girl's name
Ciara
KEER-uh
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 67,008
Ireland
#107
2025 births
Ciara is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "dark" or "black-haired," the feminine of Ciarán. It ranks 107th in Ireland, and the American singer of the same name says it differently from the Irish.
- Ciara is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in 2005, when 2,325 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 21,389 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1972.
Ciara over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1970s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 232 |
| 1980s | 4,452 |
| 1990s | 13,068 |
| 2000s | 12,046 |
| 2010s | 3,996 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,089 |
What Ciara means
Ciara means dark, or dark-haired, from the Irish ciar. The word describes a dark brown or black coloring, and applied to a person it means the hair rather than the complexion.
Where Ciara comes from
Ciara is the feminine of Ciarán, from the Irish ciar, dark or black. Saint Ciara of Kilkeary was a seventh-century Munster abbess, and the masculine Ciarán belongs to two of Ireland's most important early saints — Ciarán of Clonmacnoise and Ciarán of Saighir. The pronunciation is the interesting part: in Irish it is KEER-a, and that is how it is said across Ireland. The American singer Ciara, born in 1985, uses see-AIR-a, and her fame has made that the default reading in the United States — so one spelling now carries two pronunciations across the Atlantic. Ciara is also an Italian word for clear, unrelated, and the perfume Ciara was launched by Revlon in 1973 with the Italian sense in mind. Kiera and Keira are respellings of the Irish name.
Ciara in use
Ciara ranks 107th in Ireland with 44 births in 2025 and 128th in Northern Ireland, and it is falling in our data from a peak in 2005. Our records carry it from 1972. It holds 903rd in England and Wales and 1,409th in the United States, where it is essentially a different name in sound — the same spelling read two ways in two markets is rare enough to be worth stating.
How popular is Ciara?
In 2025, Ciara was given to 155 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Ciara is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Ciara is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Cíara | Cíara is a rare spelling of Ciara, written with a fada and recorded 4 times, mostly in Ireland. | 4 |
Names that peaked alongside Ciara
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ciara also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ciara over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Ciara in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Ciara
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ciara — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ciara
What does the name Ciara mean?
Ciara means "dark" or "dark-haired," from the Irish ciar.
How do you pronounce Ciara?
KEER-uh in Ireland. The American singer Ciara says see-AIR-a, which is now the default reading in the United States.
Is Ciara the feminine of Ciarán?
Yes, from the same root ciar, dark.
Is Keira the same name?
Keira and Kiera are respellings of the Irish name, made to fit English reading habits.
How popular is the name Ciara?
In 2025, Ciara was given to 155 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Is Ciara a girl's or a boy's name?
Ciara is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Ciara most popular?
Ciara peaked in 2005, when 2,325 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
Is Ciara a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ciara currently ranks #107 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.