Kieran
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Meaning
"little dark one"
The story
Kieran is the Irish Ciaran worn into English spelling, the little dark one, a name early Ireland gave its dark-haired sons and two of its best-loved saints. The American record is a patient build with no spike anywhere: double digits through the 1940s, a few hundred a decade through the 1970s, then 730, 2,500, 5,000, and 5,600 in the 2010s, with 4,000 so far this decade, closing on the full 2010s with years to run. It goes to boys about 17,600 to 1,600. The saints were an abbot and a bishop, the kind of famous that lasts fifteen centuries quietly, which suits the name: Kieran has never had a headline decade, only a record that ends higher than it began in nearly every generation the ledger holds.
How popular is Kieran around the world?
In the United States, 4,049 babies were named Kieran between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 16 boys named Kieran were registered in 2024, the 246th most common name among boys that year.
Kieran is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, Canada, Ireland, South Australia, England and Wales, France, Austria, Poland, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 5,400
In the United States, 4,049 babies were named Kieran between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kieran peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 2,900
In Scotland, 16 boys named Kieran were registered in 2024, the 246th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Canada
1 in 3,600
In Canada, 103 boys named Kieran were born in 2024, the 322nd 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 4,900
In Ireland, 11 boys named Kieran were born in 2025, the 348th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Kieran in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
England and Wales
1 in 10,000
In England and Wales, 57 boys named Kieran were born in 2025, the 639th 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
France
1 in 64,000
In France, about 10 boys named Kieran were born in 2025, ranked 2,507th among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 boy named Kieran 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 3 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)
Poland
1 in 120,000
In Poland, 2 boys named Kieran were born in 2025, the 705th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Spain
1 in 610,000
In Spain, 74 residents are named Kieran, ranked 10,485th among men, with a mean age of 32.8 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
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 28 people in Brazil were named Kieran, ranked 99,072nd, with a median age of 26.
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
Montevideo City
last on record 2008
Kieran is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
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
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Kieran is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 2023
Kieran is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
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
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina and Puerto Rico: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations 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 Kieran
Most people given the name Kieran 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.
Where Kieran travels
Irish American · A classic heritage choice in Irish American families.
Keep exploring
The Kieran deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kieran 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 Kieran fits with your family’s names and surname.
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