Kiera
A feminine name of Irish origin meaning "little dark one".
Name Census estimates that about 21,196 living Americans carry the first name Kiera. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kiera today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kiera births was 2007 (1,147 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kiera. 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 Kiera with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
21K
~ 1 in 16,171 Americans
Peak year
2007
1,147 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
1993 SSA rank
#981
Tracked since 1963
Census
Kiera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 18,936 people with the first name Kiera, which placed it at #1,656 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
#1,656
National first-name rank
People counted
19K
18,936 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kiera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiera is White at 56.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.5%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). 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 Kiera 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 Kiera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.9% · 10,767
- Black or African American23.5% · 4,448
- Two or more races9.0% · 1,712
- Hispanic or Latino7.6% · 1,445
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 372
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 192
Gender
Gender distribution for Kiera
Out of the 21,649 babies given the name Kiera since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kiera as a male name
- Ranked #9,518 in 1993
- 5 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1989 (8 births)
Kiera as a female name
- Ranked #981 in 2024
- 264 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (1,147 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiera appears almost entirely female. Of the 18,929 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kiera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kiera from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 8,536 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
Kiera 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 Kiera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kieras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Kiera, while Rhode Island, Wyoming, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 381 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kiera
The name Kiera has its origins in the ancient Irish Gaelic language, with its roots dating back to the early medieval period. Kiera is a variant spelling of the Irish name Ciara, which is derived from the Gaelic word "ciar" meaning "dark" or "black-haired." This name was initially given to children with dark hair or complexions.
During the Middle Ages, Kiera was a relatively common name among the Irish nobility and aristocracy. It gained popularity as a feminine form of the male name Ciarán, which also stems from the same Gaelic root. The earliest recorded instance of the spelling "Kiera" dates back to the 12th century, found in ancient Irish genealogical records.
One of the earliest notable historical figures with the name Kiera was Kiera Ní Lochlainn, a 14th-century Irish noblewoman and chieftain of the Uí Lochlainn dynasty in County Donegal. She played a significant role in the political affairs of her time and was known for her leadership and strategic acumen.
In the 16th century, Kiera O'Malley (1520-1585) was a renowned Irish harpist and composer who performed for the Tudor court of Queen Elizabeth I. Her musical talents earned her recognition and patronage from the English nobility.
The name Kiera also appears in religious texts and literary works. In the 17th century, the Irish poet and mystic Kiera Ní Dhomhnaill (1620-1692) gained fame for her spiritual and devotional poetry, which reflected the deep Catholic faith prevalent in Ireland at the time.
During the 18th century, Kiera O'Connor (1742-1818) was a prominent Irish revolutionary and patriot who participated in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. She was celebrated for her bravery and commitment to the cause of Irish independence.
In more recent times, the actress Kiera Knightley (born in 1985) has brought renewed popularity to the name Kiera. Her successful career in films such as "Bend It Like Beckham" and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series has contributed to the name's contemporary appeal.
While the name Kiera has endured through the centuries, its origins can be traced back to the rich cultural heritage of ancient Ireland, where it was deeply rooted in the Gaelic language and traditions.
People
Kiera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kiera 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
Kiera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kiera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21,196 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kiera 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 16,171 US residents.
Is Kiera a common name?
We classify Kiera as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21,649 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kiera most popular?
The single biggest year for Kiera was 2007, when 1,147 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kiera is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kiera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 18,936 people with the name Kiera, or 6.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,656 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 Kiera 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 Kiera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiera appears almost entirely female. Of the 18,929 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kiera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiera is White at 56.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.5%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). 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 Kiera most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kiera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.9% (10,767 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 Kiera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kiera a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Kiera in the SSA data are female. 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 Kiera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kiera 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 Kiera 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 Kiera as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.