Kief
From Arabic, a powder derived from cannabis buds.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Kief. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kief today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kief births was 1970 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kief. 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 Kief. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1970
6 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1972 SSA rank
#4,730
Tracked since 1970
Popularity
Kief: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Kief 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 Kief during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Kief
The name Kief is believed to have originated in the Arabic language, where it is derived from the word "kaif," which means "pleasure" or "enjoyment." This name likely emerged during the medieval period in the Middle East and North Africa, where Arabic was the predominant language.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kief can be found in the 9th century work "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), which mentions a poet named Kief al-Muqri. This suggests that the name was in use among Arabic-speaking populations during the Abbasid Caliphate era.
During the 11th century, a prominent Islamic scholar and jurist named Kief al-Din al-Naisaburi lived in Persia (modern-day Iran). He was known for his contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence and his writings on the interpretation of Sharia law.
In the 13th century, a Sufi mystic and poet named Kief al-Din al-Amidi gained recognition for his spiritual verses and teachings in the region of modern-day Iraq. His works were widely studied and appreciated among Sufi circles in the Middle East.
During the Ottoman Empire period, which spanned from the 14th to the early 20th century, the name Kief was also found among Turkish populations. One notable figure was Kief Pasha, a 17th-century Ottoman statesman and military commander who served as the Governor of Damascus and later as the Grand Vizier.
In more recent history, a prominent Egyptian writer and intellectual named Kief Shukri (1919-1988) made significant contributions to Arabic literature and cultural criticism. He is renowned for his works exploring the intersection of Arab identity and modernity.
While the name Kief has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, it has also been adopted and used in various regions where Arabic influence has been present, such as parts of North Africa, the Levant, and the Persian Gulf regions.
People
Kief + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kief 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
Kief: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kief?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kief 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Kief a common name?
We classify Kief as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kief most popular?
The single biggest year for Kief was 1970, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kief is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kief a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kief 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.