Kiet
A Vietnamese name meaning "force, strength, or perseverance".
Name Census estimates that about 334 living Americans carry the first name Kiet. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kiet today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kiet births was 1994 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kiet. 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
334
~ 1 in 1,026,211 Americans
Peak year
1994
19 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2019 SSA rank
#9,359
Tracked since 1980
Census
Kiet in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,822 people with the first name Kiet, which placed it at #5,875 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
#5,875
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,822 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kiet
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiet is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.3%) and White (1.1%). 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 Kiet 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 Kiet at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.6% · 2,727
- Two or more races1.3% · 36
- White1.1% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 18
- Black or African American0.3% · 9
Popularity
Kiet: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kiet from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 110 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Kiet remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kiet 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 Kiet during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kiets live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kiet
The name Kiet has its origins in the Vietnamese language and culture, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Old Vietnamese word "kiet," which means "outstanding" or "excellent." This name was often given to male children as a representation of the parents' hopes and aspirations for their son to grow up to be an exceptional individual.
In ancient Vietnamese literature, the name Kiet is mentioned in various texts and folktales, often associated with heroic figures and warriors. One such notable example is the epic poem "The Tale of Kieu," written in the early 19th century by the revered poet Nguyen Du, which features a character named Kiet who embodies bravery and loyalty.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kiet can be traced back to the 11th century, during the Ly Dynasty, a period of significant cultural and literary development in Vietnam. One of the most famous historical figures bearing this name is Ngo Quyen Kiet, a renowned military commander who led the Vietnamese forces to victory against the invading Chinese armies in the 10th century, establishing the first independent Vietnamese state.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have carried the name Kiet. In the 15th century, Kiet Nhi was a highly respected Confucian scholar and poet who served as a mandarin in the royal court of the Le Dynasty. During the 18th century, Kiet Luu was a prominent general who played a crucial role in defending Vietnam against the Siamese invasion.
In more recent times, Kiet Oprok (1925-2008) was a celebrated Cambodian writer and poet, renowned for his contributions to modern Khmer literature. Additionally, Kiet Van Huynh (born 1946) is a Vietnamese-American artist and sculptor, known for his large-scale public artworks that celebrate the cultural heritage of Vietnam.
Another notable figure is Kiet Nguyen (born 1973), a Vietnamese-American entrepreneur and philanthropist who co-founded the technology company AuthenTec, which was later acquired by Apple Inc. in 2012.
The name Kiet has transcended its Vietnamese origins and has been adopted by various cultures around the world, particularly in Southeast Asia, where it has gained popularity as a symbol of strength, excellence, and resilience.
People
Kiet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kiet 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
Kiet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kiet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 334 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kiet 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 1,026,211 US residents.
Is Kiet a common name?
We classify Kiet as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 343 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kiet most popular?
The single biggest year for Kiet was 1994, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kiet is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kiet in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,822 people with the name Kiet, or 0.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,875 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 Kiet 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 Kiet?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiet leans strongly male. 2,716 people counted with this name were male (96.2%), compared with 106 female bearers (3.8%). 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 Kiet?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiet is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.3%) and White (1.1%). 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 Kiet most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kiet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.6% (2,727 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 Kiet in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kiet a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kiet 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.
Is Kiet still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kiet 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 Kiet 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 many Americans are named Kiet?
See how many people have the name Kiet on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.