Kiernan
#3,408 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' nameMeaning not yet documented
Kiernan has been given to 2,448 babies in the U.S. since 1957. In 2025 it ranked #3,408 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2008, with 77 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 72% boys, 28% girls all-time.
Babies named Kiernan, 2025
1 in 97,500
Kiernan over time, 1880–2025
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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.
Girls or boys — Kiernan over time
In 2025, Kiernan went to 21% girls and 79% boys.
A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.
How common is Kiernan?
Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.
- Among all babies, 2025
- 1 in 97,500
- 34 of 3,315,165 births
- Among boys only
- 1 in 50,200
- <0.01% of boys
- Rank, 2025
- #3,408
- of 13,926 boys’ names in use
- Coin-flip room size
- 67,586 kids
- Even odds of a second one
Where Kiernan sits on the popularity scale
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.
Put another way: gather 67,586 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kiernan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.
When Kiernans were born
Half of everyone ever recorded as Kiernan was born before 2006 — so the typical Kiernan is around 19 today.
- Biggest decade
- 2000s
- 36.6% of all use
- Born in the last 25 years
- 70.0%
- A modern name
- Recorded since 1950
- 1,761
- People you could plausibly meet
2000s — 36.6% of all recorded uses (645).
Is Kiernan 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
- −273
- Places dropped
- Rank vs 5 years ago
- −29
- Places dropped
- Rank vs 10 years ago
- −466
- Places dropped
- Births vs 10 years ago
- 0.85×
- Fewer babies than then
- Share of its own peak
- 44.2%
- Peak was 2008 (77)
- Years since peak
- 17
- Years
- Year-to-year steadiness
- Shifting
- 22.9% average annual change
Spellings of Kiernan
Kiernan is not the most common spelling — Keenan is, with 32.9% against Kiernan's 3.2%.
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 Kiernan is used — boys
Across 1910–2025, Kiernan was most concentrated in Massachusetts — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 233,237 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).
Most concentrated
- 1Massachusetts1 in 100,000
- 2New York1 in 100,000
- 3Arizona1 in —
- 4California1 in —
- 5Colorado1 in —
- 6Connecticut1 in —
- 7Florida1 in —
- 8Georgia1 in —
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. Kiernan has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.
Where Kiernan is used — girls
Across 1910–2025, Kiernan was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 2,253,392 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).
Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Kiernan has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.
Kiernan around the world
Where Kiernan 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 & Wales1997–2023#4,108in 2023
- Northern Ireland2003–2008#378in 2008
- Ireland1964–2010#720in 2010
- Canada1993–2009#2,374in 2009
Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office and Statistics Canada. ONS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Kiernan by the numbers
The raw record for each sex the name is used for.
As a boy's name
Names similar to Kiernan
Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.
Sibling names for Kiernan
Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.