Kyiah
A feminine name of American origin meaning "brave and strong".
Name Census estimates that about 429 living Americans carry the first name Kyiah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kyiah today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kyiah births was 2015 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kyiah. 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 Kyiah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
429
~ 1 in 798,961 Americans
Peak year
2015
27 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,906
Tracked since 1997
Census
Kyiah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 349 people with the first name Kyiah, which placed it at #26,600 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
#26,600
National first-name rank
People counted
349
349 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kyiah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyiah is Black at 45.0%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Two or More Races (12.9%). 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 Kyiah 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 Kyiah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.0% · 157
- White33.0% · 115
- Two or more races12.9% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 3
Popularity
Kyiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kyiah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 205 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kyiah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kyiah 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 Kyiah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kyiahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kyiah
The name Kyiah has its origins in the ancient Hebrew language, where it is believed to have derived from the word "kiyah," meaning "fortified" or "established." This name gained popularity during the biblical era, particularly among the Israelites.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Kyiah can be found in the Book of Nehemiah, an ancient Hebrew scripture. In this text, Kyiah is mentioned as the name of a village located near Jerusalem, suggesting that the name held significance within the region.
During the Middle Ages, the name Kyiah was relatively uncommon, but it did appear sporadically in historical records, particularly in regions with strong Jewish communities. One notable figure bearing this name was Kyiah ben Avraham, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and philosopher from Andalusia, Spain (born around 1120 - died circa 1190).
As the centuries progressed, the name Kyiah remained relatively rare, but it did appear in various cultures and regions. In the 16th century, there was a Kyiah al-Ghazi, a renowned Ottoman military commander who played a significant role in the conquest of Rhodes (born around 1495 - died in 1566).
Moving forward to the 18th century, one can find records of a Kyiah Rajakumar, a influential Hindu philosopher and spiritual leader from southern India (born in 1712 - died in 1784). His teachings and writings had a profound impact on the region's religious and philosophical landscape.
In more recent history, the name Kyiah gained recognition through the work of Kyiah Caldwell, a pioneering African-American educator and civil rights activist from the early 20th century. Born in 1889 and passing away in 1968, Caldwell dedicated her life to advocating for equal educational opportunities and desegregation in the United States.
While the name Kyiah has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its unique blend of cultural influences and historical significance has contributed to its enduring appeal. From ancient Hebrew roots to diverse individuals who have carried this name, Kyiah has left an indelible mark on the tapestry of human history.
People
Kyiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kyiah 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
Kyiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kyiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 429 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kyiah 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 798,961 US residents.
Is Kyiah a common name?
We classify Kyiah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 434 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kyiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Kyiah was 2015, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kyiah is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kyiah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 349 people with the name Kyiah, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,600 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 Kyiah 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 Kyiah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kyiah leans strongly female. 338 people counted with this name were female (97.7%), compared with 8 male bearers (2.3%). 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 Kyiah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyiah is Black at 45.0%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Two or More Races (12.9%). 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 Kyiah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kyiah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.0% (157 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 Kyiah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kyiah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kyiah 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 Kyiah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kyiah 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 Kyiah 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 Kyiah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.