Kiyono
A feminine Japanese name meaning "pure sound" or "beautiful sound".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Kiyono. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kiyono today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kiyono births was 1918 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kiyono. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kiyono. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1918
8 babies that year
Average age
-
1924 SSA rank
#5,480
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Kiyono: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kiyono from the 1910s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 25 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Kiyono remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kiyono 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 Kiyono during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kiyonos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kiyono
The name Kiyono originates from Japan and is derived from the Japanese words "kiyo" meaning "pure" or "clean" and "no" meaning "fields" or "countryside." It was traditionally given to children born in rural areas or those whose parents wished for them to have a pure and virtuous life.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kiyono can be traced back to the 8th century CE during the Nara period in Japan. It appears in several historical records and literature from that time, though it was not a particularly common name among the nobility or samurai class.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Kiyono was a Buddhist monk who lived in the late 9th century CE. He is mentioned in the records of the Enryaku-ji temple on Mount Hiei, near Kyoto, as a skilled calligrapher and artist.
In the 12th century, a woman named Kiyono was a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Kenreimon'in. She is briefly mentioned in the historical text "Imakagami" for her exceptional skill in poetry and flower arrangement.
During the Edo period (1603-1868), a samurai warrior named Kiyono Masataka (1570-1632) served under the famous Tokugawa shogunate. He is noted for his bravery in battle and his loyalty to the Tokugawa clan.
In more recent history, Kiyono Kenichi (1885-1949) was a Japanese painter and printmaker who was instrumental in reviving the traditional Japanese woodblock printing technique known as ukiyo-e in the early 20th century.
Another notable individual was Kiyono Mieko (1910-1988), a Japanese novelist and short story writer who was active during the Showa period. Her works often explored themes of feminism, social issues, and the experiences of women in Japanese society.
While the name Kiyono is not as common today as it once was, it still holds cultural significance in Japan as a name that represents purity, virtue, and a connection to the natural world.
People
Kiyono + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kiyono 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
Kiyono: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kiyono?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kiyono 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 - US residents.
Is Kiyono a common name?
We classify Kiyono as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 35 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kiyono most popular?
The single biggest year for Kiyono was 1918, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kiyono is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Kiyono in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kiyono a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kiyono 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 Kiyono still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kiyono 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 Kiyono 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Kiyono?
See how many people have the name Kiyono on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.