Kiya
A feminine Arabic name meaning "successful and influential".
Name Census estimates that about 4,016 living Americans carry the first name Kiya. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Kiya today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kiya births was 2002 (231 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kiya. 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 Kiya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.0K
~ 1 in 85,347 Americans
Peak year
2002
231 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2016 SSA rank
#2,985
Tracked since 1970
Census
Kiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,421 people with the first name Kiya, which placed it at #5,124 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
#5,124
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,421 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiya is White at 39.8%. The next largest groups are Black (39.3%) and Two or More Races (11.9%). 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 Kiya 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 Kiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.8% · 1,360
- Black or African American39.3% · 1,345
- Two or more races11.9% · 406
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 202
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 61
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 47
Gender
Gender distribution for Kiya
Out of the 4,098 babies given the name Kiya since 1880, 99.4% 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.
Kiya as a male name
- Ranked #13,328 in 2016
- 5 male births in 2016
- Peak: 2001 (12 births)
Kiya as a female name
- Ranked #2,985 in 2024
- 55 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (231 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiya leans strongly female. 3,299 people counted with this name were female (96.5%), compared with 121 male bearers (3.5%).
Popularity
Kiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kiya from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,787 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
Kiya 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 Kiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kiyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kiya, while New Jersey, Nebraska, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kiya
The name Kiya has its origins in various cultures and languages across the world. It is believed to have derived from the Hebrew name Kiah, which means "from the Lord" or "God's vision". This name was mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible as one of the sons of Agur.
In Japanese culture, Kiya is a feminine name with the meaning "pure" or "radiant". It is a variation of the name Kiyoko, which is composed of the word "kiyo" meaning "pure" and "ko" meaning "child". This name has been in use in Japan for centuries and is often associated with the idea of purity and innocence.
The name Kiya is also found in Indian cultures, particularly among the Hindu community. Here, it is derived from the Sanskrit word "Kiya", which means "the flower bud". This name is often given to girls with the hope that they will blossom and flourish like a beautiful flower.
In ancient Egypt, the name Kiya was borne by one of the wives of Pharaoh Akhenaten during the 18th Dynasty (around 1350 BCE). She was known as Kiya the Younger and was believed to be the mother of one of Akhenaten's sons.
Another notable figure with the name Kiya was Kiya Sokollu (1506-1588), who was a prominent Ottoman statesman and Grand Vizier during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. He is remembered for his military campaigns and his contributions to the administrative reforms of the Ottoman Empire.
In the 19th century, Kiya Buzurg Umīd (1815-1899) was a renowned Persian poet and philosopher. He was known for his mystical and spiritual writings, which explored the themes of love, devotion, and the human condition.
The name Kiya was also borne by Kiya Amirzadeh (1859-1909), an Iranian feminist and activist who fought for women's rights and education in Persia (now Iran). She is regarded as a pioneer in the Iranian women's movement.
Another notable figure with the name Kiya was Kiya Tabassian (1976-), a Canadian composer and musician of Iranian descent. He is known for his contributions to the fusion of Persian and Western classical music traditions.
People
Kiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kiya 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
Kiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,016 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kiya 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 85,347 US residents.
Is Kiya a common name?
We classify Kiya as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,098 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Kiya was 2002, when 231 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kiya is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,421 people with the name Kiya, or 1.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,124 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 Kiya 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 Kiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiya leans strongly female. 3,299 people counted with this name were female (96.5%), compared with 121 male bearers (3.5%). 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 Kiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiya is White at 39.8%. The next largest groups are Black (39.3%) and Two or More Races (11.9%). 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 Kiya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.8% (1,360 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 Kiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kiya a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Kiya 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 Kiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kiya 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 Kiya 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 called Kiya?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.