# Kiran (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/kiran/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | Sanskrit |
| Meaning | “ray of light” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Kyran |
| US babies named this | 5,041 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 3,165 / 1,876 (37% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,538, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Sanskrit किरण (kiraṇa, “ray of light”).

## What it means

Kiran is grouped under light.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 44 | 3,579 |
| 2012 | 42 | 3,758 |
| 2013 | 37 | 4,047 |
| 2014 | 38 | 3,965 |
| 2015 | 32 | 4,451 |
| 2016 | 33 | 4,395 |
| 2017 | 24 | 5,452 |
| 2018 | 26 | 5,084 |
| 2019 | 17 | 6,891 |
| 2020 | 12 | 8,694 |
| 2021 | 12 | 8,742 |
| 2022 | 10 | 10,076 |
| 2023 | 11 | 9,321 |
| 2024 | 10 | 9,927 |
| 2025 | 17 | 6,697 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 102 | 1,555 |
| 2012 | 119 | 1,403 |
| 2013 | 114 | 1,452 |
| 2014 | 97 | 1,614 |
| 2015 | 124 | 1,392 |
| 2016 | 105 | 1,569 |
| 2017 | 99 | 1,614 |
| 2018 | 98 | 1,653 |
| 2019 | 93 | 1,706 |
| 2020 | 100 | 1,616 |
| 2021 | 118 | 1,509 |
| 2022 | 108 | 1,617 |
| 2023 | 109 | 1,601 |
| 2024 | 142 | 1,349 |
| 2025 | 155 | 1,272 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 27 | 1,196 |
| 2012 | 22 | 1,428 |
| 2013 | 26 | 1,291 |
| 2014 | 28 | 1,204 |
| 2015 | 18 | 1,649 |
| 2016 | 21 | 1,525 |
| 2017 | 13 | 2,090 |
| 2018 | 6 | 3,518 |
| 2019 | 8 | 2,869 |
| 2020 | 4 | 4,535 |
| 2021 | 8 | 2,942 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4,645 |
| 2023 | 7 | 3,218 |
| 2024 | 5 | 4,192 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4,867 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 32 | 907 |
| 2012 | 33 | 901 |
| 2013 | 36 | 837 |
| 2014 | 18 | 1,370 |
| 2015 | 18 | 1,380 |
| 2016 | 21 | 1,271 |
| 2017 | 16 | 1,546 |
| 2018 | 25 | 1,097 |
| 2019 | 19 | 1,316 |
| 2020 | 13 | 1,723 |
| 2021 | 7 | 2,730 |
| 2022 | 11 | 2,018 |
| 2023 | 17 | 1,461 |
| 2024 | 16 | 1,595 |
| 2025 | 17 | 1,538 |

## People named Kiran

- Kiran Bedi, First female Indian Police Service Officer (born 1949)
- Kiran Badloe, Dutch windsurfer
- Kiran Gandhi, American electronic music artist, singer, and activist
- Kiran Bechan, Dutch professional footballer
- Kiran Ahluwalia, Canadian singer
- Kiran Baluch, cricketer
- Kiran Chetry, former American television broadcast journalist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.