Kairo
Of African origin, meaning "victorious" or "conqueror".
Name Census estimates that about 9,831 living Americans carry the first name Kairo. It sits at #238 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (97.4% of registrations). The average person named Kairo today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kairo births was 2023 (1,534 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kairo. 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 Kairo with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kairo is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 261 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Kairo is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 6 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
- • Kairo is on the rise. The most recent decade saw more than double the registrations of the decade before it.
People living today
9.8K
~ 1 in 34,865 Americans
Peak year
2023
1,534 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#238
Tracked since 1995
Census
Kairo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,373 people with the first name Kairo, which placed it at #6,688 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
#6,688
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,373 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kairo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kairo is Black at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.3%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Kairo 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 Kairo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.8% · 1,277
- Hispanic or Latino27.3% · 649
- Two or more races10.7% · 255
- White5.0% · 119
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 18
Gender
Gender distribution for Kairo
Kairo leans heavily male at 97.4% of total registrations, but 261 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kairo as a male name
- Ranked #238 in 2024
- 1,478 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (1,488 births)
Kairo as a female name
- Ranked #3,991 in 2024
- 37 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (48 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kairo leans strongly male. 2,282 people counted with this name were male (96.4%), compared with 84 female bearers (3.6%).
Popularity
Kairo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kairo from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 7,073 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
Kairo 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 Kairo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kairos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. New York, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Kairo, while West Virginia, Alaska, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 209 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kairo
The name Kairo has its origins in ancient Egyptian culture, where it was derived from the Egyptian word "Kî-ir.rw," meaning "victorious." This name was commonly used during the time of the pharaohs and can be found inscribed on various hieroglyphic texts and monuments from that era.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kairo was a high-ranking official who served under Pharaoh Ramesses II, around 1279–1213 BCE. This individual's name was Kairo-nefertem, and he held the prestigious position of "Overseer of the Granaries."
In the Islamic world, the name Kairo gained popularity as a variant spelling of the Arabic name "Qahir," which means "the victorious one" or "the conqueror." This name was often bestowed upon individuals who displayed strength and bravery in battle or other endeavors.
During the 12th century, a notable figure named Kairo al-Din al-Arabi lived in Andalusia (present-day Spain). He was a renowned Sufi mystic and philosopher, known for his influential writings on Islamic mysticism and the concept of the "Unity of Being."
In the 16th century, a famous Ottoman architect named Mimar Sinan, also known as Kairo Sinan, designed and constructed some of the most iconic mosques and structures in Istanbul, including the Süleymaniye Mosque and the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne.
Another notable individual with the name Kairo was Kairo Khan, a powerful ruler of the Nader dynasty in Persia (present-day Iran) during the 18th century. He played a significant role in the political and military affairs of the region during his reign.
In the 20th century, Kairo Mitchell became a respected figure in the jazz music scene of the United States. Born in 1917, he was a saxophonist and bandleader known for his contributions to the development of the West Coast jazz style.
While the name Kairo has its roots in ancient Egyptian and Arabic cultures, it has been adopted and used across various regions and time periods, often bestowed upon individuals who were considered victorious or achieved notable accomplishments in their respective fields.
People
Kairo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kairo 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
Kairo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kairo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,831 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kairo 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 34,865 US residents.
Is Kairo a common name?
We classify Kairo as "Rare". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,898 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kairo most popular?
The single biggest year for Kairo was 2023, when 1,534 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kairo is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kairo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,373 people with the name Kairo, or 0.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,688 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 Kairo 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 Kairo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kairo leans strongly male. 2,282 people counted with this name were male (96.4%), compared with 84 female bearers (3.6%). 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 Kairo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kairo is Black at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.3%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Kairo most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kairo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.8% (1,277 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 Kairo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kairo a male name?
Yes, 97.4% of people registered as Kairo 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 Kairo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kairo 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 Kairo 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 are named Kairo?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.