Kyran
A baby boy's name of Irish origin meaning "Little Dark One".
Name Census estimates that about 3,164 living Americans carry the first name Kyran. It is a predominantly male name (95.9% of registrations). The average person named Kyran today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kyran births was 2012 (195 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kyran. 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 Kyran with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kyran is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 133 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Kyran is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.2K
~ 1 in 108,329 Americans
Peak year
2012
195 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,972
Tracked since 1933
Census
Kyran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,456 people with the first name Kyran, which placed it at #6,513 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
#6,513
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,456 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kyran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyran is White at 39.1%. The next largest groups are Black (37.2%) and Two or More Races (12.2%). 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 Kyran 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 Kyran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.1% · 961
- Black or African American37.2% · 914
- Two or more races12.2% · 299
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 156
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 73
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 53
Gender
Gender distribution for Kyran
Kyran leans heavily male at 95.9% of total registrations, but 133 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kyran as a male name
- Ranked #1,972 in 2024
- 79 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (189 births)
Kyran as a female name
- Ranked #17,012 in 2018
- 5 female births in 2018
- Peak: 2005 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kyran leans strongly male. 2,262 people counted with this name were male (92.1%), compared with 193 female bearers (7.9%).
Popularity
Kyran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kyran from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,388 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kyran remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kyran 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 Kyran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kyrans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. Texas, California, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Kyran, while Arizona, Maryland, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kyran
The name Kyran is a variant spelling of the Irish name Ciaran, which originated from the Gaelic word "ciar" meaning "dark" or "black." It is believed to have been derived from the word "ciar-dhath," which means "dark-featured" or "dark-complexioned." The name has been in use since ancient times in Ireland and is associated with several important figures in Irish history and mythology.
One of the earliest known references to the name Kyran can be found in the ancient Irish text "The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee," which dates back to the 9th century. This text mentions St. Ciaran of Saighir, who was born in the late 5th century and is considered one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He is renowned for founding the monastic settlement of Seir-Kieran (Saighir) in County Offaly and is revered as the patron saint of that region.
Another notable figure in Irish history who bore the name Kyran was Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, also known as St. Ciaran the Younger. He was born in 516 AD and is credited with establishing the famous monastery of Clonmacnoise in County Offaly, which became a significant center of learning and spirituality during the Middle Ages. St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise is celebrated on September 9th in the Catholic Church.
In the 6th century, there was a Scottish prince named Ciaran or Kyran, who is said to have been the son of the King of Ulster. He is mentioned in several Scottish and Irish genealogies, although little is known about his life and legacy.
During the Middle Ages, the name Kyran was also borne by Ciaran, an Irish scholar and poet who lived in the 12th century. He is credited with writing a famous poem known as "The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare," which laments the decline of Irish culture and the Norman invasion of Ireland.
In more recent times, one of the most notable individuals named Kyran was Kyran Fitzgerald, an Irish revolutionary and politician who lived from 1858 to 1950. He was a prominent figure in the Irish independence movement and served as a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Sinn Féin.
The name Kyran has remained popular in Ireland and among the Irish diaspora around the world, and it continues to be a cherished part of Irish cultural heritage and tradition.
People
Kyran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kyran 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
Kyran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kyran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,164 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kyran 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 108,329 US residents.
Is Kyran a common name?
We classify Kyran as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,214 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kyran most popular?
The single biggest year for Kyran was 2012, when 195 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kyran is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kyran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,456 people with the name Kyran, or 0.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,513 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 Kyran 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 Kyran?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kyran leans strongly male. 2,262 people counted with this name were male (92.1%), compared with 193 female bearers (7.9%). 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 Kyran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyran is White at 39.1%. The next largest groups are Black (37.2%) and Two or More Races (12.2%). 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 Kyran most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kyran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.1% (961 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 Kyran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kyran a male name?
Yes, 95.9% of people registered as Kyran 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 Kyran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kyran 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 Kyran 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 Kyran?
Want to know how many people share the name Kyran? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.