #1,310 | 0.03 |
| 1978 | 47 | #1,336 | 0.03 |
| 1977 | 43 | #1,400 | 0.03 |
| 1976 | 35 | #1,561 | 0.02 |
| 1975 | 41 | #1,370 | 0.03 |
| 1974 | 36 | #1,458 | 0.02 |
| 1973 | 39 | #1,338 | 0.03 |
| 1972 | 27 | #1,705 | 0.02 |
| 1971 | 53 | #1,131 | 0.03 |
| 1970 | 44 | #1,256 | 0.02 |
| 1969 | 31 | #1,454 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 35 | #1,300 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 42 | #1,157 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 39 | #1,208 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 46 | #1,101 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 39 | #1,250 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 33 | #1,366 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 33 | #1,379 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 39 | #1,270 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 37 | #1,307 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 32 | #1,396 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 34 | #1,329 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 28 | #1,501 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 22 | #1,700 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 26 | #1,522 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 12 | #2,375 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 20 | #1,744 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 18 | #1,830 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 12 | #2,309 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 18 | #1,783 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 9 | #2,710 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 11 | #2,385 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 12 | #2,312 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 15 | #1,920 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 5 | #3,557 | under 0.01 |
| 1944 | 10 | #2,390 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 7 | #3,079 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 5 | #3,774 | under 0.01 |
| 1940 | 7 | #3,010 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 7 | #2,989 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 8 | #2,764 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 5 | #3,825 | under 0.01 |
| 1935 | 5 | #3,924 | under 0.01 |
| 1934 | 9 | #2,663 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 5 | #4,048 | under 0.01 |
| 1931 | 9 | #2,777 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 8 | #3,120 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 5 | #4,453 | under 0.01 |
| 1926 | 7 | #3,565 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 5 | #4,690 | under 0.01 |
| 1923 | 5 | #4,559 | under 0.01 |
| 1921 | 8 | #3,357 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 8 | #3,252 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Kieran a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 19,218 Americans recorded as Kieran, 8% are girls and 92% boys. In 2025 it went to 11 girls and 817 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Kieran: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Kieran, and how old are they?
18,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 97% of the 19,218 Americans ever recorded as Kieran. The median Kieran alive today is 16 years old; half are between 8 and 25.
The 2020 Census counted 15,306 people named Kieran (1,513 women and girls, 13,793 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 14,885 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 19 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 343 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 665 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,070 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 7,550 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 7,970 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Kieran born?
The states with the most babies named Kieran are California, New York and Pennsylvania, with 27% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 93 | #372 | 0.8× |
| New York | 60 | #310 | 1.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 58 | #219 | 1.5× |
| Ohio | 38 | #314 | 0.6× |
| Texas | 37 | #740 | 0.4× |
| Florida | 37 | #496 | 0.6× |
| New Jersey | 33 | #277 | 1.6× |
| Virginia | 28 | #300 | 1.0× |
| Massachusetts | 27 | #227 | 1.2× |
| Washington | 26 | #295 | 1.3× |
Where Kieran is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Kieran is most over-represented in New York: since 1918 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Kieran with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 34,571 babies since 1880, Kieran is the most given (56% of them). In 2025 it was given to 828 of their 1,268 babies (65%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Kieran
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Kieran and names like it
- Compare Kieran and KiranBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sKieran peaked in 2025.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Kieran since 1910.
- The top names of 2025The year the most babies were named Kieran.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Kieran alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with KMost given first.