Kiyomi
Feminine · “most often "pure beauty”
Kiyomi is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 2,238 girls against 6 boys since 1880.
Kiyomi is a Japanese name built from two of the most familiar pieces in the language's naming stock: the kiyo- that opens Kiyoko and Kiyoshi, and the -mi that closes Emi, Akemi and Mayumi. Three even syllables, every one of them open — kee-yo-mee — and nothing in the spelling an English reader has to guess at. It has been quietly present in American records for generations, long before the recent climb.
How old is the name Kiyomi?
Kiyomi first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Kiyomi is a kid of about 3 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,200 people named Kiyomi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kiyomi most popular?
Kiyomi peaked in 2025, reaching #764 nationally. Today it ranks #764, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Kiyomi
Kiyomi is Japanese, and it belongs to a large, well-documented family. The element kiyo — "pure, clear" — heads Kiyoko, Kiyoe and the masculine Kiyoshi; the ending mi, "beauty", closes a great many Japanese girls' names, which is why Kiyomi rhymes so neatly with Naomi and Akemi. It reached American birth records early in the twentieth century and has stayed on them ever since, never disappearing and never crowding. California is still among the states where it is strongest, alongside Florida and Texas.
Meaningscholars disagree
most often "pure beauty" — but the meaning depends on the written characters
In Japanese the sound is fixed and the meaning is chosen with the kanji. The most common writing is 清美, 清 kiyo "pure, clear" with 美 mi "beauty". Other real writings include 澄美 (clear, limpid + beauty), 聖美 (holy + beauty) and 清見 (pure + view). Written in roman letters alone, all of these stay open at once.
Pronouncing Kiyomi
kee-YOH-mee
In Japanese the three syllables carry roughly equal weight — ki-yo-mi, with no strong stress. American speakers usually settle on a light lift in the middle, which is close enough that both versions sit comfortably together.
Nicknames for Kiyomi
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 2025355 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #764reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +47.9%355 in 2025, from 240
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.
Kiyomi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 清美 / きよみ in Japanese — transliteration
- Kiyoko in Japanese — related form
- Kiyoe in Japanese — related form
- Kiyoshi in Japanese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, Texas.
Kiyomis among us
people named Kiyomi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 4,528 born in 2025 was named Kiyomi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kiyomi
- #764
- Kiyomi on the 2025 chart
- #325
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kiyomi went to 355 girls in 2025, but Kyomi, Kiomi and Kyomii and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 7 spellings went to 961, which makes it the 325th most-given girls’ name of the year — 439 places above the chart.
- Kyomi551
- Kiyomi355
- Kiomi25
- Kyomii10
- Khyomi8
- Kiyomii7
- Khiyomi5
About 1 girl in 1,672 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 4,528 for Kiyomi 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 Dania test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kiyomi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dania climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dania's path sketches the road Kiyomi is walking now.
Kiyomi is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Kiyomi is headed
Kiyomi looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 47% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. 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.
Kiyomi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kiyomi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spells exactly as it sounds: no silent letters, no ambiguous vowels, nothing an American reader has to be corrected on twice.
- Has a ready short form, Kiyo, that also works as a full name on its own.
- Belongs to a large, documented Japanese naming family — Kiyoko, Kiyoe, Kiyoshi — so it sits in a real tradition rather than standing alone.
- Recorded consistently as a girl's name in the United States, with no gender ambiguity for teachers or forms to resolve.
- Because the meaning lives in the kanji, a Kiyomi written only in roman letters carries no single fixed translation. Families who want one specific reading tend to choose the characters deliberately and keep them.
- It is climbing quickly. A name that is rare now can be noticeably more familiar by the time a child reaches school, so weigh how much the rarity itself matters to you.
- Expect the occasional mishearing as Naomi, and the occasional stress on the wrong syllable. One calm correction usually fixes it, and the spelling never needs defending.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kiyomi
Feminine · #764 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kiyomis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Kiyomi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kiyomi?
- Kiyomi is one of 7 recorded spellings. Kyomi is the more common one — 551 births in 2025 against 355 for Kiyomi.
- How popular is the name Kiyomi in 2025?
- Kiyomi ranks #764 among US girl names in 2025, with 355 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kiyomi?
- About 1 in every 4,528 US girls born in 2025 was named Kiyomi — 355 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kiyomi with classmates?
- Kiyomi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kiyomi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elina#764 · Keziah#766 · Azari#766 · Marilyn#760 · Indy#768 · Laylani#768 · Charley#760 · Neriah#760
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kiyomi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kiyomi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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