Kierstan
A feminine name of English origin meaning "stone church".
Name Census estimates that about 470 living Americans carry the first name Kierstan. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kierstan today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kierstan births was 1998 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kierstan. 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
470
~ 1 in 729,265 Americans
Peak year
1998
31 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2020 SSA rank
#14,318
Tracked since 1978
Census
Kierstan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 479 people with the first name Kierstan, which placed it at #21,270 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
#21,270
National first-name rank
People counted
479
479 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kierstan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kierstan is White at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Kierstan 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 Kierstan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.1% · 331
- Black or African American18.6% · 89
- Two or more races6.1% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 4
Popularity
Kierstan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kierstan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 199 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kierstan 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 Kierstan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kierstans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kierstan
The name Kierstan is a modern spelling variant of the Irish name Ciarán, which originated in the Gaelic language spoken in Ireland and parts of Scotland. The name is derived from the Old Irish word "ciar," meaning "dark" or "black," likely referring to someone with dark features or hair.
In ancient Irish tradition, Ciarán was the name of one of the twelve apostles of Ireland, Saint Ciarán of Saigir, who lived in the 5th century. He is known for founding the monastic settlement of Seir-Kieran in County Offaly and is revered as one of the patron saints of Ireland.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ciarán can be found in medieval Irish manuscripts and annals, where it was a popular name among the Irish nobility and clergy. One notable figure from this period was Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, a 6th-century abbot and founder of the famous monastery of Clonmacnoise in County Offaly.
Over the centuries, the name Ciarán has undergone various spellings and adaptations, such as Kieran, Kieren, and the more modern Kierstan. While the name was traditionally associated with Irish culture, it has gained popularity in other English-speaking countries as well.
Some notable historical figures with the name Kierstan or its variants include:
1. Kierstan Dunklee (born 1996), an American biathlete who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
2. Kierstan Bell (born 1998), an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA.
3. Kierstan Robbins (born 1988), an American soccer player who played for the United States women's national soccer team.
4. Kierstan Iles (born 1996), a Canadian rugby union player who represented Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
5. Kierstan Miccio (born 1985), an American author and entrepreneur known for her work in personal development and mindfulness.
While the name Kierstan is a modern variant, it carries the rich heritage and history of the traditional Irish name Ciarán, which has been deeply rooted in Irish culture and tradition for centuries.
People
Kierstan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kierstan 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
Kierstan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kierstan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 470 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kierstan 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 729,265 US residents.
Is Kierstan a common name?
We classify Kierstan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84% 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 Kierstan most popular?
The single biggest year for Kierstan was 1998, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kierstan is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kierstan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 479 people with the name Kierstan, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,270 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 Kierstan 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 Kierstan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kierstan leans strongly female. 471 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Kierstan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kierstan is White at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Kierstan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kierstan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.1% (331 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 Kierstan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kierstan a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kierstan 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 Kierstan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kierstan 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 Kierstan 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 Americans are named Kierstan?
Find out how many people have the name Kierstan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.