UK boy's name
Kishan
A masculine given name of Hindu origin meaning "farmer" or "lord of the land".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Kishan is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Kishan popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #2921, with 7 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1996, with 57 births.
This profile covers 574 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 12% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 572 living people in the UK are called Kishan. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Kishan ranked #2921 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 7 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 1996, when 57 boys were registered as Kishan.
- • Kishan ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #375 in 1994.
- • About 572 living people in the UK are estimated to have Kishan as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#2921
2024
Births in 2024
7
Latest year
Peak year
1996
57 births
Estimated living
572
2026
Meaning
What does Kishan mean?
The given name Kishan originates from the Sanskrit language, one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages dating back to ancient times in the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "krishi," which means agriculture or cultivation. It is believed that the name was initially used to refer to people involved in farming or agricultural activities.
In Hindu mythology, Kishan is also one of the many names used to address the god Krishna, the eighth avatar of the deity Vishnu. The name is found in various Hindu scriptures, including the Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata, which are ancient epic texts that date back to around the 5th century BCE.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kishan can be found in the Puranas, a vast collection of ancient Hindu religious texts. The Puranas describe Kishan as a powerful and mischievous incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who played a pivotal role in the epic battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Kishan. One of the earliest was Kishan Chand Nanda, a ruler of the Nanda Empire in ancient India, who reigned from around 424 BCE to 413 BCE. Another prominent figure was Kishan Singh Manhas, a 17th-century ruler of the Jammu and Kashmir region, who played a significant role in the region's history.
In more recent times, Kishan Lal Sharma (1907-1995) was an Indian politician and freedom fighter who served as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Kishan Maharaj (1923-2008) was a renowned Indian spiritual leader and author who founded the Shree Raj Rajeshwar Ashram in Mumbai.
Kishan Kant (1930-2002) was an acclaimed Hindi writer and novelist who received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel "Rajnitik Khel" in 1984. Kishan Reddy (born 1959) is an Indian politician and the current Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Development of North Eastern Region in the Government of India.
It is worth noting that the name Kishan has been widely used across various regions of the Indian subcontinent, and there have been many other notable individuals bearing this name throughout history.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Kishan over time
The chart below shows babies named Kishan registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Kishan, the clearest high point is 1996. The latest England and Wales figure is 7 births in 2024, compared with 57 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kishan by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Kishan was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #3183 | 30 | 5 |
| 2010s | #1971 | 121 | 10 |
| 2000s | #932 | 236 | 10 |
| 1990s | #445 | 187 | 4 |
Geography
Where Kishan is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Kishan. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Kishan ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #375 in 1994.
Across the UK
Kishan in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#375 in 1994
1 years of NRS records, 3 total registered
Related
Names similar to Kishan
- Kieran 30,429
- Kyle 28,463
- Kai 24,432
- Kian 17,666
- Kayden 8,305
- Kevin 7,927
- Kane 7,149
- Kaiden 5,762
- Kieron 4,547
- Kacper 4,366
- Kye 4,012
- Kit 3,529
FAQ
Kishan: questions and answers
How popular is the name Kishan in the UK right now?
In 2024, Kishan was ranked #2921 for boys in England and Wales, with 7 births registered.
When was Kishan most popular?
The peak year on record was 1996, with 57 babies registered as Kishan in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Kishan?
A masculine given name of Hindu origin meaning "farmer" or "lord of the land".
How many people are called Kishan in the UK?
A total of 574 babies have been registered as Kishan across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 3 more in Scotland.
Where is Kishan most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Kishan ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #375 in 1994. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.