girl's name
Kiara
kee-AR-a
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 73,600
the United States
#229
2025 births
Kiara is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "bright" or "clear." It is a respelling of the Italian Chiara, the name of Saint Clare of Assisi — though an unrelated Irish Ciara, meaning dark, is often confused with it.
- Kiara is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1999, when 4,024 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,483 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1968.
Kiara over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1960s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 12 |
| 1970s | 170 |
| 1980s | 3,599 |
| 1990s | 17,897 |
| 2000s | 18,939 |
| 2010s | 9,471 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,201 |
What Kiara means
Kiara means bright, clear or light, from the Latin clarus. Confusingly, the Irish Ciara means the opposite — dark — and the two names are constantly conflated because they sound alike.
Where Kiara comes from
Kiara respells the Italian Chiara, from the Latin clarus, bright or clear, the root of clarity and declare. Chiara d'Assisi — Saint Clare — founded the Poor Clares in 1212 after following Francis of Assisi. The Irish Ciara is a separate name from ciar, dark, the feminine of Ciarán. Because English speakers pronounce both roughly KEE-ar-a, reference works stack bright and dark together as though one name held both. Disney's The Lion King II gave the spelling Kiara wide exposure in 1998.
Kiara in use
Our data shows Kiara stable, peaking in 1999 — the year after The Lion King II — and it first appears in our records in 1968. It sits at 145 in England and Wales. Like Blake, it is a name where the two meanings offered are opposites, though here for a different reason: two names, not one word.
How popular is Kiara?
In 2025, Kiara was given to 1,335 babies in the United States, ranking #229 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Kiara 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 Kiara is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Kïara | Kïara is Kiara written with a diaeresis, used in France, where it ranks #1,844. | 110 |
Names that peaked alongside Kiara
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kiara also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kiara over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Kiara
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Kiara 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 Kiara
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kiara — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kiara
What does the name Kiara mean?
Kiara means "bright" or "clear," from the Latin clarus by way of the Italian Chiara.
Is Kiara the same as Ciara?
No — and they mean opposite things. The Irish Ciara means dark; the Italian Chiara means bright.
Is Kiara from The Lion King?
The 1998 sequel gave the spelling wide exposure, and our data shows the name peaking the following year.
How popular is the name Kiara?
In 2025, Kiara was given to 1,335 babies in the United States, ranking #229 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Kiara a girl's or a boy's name?
Kiara is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Kiara most popular?
Kiara peaked in 1999, when 4,024 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Kiara?
Kiara is usually shortened to Kia and Kiki.
Is Kiara a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kiara currently ranks #120 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.