Kyllian
A modern variant of the French name Killian, derived from Celtic origins.
Name Census estimates that about 295 living Americans carry the first name Kyllian. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kyllian today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kyllian births was 2023 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kyllian. 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 Kyllian with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
295
~ 1 in 1,161,879 Americans
Peak year
2023
39 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,298
Tracked since 2007
Popularity
Kyllian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kyllian from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 147 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kyllian 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 Kyllian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kyllians live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kyllian
The name Kyllian is believed to have originated from the ancient Celtic languages, specifically the Gaulish and Brittonic branches. Its roots can be traced back to the Late Antiquity period, around the 4th to 6th centuries CE, when these languages were widely spoken in parts of continental Europe and the British Isles.
One theory suggests that Kyllian derives from the Gaulish word "cillio," which means "bright" or "luminous." This connection may indicate that the name was initially given to individuals with a radiant or attractive appearance. Another possible origin is the Brittonic word "cyll," meaning "grove" or "woods," implying a connection to nature and the natural world.
In early medieval texts, the name appears in various spellings, such as Killian, Kilianus, and Cillian, reflecting the influence of different regional dialects and language variations. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the life of Saint Killian, an Irish missionary who lived in the 7th century and is venerated as the apostle and patron saint of Franconia in present-day Germany.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kyllian or its variant spellings. One of the most famous was Killian I, Duke of Burgundy (467-501 CE), a powerful ruler and member of the Merovingian dynasty. Another prominent figure was Saint Killian of Würzburg (640-689 CE), an Irish missionary and martyr who played a significant role in the Christianization of Franconia and Thuringia.
In the 9th century, Cillian of Reichenau (760-827 CE) was a renowned Irish monk, poet, and scholar who contributed to the development of literature and education in the Carolingian Renaissance. Later, in the 12th century, Killian of Nallanders (1172-1246 CE) was a Swedish Catholic priest and bishop who played a crucial role in the establishment of the Diocese of Linköping.
More recently, in the 20th century, Kilian Prufer (1900-1954) was a German historian and archivist who made significant contributions to the study of medieval manuscripts and documents. These examples demonstrate the wide-ranging cultural and historical impact of the name Kyllian across different regions and time periods.
People
Kyllian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kyllian 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
Kyllian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kyllian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 295 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kyllian 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 1,161,879 US residents.
Is Kyllian a common name?
We classify Kyllian as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 297 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kyllian most popular?
The single biggest year for Kyllian was 2023, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kyllian is about 8 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 Kyllian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kyllian a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kyllian 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 Kyllian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kyllian 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 Kyllian 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 Kyllian as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.