Kiann
Of Irish origin, meaning "son of Cian" (an ancient Irish father).
Name Census estimates that about 24 living Americans carry the first name Kiann. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 60.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Kiann today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kiann births was 1971 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kiann. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kiann. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
24
~ 1 in 14,281,431 Americans
Peak year
1971
5 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,426
Tracked since 1971
Census
Kiann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 127 people with the first name Kiann, which placed it at #49,170 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#49,170
National first-name rank
People counted
127
127 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kiann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiann is White at 48.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kiann described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kiann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.8% · 62
- Black or African American22.0% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.8% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino7.1% · 9
- Two or more races7.1% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.1% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Kiann
Kiann is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 25 total registrations, 10 (40.0%) were male and 15 (60.0%) were female.
Kiann as a male name
- Ranked #13,426 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2017 (5 births)
Kiann as a female name
- Ranked #18,697 in 2006
- 5 female births in 2006
- Peak: 1971 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiann leans strongly female. 103 people counted with this name were female (83.7%), compared with 20 male bearers (16.3%).
Popularity
Kiann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kiann from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kiann 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 Kiann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kiann
The name Kiann is a relatively modern name with no definitive origins or etymology. It is believed to be a variant spelling of the name Kian, which has roots in several cultures and languages.
The name Kian is derived from the Persian word "kiyan," which means "of noble birth" or "of the royal line." It was a common name among the ancient Persian aristocracy and was borne by several Persian kings and princes throughout history.
In Irish Gaelic, the name Cian (pronounced similarly to Kian) means "ancient" or "enduring." It is an old Irish name that has been used for centuries and has its roots in Irish mythology. The name Cian appears in several ancient Irish texts and legends, including the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology.
There are also some speculations that the name Kian/Kiann might have its origins in the Greek word "kianos," meaning "blue" or "dark blue." However, this connection is not well-established, and it is more likely that the name's origins lie in the Persian and Irish traditions.
As for historical references and notable bearers of the name, the list is not extensive, but here are a few examples:
1. Kian Eminpour (born 1985), an Iranian-American singer and songwriter.
2. Cian of Crich (fl. 3rd century AD), a legendary Irish warrior and hero from the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology.
3. Kian Loyd (born 1989), an American professional basketball player.
4. Cian O'Callaghan (born 1994), an Irish professional soccer player.
5. Kian Egan (born 1980), an Irish singer and former member of the boyband Westlife.
While the name Kiann is a relatively new variant spelling, it is likely derived from the same cultural and linguistic roots as the traditional names Kian and Cian. Its popularity may have been influenced by its unique spelling and the desire for parents to give their children a distinctive name with a sense of heritage and tradition.
People
Kiann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kiann 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
Kiann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kiann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kiann 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 14,281,431 US residents.
Is Kiann a common name?
We classify Kiann as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 25 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kiann most popular?
The single biggest year for Kiann was 1971, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kiann is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kiann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 127 people with the name Kiann, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,170 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kiann in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kiann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiann leans strongly female. 103 people counted with this name were female (83.7%), compared with 20 male bearers (16.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kiann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiann is White at 48.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kiann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kiann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.8% (62 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kiann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kiann a female name?
Yes, 60.0% of people registered as Kiann in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Kiann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kiann in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kiann can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How common is the name Kiann?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Kiann at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.