Kiara
Feminine name derived from the Sanskrit word "kīra" meaning "praise" or "ray of light".
Name Census estimates that about 54,792 living Americans carry the first name Kiara. It sits at #238 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kiara today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kiara births was 1999 (4,024 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kiara. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kiara with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kiara is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 221 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
55K
~ 1 in 6,256 Americans
Peak year
1999
4,024 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2006 SSA rank
#238
Tracked since 1968
Census
Kiara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 43,752 people with the first name Kiara, which placed it at #982 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
#982
National first-name rank
People counted
44K
43,752 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
14.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
37.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kiara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiara is Black at 37.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.8%) and White (16.2%). 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 Kiara 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 Kiara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American37.9% · 16,576
- Hispanic or Latino33.8% · 14,806
- White16.2% · 7,076
- Two or more races8.0% · 3,497
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 1,413
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 384
Gender
Gender distribution for Kiara
Out of the 55,947 babies given the name Kiara since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kiara as a male name
- Ranked #11,418 in 2006
- 6 male births in 2006
- Peak: 1989 (114 births)
Kiara as a female name
- Ranked #238 in 2024
- 1,310 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (4,024 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiara appears almost entirely female. Of the 43,748 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kiara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kiara from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 18,938 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kiara remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kiara 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 Kiara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kiaras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Kiara, while Wyoming, Vermont, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,068 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kiara
The name Kiara is of Italian origin and derives from the masculine name Chiaro, which means "clear" or "bright" in Italian. The feminine form of the name, Chiara, was popularized during the Middle Ages and is believed to have been inspired by Saint Clare of Assisi, a 13th-century Italian saint.
While the name's roots are Italian, it gained popularity in India and other parts of South Asia in the late 20th century. In Sanskrit, the name Kiara is thought to be derived from the word "Kira," which means "ray of light" or "sunbeam." This Sanskrit connection may have contributed to the name's appeal in the region.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Kiara is in the 13th-century Italian text "Vita di Santa Chiara d'Assisi" (Life of Saint Clare of Assisi), which chronicles the life of the aforementioned Saint Clare. The name was also mentioned in various religious texts and historical records throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods in Italy.
In terms of notable historical figures with the name Kiara, one example is Kiara Libekina, a 14th-century Italian nun and author who wrote several religious texts. Another is Kiara Avogadro, a 16th-century Italian mathematician and philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of algebra.
Moving to more recent history, Kiara Mukherjee was an Indian actress and dancer who rose to prominence in the early 20th century. She was known for her performances in various Indian classical dance forms and was a pioneer in bringing these art forms to wider audiences.
Another notable figure is Kiara Advani, an Indian actress born in 1992, who has appeared in numerous Bollywood films and received critical acclaim for her performances. She is considered one of the most promising young talents in the Indian film industry.
Finally, Kiara Petersen is a contemporary South African cricketer who has represented her country in various international tournaments and is widely regarded as one of the best all-rounders in women's cricket.
People
Kiara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kiara 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
Kiara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kiara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 54,792 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kiara 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 6,256 US residents.
Is Kiara a common name?
We classify Kiara as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 55,947 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kiara most popular?
The single biggest year for Kiara was 1999, when 4,024 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kiara is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kiara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 43,752 people with the name Kiara, or 14.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #982 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 Kiara 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 Kiara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiara appears almost entirely female. Of the 43,748 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kiara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiara is Black at 37.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.8%) and White (16.2%). 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 Kiara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kiara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.9% (16,576 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 Kiara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kiara a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Kiara 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 Kiara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kiara 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 Kiara 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 Kiara?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.