Kiyana
A feminine Persian name meaning "cloudless sky" or "sun shower".
Name Census estimates that about 1,525 living Americans carry the first name Kiyana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kiyana today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kiyana births was 2000 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kiyana. 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 Kiyana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 224,757 Americans
Peak year
2000
61 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,324
Tracked since 1974
Census
Kiyana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,158 people with the first name Kiyana, which placed it at #11,204 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
#11,204
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,158 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
61.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kiyana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiyana is Black at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (13.0%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Kiyana 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 Kiyana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American61.5% · 712
- Two or more races13.0% · 150
- Hispanic or Latino11.1% · 129
- White8.4% · 97
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 22
Popularity
Kiyana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kiyana from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 477 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kiyana 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 Kiyana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kiyanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Kiyana, while Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kiyana
The name Kiyana is derived from the Persian language and has its origins in ancient Persia, which is now known as Iran. It is a variation of the name Kiana, which means "pure" or "immaculate" in Persian. The name Kiyana is believed to have emerged during the Sassanid era, which lasted from the 3rd century to the 7th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kiyana can be found in the ancient Persian epic poem, the Shahnameh, written by the renowned poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century AD. In the poem, Kiyana is mentioned as a female character, though her role is not clearly defined.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kiyana. One of the earliest recorded figures was Kiyana Khanum, a Persian princess who lived in the 16th century during the Safavid dynasty. She was known for her influential role in the court and her patronage of the arts.
Another prominent figure named Kiyana was Kiyana Zand, a Persian poet and scholar who lived in the 18th century. She was renowned for her contributions to Persian literature and her expertise in various fields, including philosophy and astronomy.
In the 19th century, Kiyana Qajar was a prominent Persian noblewoman and philanthropist. She established several charitable institutions and played a significant role in promoting education and social welfare initiatives during her time.
Moving into the 20th century, Kiyana Sayyah was an Iranian archaeologist and academic who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Persian civilizations. She was born in 1923 and dedicated her life to uncovering and preserving the rich cultural heritage of Iran.
More recently, Kiyana Zolfaghari, born in 1967, is an Iranian-American actress and filmmaker known for her work in both Iranian and American cinema. She has received numerous accolades for her performances and has helped to raise awareness of Iranian culture through her artistic endeavors.
The name Kiyana has a rich history and has been borne by numerous influential individuals throughout the centuries. Its Persian roots and meaning of "pure" or "immaculate" have contributed to its enduring popularity and cultural significance.
People
Kiyana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kiyana 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
Kiyana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kiyana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,525 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kiyana 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 224,757 US residents.
Is Kiyana a common name?
We classify Kiyana as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,567 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kiyana most popular?
The single biggest year for Kiyana was 2000, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kiyana is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kiyana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,158 people with the name Kiyana, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,204 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 Kiyana 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 Kiyana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiyana appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,156 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kiyana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiyana is Black at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (13.0%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Kiyana most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kiyana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.5% (712 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 Kiyana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kiyana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kiyana in the SSA data are female. 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 Kiyana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kiyana 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 Kiyana 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 common is the name Kiyana?
See how many people share the name Kiyana on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.