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Ciaran

#1,609 in 2025Boys' name

From Irish Ciarán; literal meaning unconfirmed

Ciaran has been given to 2,233 babies in the U.S. since 1959. In 2025 it ranked #1,609 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 105 recorded.

Babies named Ciaran, 2025

1 in 31,600

Ciaran over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ciaran: meaning, origin, and history

From Irish Ciarán; literal meaning unconfirmed

Irish

What Ciaran means

Ciaran is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Ciaran is used in English. Its origins include Irish.

Ciaran comes through Irish Ciarán.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Ciaran is pronounced /ˈkɪɹən/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,198 boys were recorded with the name Ciaran between 1959 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 105 in 2025; its best national rank was #1,609 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,051 in 2020 to #1,609 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,960 in 2015 to #1,609 in 2025.

In the United States, 35 girls were recorded with the name Ciaran between 1971 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1971; its best national rank was #6,725 in 1971.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ciaran?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 31,600
105 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 16,300
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,609
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
21,886 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ciaran sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 21,886 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ciaran. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ciarans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ciaran was born before 2011 — so the typical Ciaran is around 14 today.

Median birth year
2011
About 14 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
31.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
80.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,198
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 31.3% of all recorded uses (688).

Is Ciaran rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+158
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+442
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+351
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.42×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (105)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,609
2025

Spellings of Ciaran

Ciaran is not the most common spelling — Kieran is, with 33.7% against Ciaran's 4.2%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Ciaran is used

Across 2016–2025, Ciaran was most concentrated in Massachusetts — about 1 in 7,143 boys, against 1 in 26,446 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

114 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Massachusetts1 in 7,143
  2. 2New York1 in 12,500
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 in 12,500
  4. 4Colorado1 in 20,000
  5. 5California1 in 25,000
  6. 6Connecticut1 in 25,000
  7. 7New Jersey1 in 25,000
  8. 8Illinois1 in 33,333

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Ciaran around the world

Where Ciaran ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #953
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1975–2025
    #253
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    1997–2025
    #212
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    1964–2025
    #149
    in 2025
  • France
    1988–2024
    #5,167
    in 2024
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,232
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1960–2012
    #771
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Ciaran

People whose public names include Ciaran, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Ciaran in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Ciaran. Linked forms have their own page here.

KeiranKieranCeiran

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Ciaran by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,609
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 442
Best rank ever
#1,609
2025
Peak year
2025
105 that year
First recorded
1959
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,198
Count in 2025
105

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#15,417
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#6,725
1971
Peak year
1971
7 that year
First recorded
1971
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
35
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Ciaran

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KamranTerranGibranCurranKeiranCianTyranAbranTaranQuranDoranDuranKyranKiranKaranImranTigranCameranJibranMehranIranKoranKieranTheran

Names with a curve like Ciaran

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Ciaran, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

ShivMahdiTahaShayanHadiKainoaSaifMicaiahJarethMalekArionEsai

Sibling names for Ciaran

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Ciaran

Top names of 2025, Ciaran's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2025Boys' names starting with C