Girl · #9,957 in 2026

Kia

Name: Popularity of the name Kia in U.S. births, 1880–2026
Creator: U.S. Social Security Administration
License: https://www.ssa.gov/foia/
Keywords: Kia, baby name, popularity, U.S., SSA, rankings

Kia Corporation is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second largest automobile manufacturer, after its parent company, Hyundai Motor Company, with sales of over 2.8 million vehicles in 2019. Kia is owned by Hyundai, which holds a 33.88% stake valued at just over US$6 billion.

Swedish

Current Rank

#9,957

Peak Rank

#634 (1993)

Total Babies

5-Yr Trend

-37%

1956

First Year

2026

Last Year

1993

Peak Year

#634

Peak Rank

Total Count

Years Active

Meaning & Origin of Kia

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →

Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)

Swedish

Etymology

According to the company, "Kia" derives from the Hanja 起 ( ki , 'to arise') and 亞 ( a , which stands for 亞細亞 , meaning 'Asia'); it is roughly translated as 'rising from ( East ) Asia'.

Origin & history

Kia's South Korean factories

The Story of Kia

The earliest SSA record of Kia as a baby girl name dates back to 1956, when 5 babies received it. 1993 was its biggest year on record, with 344 newborns named Kia — #647 in the national rankings. About 30% of every Kia on record arrived during the 1990s, its defining decade. As of 2026, Kia ranks #9,957 for baby girls with 5 births, falling sharply (-37%). All told, over 8K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1950s to the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Popularity by State

Top 10

11-50

51-100

101-500

500+

No data

Variants & Related Forms of Kia

Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Kia. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Names that sound like Kia

Phonetically similar names — useful when Kia is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Kheer
Care
Car
Core
Corps
Cower
Carr
Cour
Cor
Kar
Coeur
Coor

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Kia

What does the name Kia mean?

What is the origin of the name Kia?

Kia has roots in the following cultural and linguistic traditions: Swedish.

How popular is Kia in 2026?

In 2026, Kia ranks #9,957 among girls' names in the U.S., with 5 babies given the name that year.

When was Kia most popular?

Kia reached its peak popularity in 1993, ranking #634 that year with 344 babies given the name.

In which U.S. states is Kia most popular?

Kia has historically been most popular in District of Columbia, North Dakota, Maryland. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Kia.

Is Kia a unisex name?

In U.S. Social Security records, Kia is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name.

What names go well with Kia?

Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Kia include Isadora, Paul, Emmalee. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.

What are nicknames or variants of Kia?

Common variants and related forms of Kia include Christina, Christine, Kristin, Kristina, Kristine, Stina. These cover foreign-language equivalents, alternate spellings, and short forms.

About the name Kia

Kia is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1956 and has accumulated 8K births in the dataset. Kia's peak popularity came in 1993 when it ranked #634. Use the chart and map above to compare Kia's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.