Kairo
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Meaning
variant spelling of Cairo, from Arabic al-Qahirah, 'the victorious'
The story
On a German map, Kairo is simply the spelling of Egypt’s capital. The K that can look like a modern flourish in an English given name has an ordinary geographical life elsewhere. As a personal name, Kairo is recorded as a modern English variant of Cairo, taking us back to the city’s Arabic name, al-Qāhira, the victorious. The place behind it offers more than that grand meaning. In Historic Cairo, streets and markets still preserve names connected with crafts, including Al-Nahhasin and Al-Kayamieya. These belong to the layered city around the Fatimid capital founded in 969. German map spelling does not establish how any particular family came to choose Kairo, but it changes the way the name looks: that first letter can be familiar geography as well as a contemporary naming choice.
How popular is Kairo around the world?
In the United States, 8,694 babies were named Kairo between 2020 and 2025. In Puerto Rico, 12 babies were named Kairo in 2025, and 28 have carried the name since 1998.
Kairo is on the official records of the United States, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Montevideo, England and Wales, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, Austria, Argentina and Spain.
Kairo crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of an English-speaking birth record and of a Spanish-speaking one. The full list: English and Spanish
United States
1 in 2,500
In the United States, 8,694 babies were named Kairo between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kairo peaked in the 2020s. Kairo went to 87 US babies in 2015 and 1,611 in 2025, 18.5 times as many.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Puerto Rico
1 in 1,500
In Puerto Rico, 12 babies were named Kairo in 2025, and 28 have carried the name since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
New Zealand
1 in 1,600
In New Zealand, 35 boys named Kairo were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Montevideo City
1 in 1,9002011
In Montevideo, 13 boys named Kairo were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
England and Wales
1 in 3,100
In England and Wales, 187 boys named Kairo were born in 2025, the 249th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Canada
1 in 5,500
In Canada, 67 boys named Kairo were born in 2024, the 460th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Ireland
1 in 7,700
In Ireland, 7 boys named Kairo were born in 2025, the 468th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 9,200
In Scotland, 5 boys named Kairo were registered in 2024, the 535th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Brazil
1 in 62,000
At the 2022 census, 3,159 people in Brazil were named Kairo, ranked 3,750th, with a median age of 17.
Among people named Kairo living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 286 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 boy named Kairo was born in 2025, ranked 1,842nd among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Argentina
1 in 170,000
In Argentina, 4 newborns were given the name Kairo in 2024.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Spain
1 in 620,000
In Spain, 72 residents are named Kairo, ranked 10,739th among men, with a mean age of 6.3 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Mexico City City
last on record 2012
Kairo is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
South Australia
last on record 2006
Kairo is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Poland: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Kairo
Most people given the name Kairo in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Kairo deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kairo truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Kairo fits with your family’s names and surname.
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