Kiyoshi

#8,614 in 2025Boys' name

Pure

Kiyoshi has been given to 1,241 babies in the U.S. since 1910. In 2025 it ranked #8,614 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1923, with 66 recorded.

Babies named Kiyoshi, 2025

1 in 368,000

Kiyoshi over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kiyoshi: meaning, origin, and history

Pure

Japanese

What Kiyoshi means

Kiyoshi means “pure”.

Origin, language, and formation

Kiyoshi is used in English. Its origins include Japanese.

Kiyoshi comes through Japanese きよし.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,226 boys were recorded with the name Kiyoshi between 1910 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 66 in 1923; its best national rank was #838 in 1923.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #10,133 in 2020 to #8,614 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #13,156 in 2015 to #8,614 in 2025.

In the United States, 15 girls were recorded with the name Kiyoshi between 1990 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1990; its best national rank was #14,114 in 1990.

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 Kiyoshi?

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

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 368,000; 9 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 190,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #8,614; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 255,323 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Kiyoshi 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kiyoshi. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kiyoshis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kiyoshi was born before 1926 — so the typical Kiyoshi is around 99 today.

Median birth year: 1926; About 99 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 39.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 19.2%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 367; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 39.0% of all recorded uses (478).

Is Kiyoshi 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: +857; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: +1,519; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +4,542; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 1.80×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 13.6%; Peak was 1923 (66)
Years since peak: 102; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 27.1% average annual change
Best rank ever: #838; 1923

Spellings of Kiyoshi

Kiyoshi is not the most common spelling — Hiroshi is, with 56.1% against Kiyoshi's 43.9%.

Hiroshi56.1%1,565
Kiyoshi43.9%1,226

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 Kiyoshi is used

Across 1910–2025, Kiyoshi was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 1,429 boys, against 1 in 27,377 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 100,000).

170 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Hawaii1 in 1,429
2California1 in 50,000
3Washington1 in 100,000

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. Kiyoshi has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Kiyoshi by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #8,614
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 1,519
Best rank ever: #838; 1923
Peak year: 1923; 66 that year
First recorded: 1910
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 1,226
Count in 2025: 9

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #14,114; 1990
Peak year: 1990; 5 that year
First recorded: 1990
Last recorded: 2023
All-time count: 15
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Kiyoshi

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

Hiroshi Kiyansh Tadashi Kiyaan Kiyan Kiyon Takashi Takeshi Satoshi Rishi Yoshi Masashi Hitoshi Hisashi Kakashi Kiyoto Atsushi Rushi Kiyro Kiyen Kiyo Masayoshi Tashi Rashi

Sibling names for Kiyoshi

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

For a sister

Margarette Linnie Marjory Adell Lida Jannie Berta Marcelle

For a brother

Bertram Cletus Trinidad Jewel Antone Eldridge Alvis Junius

Explore around Kiyoshi

Top names of 1923, Kiyoshi's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1923 Boys' names starting with K Japanese Names