Cian

What Cian means

Irish, from Old Irish Cían, meaning “long, distant, lasting”

From Old Irish Cían, from cían (“long, distant, lasting”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Cian” (revision 87696172), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Cian?

US: Falling: down from #1190 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #309 in 2015, #338 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2017, when 163 boys got the name (#1156 that year). First in the US records in 1976.

How common

• About 1 in 11,541 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,158 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 531 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MA (0.3 per 1,000 boys), NJ (0.3 per 1,000 boys), VA (0.24 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Cian is #1310 in the US and #338 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Cian were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Xion90 US · 5 E&W
• Sion42 US · 12 E&W
• Tian12 US · 14 E&W
• Sian26 US
• Xian19 US
• Tion7 US · 6 E&W
• Tiaan5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Cian

Boys

• Elijah#7“Yahweh is my god”^*
• Malachi#134“my messenger”^*
• Kaiden#237Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1992, with 12 babies
• Carter#45“son of Arthur”^*
• Owen#31Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #31 vs #170 in 2025
• Aiden#62Variant of Aidan, meaning “fire”^*

For a sister

• Rylee#137Variant of Riley, meaning “rye + clearing, meadow”^*
• Riley#48“rye + clearing, meadow”^*
• Reese#192“ardor”^*
• Lily#18Diminutive of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records
• Madelyn#70Editor’s note Down from #59 in 2015 to #70 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Cian’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.