Humanverse

Kiyon vs Kiyoshi

American parents have registered 1,241 Kiyoshis since 1880, against 568 Kiyons. But in 2025 it was Kiyon that was commoner, 19 babies to 9.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Kiyon against Kiyoshi, 1880 to 2025 0 20 40 60 80 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Kiyon Kiyoshi

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 77 years in which either name was published, Kiyoshi for 46 years and Kiyon for 31 years. The lead changed hands 9 times.

Side by side

  Kiyon Kiyoshi
Total US births 5681,241
Most in one year 4366
Babies in 2025 199
Estimated living today 560400
Median age today 1219
Peak year 20161923
Best rank 2,783rd boys835th boys
Rank in 2025 5,045th8,243rd
First recorded 19801910
Girls / boys 0 / 56815 / 1,226

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Kiyoshis alive today are over 19; half the Kiyons are over 12. That is 7 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Kiyon and Kiyoshi.