Kirah
Feminine
Cyrus is the only foreigner the Hebrew Bible calls a messiah. Isaiah applies the word to the Persian king who let the exiles go home, and Kira is his name's feminine, which makes this one of the very few women's names descended from an anointed gentile.
How old is the name Kirah?
Kirah first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Kirah alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 1,000 people named Kirah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kirah most popular?
Kirah peaked in 2005, reaching #2902 nationally. Today it ranks #6838, 3,936 places below that high. See the whole 2005 chart.
Where it comes from
From Kurus to Kirah
The story of Kirah
Cyrus the Great founded the Persian empire, took Babylon in 539 before the common era, and permitted the deported Judeans to return and rebuild the temple; the book of Isaiah calls him the Lord's anointed, the only non-Israelite in the Hebrew Bible so described, and Ezra records his decree. The Greek form of his name, Kyros, gave the Byzantine and Russian feminine Kira, which is a standard Russian woman's name. The American Kirah is a respelling that adds the final h, and it may equally descend from the Irish Ciara or from Kiera; its best year in United States records is 2005.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
Kira is generally the Russian feminine of Kyros, the Greek form of Old Persian Kurus, whose own meaning is not recovered; proposals include a word for young and an Elamite source. Greek speakers connected it to kyrios, lord, which is a folk etymology. Separately, Kira may be an Irish Ciara respelling or an Arabic or Japanese name; the final h here is a modern English marker.
How the name formed
- Kurus
- Kyros
- Kira
- Kirah
Related forms: Kira · Kira · Ciara · Kira
Pronouncing Kirah
KEER-uh
Two syllables with the stress on the first. Some families say KY-ruh with a long i, following the English reading of the letters, and both are current.
Nicknames for Kirah
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1975
- Most girls named
- 200757 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2902reached in 2005
- Change vs 2024
- −5.9%16 in 2025, from 17
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Kirah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kira in Russian — same name
- Kira in English — spelling variant
- Ciara in Irish — related form
- Kira in Japanese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Kirahs among us
people named Kirah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 100,454 born in 2025 was named Kirah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kirah
- #6838
- Kirah on the 2025 chart
- #262
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kirah went to 16 girls in 2025, but Kira, Kyra and Kyrah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 7 spellings went to 1,240, which makes it the 262nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,576 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 1,296 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 100,454 for Kirah itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Vi test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kirah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Vi climbed just as high around 1982, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Vi's path sketches the road Kirah is walking now.
Kirah sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Kirah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kirah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled route back to one of the great rulers of antiquity.
- Ki and Kiki are two short forms in different registers.
- Five letters and no spelling difficulty.
- Two pronunciations circulate and the spelling does not settle them.
- Kira, Kiera and Ciara are all nearby and get confused.
- The added h has no historical warrant.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kirah to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Kirah? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kirah
Feminine · #6838 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kirahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Kirah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kirah?
- Kirah is one of 6 recorded spellings. Kira is the more common one — 801 births in 2025 against 16 for Kirah.
- How popular is the name Kirah in 2025?
- Kirah ranks #6838 among US girl names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kirah?
- About 1 in every 100,454 US girls born in 2025 was named Kirah — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kirah with classmates?
- Kirah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kirah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Malana#6838 · Jeannie#6838 · Maxie#6838 · Nicol#6838 · Chaney#6838 · Keana#6838 · Concetta#6838 · Pheobe#6838
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kirah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kirah and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle