Kiernan
A masculine name of Gaelic origin meaning "son of the little dark one".
Name Census estimates that about 2,364 living Americans carry the first name Kiernan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 71.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Kiernan today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kiernan births was 2008 (104 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kiernan. 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.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 144,989 Americans
Peak year
2008
104 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,119
Tracked since 1957
Gender
Gender distribution for Kiernan
Kiernan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,405 total registrations, 1,727 (71.8%) were male and 678 (28.2%) were female.
Kiernan as a male name
- Ranked #3,119 in 2024
- 39 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (77 births)
Kiernan as a female name
- Ranked #14,367 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (34 births)
Popularity
Kiernan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kiernan from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 879 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kiernan 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 Kiernan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kiernans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. New York, California, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Kiernan, while Georgia, Connecticut, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kiernan
The name Kiernan is an Irish name derived from the Gaelic word "ciar," meaning "black" or "dark." It was originally a surname that evolved from the Irish Gaelic name "Ó Ciardhubháin," meaning "descendant of the dark one." The name has been in use since at least the 8th century in Ireland and has its roots in the ancient Celtic culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kiernan can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history written by monks in the late 15th century. The annals mention a Kiernan Ua Cuinn, who was the lord of Ive-Bairrche (a territory in present-day County Carlow, Ireland) in the year 1045.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Kiernan O'Rourke was the Bishop of Ardagh, a diocese in County Longford, Ireland. He played a significant role in the ecclesiastical affairs of the region during his tenure from 1184 to 1214.
During the 16th century, Kiernan O'Ruairc was a prominent Irish chieftain and leader of the O'Rourke clan in County Leitrim, Ireland. He is mentioned in several historical accounts for his involvement in the Nine Years' War (1593-1603), a conflict between the Irish chiefs and the English forces of Queen Elizabeth I.
Another notable figure in history with the name Kiernan was Kiernan Dempsey, an Irish soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Born in Dublin in 1753, he served as a lieutenant in the Continental Army and participated in several key battles, including the Battle of Germantown in 1777.
In the 19th century, Kiernan Fitzpatrick was a prominent Irish nationalist and Member of Parliament for County Louth in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He was an advocate for Irish Home Rule and played an active role in the Irish Parliamentary Party during the late 1800s.
While the name Kiernan has its roots in Ireland, it has also been adopted by other cultures and regions over time, although its origins can be traced back to the ancient Gaelic language and Celtic heritage.
People
Kiernan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kiernan 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
Kiernan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kiernan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,364 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kiernan 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 144,989 US residents.
Is Kiernan a common name?
We classify Kiernan as "Rare". It ranks above 94.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,405 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kiernan most popular?
The single biggest year for Kiernan was 2008, when 104 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kiernan is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kiernan a male name?
Yes, 71.8% of people registered as Kiernan 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.