Ciaran
An Irish masculine name meaning "little dark one" or "dark-haired".
Name Census estimates that about 2,093 living Americans carry the first name Ciaran. It is a predominantly male name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Ciaran today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ciaran births was 2024 (92 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ciaran. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Ciaran is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 163,762 Americans
Peak year
2024
92 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,776
Tracked since 1959
Gender
Gender distribution for Ciaran
Ciaran leans heavily male at 98.6% of total registrations, but 30 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ciaran as a male name
- Ranked #1,776 in 2024
- 92 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (92 births)
Ciaran as a female name
- Ranked #15,812 in 2008
- 6 female births in 2008
- Peak: 1971 (7 births)
Popularity
Ciaran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ciaran from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 688 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ciaran remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ciaran by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ciaran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ciarans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Ciaran, while Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ciaran
Ciaran is an Irish male given name derived from the Old Irish word ciar, meaning "black" or "dark". The name can be traced back to the 5th century AD and is associated with the early Christian saints of Ireland.
It is believed that the name Ciaran was first popularized by Saint Ciaran of Saigir, who lived from around 512 to 588 AD. He was an Irish monk and missionary who founded the monastery of Seir-Kieran in County Offaly, Ireland. Saint Ciaran is venerated in the Catholic Church and his feast day is celebrated on March 5th.
Another prominent figure in the history of the name Ciaran was Saint Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, who lived from around 516 to 549 AD. He was an Irish abbot and founder of the famous monastery of Clonmacnoise in County Offaly. Saint Ciaran of Clonmacnoise is also venerated in the Catholic Church, and his feast day is celebrated on September 9th.
In the Middle Ages, the name Ciaran was popular among Irish nobility and rulers. One notable example is Ciaran mac Máel Chróin, who was the King of Munster from 975 to 976 AD. Another historical figure with this name was Ciaran of Bellachmugha, a 12th-century Irish poet and religious scholar.
During the modern era, the name Ciaran has been carried by several notable individuals, such as Ciaran Hinds (born 1953), an Irish actor known for his roles in films like "Munich" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2". Ciaran Carson (1948-2019) was an acclaimed Irish poet and writer, while Ciaran Byrne (born 1983) is an Irish professional boxer.
Other notable individuals with the name Ciaran include Ciaran Cuddihy (born 1963), an Irish former hurler who played for Waterford, and Ciaran O'Keeffe (born 1985), an Irish former professional footballer who played for clubs like Everton and Sunderland.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ciaran
People
Ciaran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ciaran as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ciaran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ciaran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,093 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ciaran going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 163,762 US residents.
Is Ciaran a common name?
We classify Ciaran as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ciaran most popular?
The single biggest year for Ciaran was 2024, when 92 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ciaran is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ciaran a male name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Ciaran in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.