Kishawn
A masculine name likely derived from Keisha and Shawn.
Name Census estimates that about 353 living Americans carry the first name Kishawn. It is a predominantly male name (97.2% of registrations). The average person named Kishawn today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kishawn births was 2001 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kishawn. 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
353
~ 1 in 970,975 Americans
Peak year
2001
26 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,312
Tracked since 1990
Census
Kishawn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 359 people with the first name Kishawn, which placed it at #26,116 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
#26,116
National first-name rank
People counted
359
359 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
85.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kishawn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kishawn is Black at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Kishawn 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 Kishawn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American85.0% · 305
- Two or more races6.7% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 13
- White1.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Kishawn
Kishawn leans heavily male at 97.2% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kishawn as a male name
- Ranked #13,312 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1996 (23 births)
Kishawn as a female name
- Ranked #16,715 in 2001
- 5 female births in 2001
- Peak: 1994 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kishawn leans strongly male. 303 people counted with this name were male (84.9%), compared with 54 female bearers (15.1%).
Popularity
Kishawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kishawn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 160 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
Kishawn 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 Kishawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kishawns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kishawn
The name Kishawn is believed to have its origins in the African-American community, where it emerged as a variant of the more common name Shawn or Sean. The name itself is a combination of the prefix "Ki-" and the root name "Shawn."
The prefix "Ki-" is thought to be derived from the Swahili word "kijiji," which means "village" or "community." This prefix was commonly used in African-American naming traditions to create unique and culturally significant names. The root name "Shawn" is an anglicized version of the Irish name Seán, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious."
While there are no direct historical references to the name Kishawn in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is a relatively modern creation that reflects the cultural blending and linguistic influences present within the African-American community.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kishawn can be found in the late 20th century. Kishawn Powell, born in 1985, was a professional basketball player who played for various teams in the NBA and overseas.
Another notable person with the name Kishawn is Kishawn Prioleau, born in 1978, who played as a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for several teams, including the New Orleans Saints and the San Francisco 49ers.
In the realm of music, Kishawn Rashad Curry, better known by his stage name Riqqiz, is a rapper and songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia, who gained popularity in the early 2000s.
Kishawn McClain, born in 1987, is a former professional basketball player who played in various leagues, including the NBA G League and international teams.
Kishawn Syfers, born in 1987, is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the wide receivers coach for the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans.
These examples illustrate the diverse fields and endeavors in which individuals with the name Kishawn have made their mark, spanning sports, music, and coaching, among others.
People
Kishawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kishawn 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
Kishawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kishawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 353 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kishawn 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 970,975 US residents.
Is Kishawn a common name?
We classify Kishawn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 359 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kishawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Kishawn was 2001, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kishawn is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kishawn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 359 people with the name Kishawn, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,116 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 Kishawn 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 Kishawn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kishawn leans strongly male. 303 people counted with this name were male (84.9%), compared with 54 female bearers (15.1%). 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 Kishawn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kishawn is Black at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Kishawn most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kishawn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.0% (305 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 Kishawn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kishawn a male name?
Yes, 97.2% of people registered as Kishawn 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 Kishawn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kishawn 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 Kishawn 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 are called Kishawn?
Find out how many people have the name Kishawn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.