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 [ 2 syll. kie-ran, ki-er-an ] The boy name Kieran is sometimes used as a girl name. Its pronunciation is KIYRahN KEY. Kieran is largely used in the English and Irish languages, and it is derived from Celtic origins. The name is of the meaning little dark one, little dark-haired one. Derived from the element 'ciar' meaning black. The name is Anglicized from the Gaelic Ciarán, itself from Ciar combined with a diminutive suffix. It has been borne by twenty six Irish saints, including the 5th-century Saint Ciarán of Saighir, the first saint born in Ireland, and the 6th-century Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise, the founder of Clonmacnoise Abbey; they are both considered among the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. The name was first adopted by English speakers in the mid-20th century; prior to that, it was mostly used in Ireland. The name Ciara (English and Irish) and the name Kyra (Irish) are the female equivalents of Kieran. Kieran has 16 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Kieran used in English include Ciaran (used in Irish too), Kearn, Kearne, Keeran, Kern, Kerne, Kiaran, and Kiernan. The variant spellings Keiran, Kieren, Kieron (used in Irish too), and Kyran (used in Irish too) are other English forms. Cianon (Irish), Ciarán (Irish), and Cieran (Irish) are foreign variants of Kieran. Another foreign variant is the short form Kier (Irish). Kieran is a fairly popular baby name for boys. The name's popularity has been increasing since the 1990s; before that, it was of very modest use only. At the recent height of its usage in 2008, 0.023% of baby boys were given the name Kieran. Its ranking then was #530. Within all boy names in its group, Kieran was the most commonly used in 2008. In the past century Kieran has predominantly been a boy name. Baby names that sound like Kieran include Kiaran (English), Karam (Arabic), Kareem (English), Karim (Arabic and English), Kearney, Keeran (English), Kerim (Turkish), Kerwen (English), Kerwin (English), Kieren (English), Kiernan (English), Kieron (English and Irish), Kiran (Indian), Kirwin (English), Kruin, Kurran (English), Kyran (English and Irish), Carmen (English and French), Carmine (Italian), and Carney (English). KEY: Pronunciation for Kieran: K as in "key (K.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)"   |
