Kyiel
A unique baby name with various interpretations including "my refuge".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Kyiel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kyiel today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kyiel births was 2017 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kyiel. 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 Kyiel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2017
5 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2017 SSA rank
#13,410
Tracked since 2017
Popularity
Kyiel: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Kyiel 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 Kyiel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Kyiel
The name Kyiel is a relatively uncommon given name with roots that can be traced back to ancient Aramaic and Hebrew languages. Its origins are believed to have stemmed from the word "ki'el," which means "like God" or "resembling God" in these Middle Eastern tongues.
In the ancient world, the name Kyiel was occasionally used among certain Semitic tribes and communities in the Levant region, which includes modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and parts of Jordan. However, there are no known major historical figures or religious texts that prominently featured this name during that era.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kyiel can be found in some medieval European documents, where it was likely introduced by Jewish communities who had migrated from the Middle East. One such example is Kyiel ben Shlomo, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and rabbi from Provence, France.
In the 16th century, a Dutch merchant named Kyiel Jansen was known to have established trade connections between the Netherlands and the Ottoman Empire. His legacy is documented in various historical records from that time period.
During the 18th century, there was a Kyiel Mikhailov, a Russian nobleman and landowner who was noted for his philanthropic efforts in establishing schools and hospitals in his region.
More recently, in the early 20th century, Kyiel Naiman was a prominent Ukrainian artist and sculptor, whose works were widely exhibited throughout Eastern Europe between 1920 and 1950.
While not a particularly widespread name, Kyiel has been used sporadically across various cultures and time periods, carrying with it the symbolic meaning of divine resemblance or a connection to God.
People
Kyiel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kyiel 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
Kyiel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kyiel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kyiel 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Kyiel a common name?
We classify Kyiel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kyiel most popular?
The single biggest year for Kyiel was 2017, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kyiel is about 9 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 Kyiel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kyiel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kyiel 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 Kyiel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kyiel 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 Kyiel 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 many people have the name Kyiel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.