Kirin
Masculine · “a mythical hooved beast”
Kirin is given to both — 570 boys and 413 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Kirin is the Japanese name for a mythical beast — and it is also, since the nineteenth century, the ordinary Japanese word for a giraffe.
How old is the name Kirin?
Kirin first appears in US birth records in 1995 — 30 years ago. The typical Kirin is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Kirin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kirin most popular?
Kirin peaked in 2024, reaching #3104 nationally. Today it ranks #4050, 946 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Where it comes from
From qilin to Kirin
The story of Kirin
The qilin is a Chinese creature with hooves, scales and sometimes a horn, said to appear only in the reign of a virtuous ruler and to walk without crushing the grass. When giraffes reached Ming China from East Africa in the fifteenth century, the court identified them as qilin — which is how a mythical beast's name became a zoo animal's. A brewery carries the word too.
Meaningscholars disagree
a mythical hooved beast; a giraffe
Japanese kirin renders Chinese qilin, a hooved chimerical creature that appears at the birth or death of a sage. The word was applied to the giraffe when the animal reached Japan. A separate reading treats Kirin as a spelling of Irish Kieran, from ciar, dark.
How the name formed
- qilin
- kirin
Related forms: 麒麟 · Qilin · Ciarán
Pronouncing Kirin
KEE-rin
Two syllables, first stressed. Japanese gives both syllables even weight.
Nicknames for Kirin
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
- 1995
- Most boys named
- 202439 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3104reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −33.3%26 in 2025, from 39
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.
Kirin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 麒麟 in Japanese — transliteration
- Qilin in Chinese — related form
- Ciarán in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Kirins among us
people named Kirin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 65,695 born in 2025 was named Kirin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kirin
- #4050
- Kirin on the 2025 chart
- #793
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kirin went to 26 boys in 2025, but Kyrin, Kyryn and Khyrin and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 135, which makes it the 793rd most-given boys’ name of the year — 3,257 places above the chart.
- Kyrin85
- Kirin26
- Kyryn12
- Khyrin7
- Kiryn5
About 1 boy in 12,652 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 65,695 for Kirin 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 Jiovani test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kirin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jiovani climbed just as high around 2009, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jiovani's path sketches the road Kirin is walking now.
Kirin 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
Where Kirin is headed
Kirin should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Kirin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kirin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A genuinely remarkable story sits behind the word — a myth becoming a giraffe.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Read correctly on sight by most English speakers.
- A Japanese brewery carries the word prominently, which is a strong association.
- Kirin, Kieran and Ciaran are all close and get confused.
- The modern Japanese sense is simply a giraffe, which some will find deflating.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kirin
Masculine · #4050 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kirins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Kirin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kirin?
- Kirin is one of 5 recorded spellings. Kyrin is the more common one — 85 births in 2025 against 26 for Kirin.
- How popular is the name Kirin in 2025?
- Kirin ranks #4050 among US boy names in 2025, with 26 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kirin?
- About 1 in every 65,695 US boys born in 2025 was named Kirin — 26 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kirin with classmates?
- Kirin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kirin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Myer#4050 · Hewitt#4050 · Antonino#4050 · Egan#4050 · Johnmichael#4050 · Gauge#4050 · Emran#4050 · Freeman#4050
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kirin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kirin and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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