Kyshawn
Variant spelling of the masculine name Keyshawn, derived from the Choctaw word "keyu" meaning "ancient, old".
Name Census estimates that about 476 living Americans carry the first name Kyshawn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kyshawn today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kyshawn births was 2002 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kyshawn. 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.
People living today
476
~ 1 in 720,072 Americans
Peak year
2002
27 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,043
Tracked since 1991
Census
Kyshawn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 358 people with the first name Kyshawn, which placed it at #26,164 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
#26,164
National first-name rank
People counted
358
358 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kyshawn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyshawn is Black at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Kyshawn 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 Kyshawn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.4% · 320
- Two or more races5.6% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
- White0.3% · 1
Popularity
Kyshawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kyshawn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 205 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kyshawn 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 Kyshawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kyshawns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kyshawn
The name Kyshawn is of relatively recent origin, emerging in the late 20th century among African American communities in the United States. It is a combination of the names Kyron and Shawn, blending elements from both. The first part, "Ky," is likely derived from the name Kyron, which has Greek roots and means "lord" or "master." The latter part, "shawn," is a variant of the traditional Irish name Seán or Shawn, meaning "God is gracious."
Although the name Kyshawn is a modern creation, its components have a rich historical background. The Greek name Kyron can be traced back to ancient times, often associated with figures of authority and leadership. Similarly, the name Shawn has been used in Irish and English contexts for centuries, with roots in early Christian traditions.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kyshawn likely date back to the 1970s or 1980s, as African American parents began experimenting with unique name combinations. However, there are no well-documented historical figures specifically named Kyshawn prior to the late 20th century.
Despite its recent origins, a handful of notable individuals have borne the name Kyshawn. One of the earliest was Kyshawn Lewis, an American basketball player born in 1985, who played professionally in various leagues throughout the 2000s. Another is Kyshawn Currie, an American football player born in 1994, who played as a defensive back for several college and professional teams.
Kyshawn Wilson, born in 1992, is a former professional basketball player who played in various international leagues. Kyshawn Mobley, born in 1997, is an American football player who currently plays as a defensive back for the Houston Texans in the National Football League (NFL). Kyshawn Johnson, born in 1999, is an American basketball player who played college basketball for the Virginia Tech Hokies.
While the name Kyshawn is still relatively uncommon, its unique blend of cultural influences and its growing popularity among African American communities have contributed to its distinctive identity in the modern naming landscape.
People
Kyshawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kyshawn 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
Kyshawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kyshawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 476 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kyshawn 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 720,072 US residents.
Is Kyshawn a common name?
We classify Kyshawn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 482 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kyshawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Kyshawn was 2002, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kyshawn is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kyshawn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 358 people with the name Kyshawn, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,164 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 Kyshawn 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 Kyshawn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kyshawn leans strongly male. 330 people counted with this name were male (92.7%), compared with 26 female bearers (7.3%). 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 Kyshawn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyshawn is Black at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Kyshawn most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kyshawn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (320 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 Kyshawn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kyshawn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kyshawn 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 Kyshawn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kyshawn 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 Kyshawn 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 have the name Kyshawn?
See how many people have the name Kyshawn on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.