Keiran
Celtic name derived from "Cer" meaning "dark, black-haired".
Name Census estimates that about 1,157 living Americans carry the first name Keiran. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Keiran today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keiran births was 2011 (72 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keiran. 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
- • Keiran 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 296,244 Americans
Peak year
2011
72 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,145
Tracked since 1989
Gender
Gender distribution for Keiran
Keiran leans heavily male at 87.8% of total registrations, but 143 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Keiran as a male name
- Ranked #5,145 in 2024
- 19 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (63 births)
Keiran as a female name
- Ranked #13,742 in 2015
- 7 female births in 2015
- Peak: 2007 (18 births)
Popularity
Keiran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keiran from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 475 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keiran 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 Keiran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keirans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Keiran, while Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keiran
The name Keiran is an anglicized variant of the Irish name Ciarán, which means "little dark one" or "little tanned one". The name has its origins in the Gaelic language and can be traced back to the 5th century AD in Ireland.
Ciarán was a popular name among Irish saints and scholars during the early medieval period. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Saint Ciarán of Saigir, who lived in the 5th century AD and is considered one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He founded the monastery of Saighir in County Offaly and is the patron saint of the Diocese of Ossory.
Another notable figure was Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, who lived in the 6th century AD and founded the famous monastery of Clonmacnoise in County Offaly. This monastery became a significant center of learning and religion in Ireland and played a crucial role in preserving Irish culture and literature during the medieval period.
In the 9th century, an Irish monk named Ciarán of Dairinis is recorded as having traveled to France and founded a monastery in the region of Picardy. This helped to spread the name beyond Ireland and into continental Europe.
Throughout medieval times, the name Ciarán remained popular among Irish families, particularly in the provinces of Leinster and Munster. Famous bearers of the name included Ciarán Ó Maoilchonaire, a 12th-century Irish poet and historian, and Ciarán Mac Muireadhaigh, a 14th-century Irish chieftain and member of the O'Conor dynasty of Connacht.
In the 16th century, the name Ciarán began to be anglicized as Keiran or Kieran, reflecting the changing linguistic and cultural influences in Ireland. One notable bearer of the anglicized form was Kieran MacCarthy, a 17th-century Irish nobleman and military leader who fought against the English during the Irish Confederate Wars.
As the name spread and evolved, it also found its way into other cultures and languages. For example, in Scotland, the name Keiran is sometimes used as a variant of the Gaelic name Ciaràn, which has a similar meaning and origin.
People
Keiran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keiran as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Keiran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keiran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keiran 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 296,244 US residents.
Is Keiran a common name?
We classify Keiran as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,170 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keiran most popular?
The single biggest year for Keiran was 2011, when 72 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keiran is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Keiran a male name?
Yes, 87.8% of people registered as Keiran 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.