Kirin
A unisex name of Japanese origin meaning "giraffe" or "mythical hooved chimerical creature".
Name Census estimates that about 941 living Americans carry the first name Kirin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 56.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Kirin today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kirin births was 2011 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kirin. 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 Kirin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Kirin was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
941
~ 1 in 364,245 Americans
Peak year
2011
47 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,120
Tracked since 1977
Census
Kirin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 902 people with the first name Kirin, which placed it at #13,398 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
#13,398
National first-name rank
People counted
902
902 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kirin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kirin is White at 41.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (25.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (20.6%). 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 Kirin 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 Kirin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.6% · 375
- Two or more races25.4% · 229
- Asian and Pacific Islander20.6% · 186
- Hispanic or Latino9.3% · 84
- Black or African American3.1% · 28
Gender
Gender distribution for Kirin
Kirin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 957 total registrations, 544 (56.8%) were male and 413 (43.2%) were female.
Kirin as a male name
- Ranked #3,120 in 2024
- 39 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (39 births)
Kirin as a female name
- Ranked #14,373 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kirin on both sides of the split. Of the 900 people counted with this name, 447 were male (49.7%) and 453 were female (50.3%).
Popularity
Kirin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kirin from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 331 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kirin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kirin 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 Kirin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kirins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kirin
The given name Kirin has its origins in the Japanese language, derived from the word "kirin" which refers to a mythical hoofed creature resembling a deer with a single horn on its head. This name has been in use for centuries within Japanese culture and folklore.
In ancient Japanese mythology, the Kirin was a revered and highly auspicious creature, believed to appear only during the reign of a wise and virtuous ruler. Its presence was seen as a symbol of peace and prosperity, and it was often depicted in art, literature, and religious texts.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Kirin can be found in the Kojiki, an ancient chronicle of Japanese mythology and history, compiled in the 8th century AD. This text mentions the Kirin as a sacred being that guided the first emperor of Japan, Jimmu, to establish his capital.
Throughout Japanese history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kirin. One of the most famous is Kirin Tor Bunshi (1770-1853), a renowned Edo-period poet and scholar known for his mastery of classical Japanese literature and poetry forms.
Another notable figure was Kirin Kiki (1909-2018), a celebrated Japanese actress who had a prolific career spanning over seven decades. She was recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the Order of Culture from the Emperor of Japan.
In the world of sports, Kirin Ichiban (1935-2008) was a legendary sumo wrestler who achieved the highest rank of Yokozuna and is widely regarded as one of the greatest rikishi (sumo wrestlers) of the 20th century.
Kirin Natsuo (1879-1942) was a prominent Japanese painter and printmaker known for his woodblock prints depicting traditional Japanese landscapes and scenes from daily life. His works are highly regarded and can be found in many notable art collections around the world.
Lastly, Kirin Tojo (1884-1948) was a Japanese military leader and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan during World War II. He played a significant role in leading Japan's military campaigns and was later convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.
While these are just a few examples, the name Kirin has been borne by many notable individuals throughout Japanese history, reflecting its cultural significance and deep roots in the country's mythology and traditions.
People
Kirin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kirin 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
Kirin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kirin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 941 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kirin 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 364,245 US residents.
Is Kirin a common name?
We classify Kirin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 957 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kirin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kirin was 2011, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kirin is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kirin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 902 people with the name Kirin, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,398 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 Kirin 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 Kirin?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kirin on both sides of the split. Of the 900 people counted with this name, 447 were male (49.7%) and 453 were female (50.3%). 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 Kirin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kirin is White at 41.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (25.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (20.6%). 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 Kirin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kirin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.6% (375 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 Kirin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kirin a male name?
Yes, 56.8% of people registered as Kirin 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 Kirin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kirin 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 Kirin 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 people share the name Kirin?
Want to know how many people share the name Kirin? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.