Kira sits at #468 with 260 entries, registered female. The two-syllable shape (KEE-rah) sits between several different cultural lineages — Russian (Кира, a feminine form of Cyrus), Japanese (kira meaning "sparkle" or "glitter"), and the contemporary Western reading via Kira Nerys from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999).
The cross-cultural anchor
Kira is one of those names that arrives at the same sound through multiple unrelated languages, which is part of its quiet strength. Owners pick it for different reasons and end up with the same pet name. The Kira baby name page shows the SSA chart climbing steadily from the late 1990s.
The anime and sci-fi register
A meaningful slice of the Kira cohort arrives through Death Note (the anime/manga, where Kira is the antagonist's chosen alias) or through the Star Trek character. Owners reaching the name through these sources tend to skew younger and lean toward dogs with active, intelligent breed profiles — Border Collies, Shiba Inus, Australian Shepherds, German Shepherd mixes.
Sound and breed counter-reading
Some owners hesitate at Kira because the sound is close to Keira, Kiara, and Kara, which can blur the name in a household with multiple pets or kids. Owners who pick it anyway usually like that the name lands harder than the softer K-feminine cluster around it.
The cross-generational anchor
What's notable about Kira is that the cohort doesn't fragment by age the way many pop-culture-anchored names do — Boomer Star Trek fans, millennial Death Note fans, and Gen Z anime watchers all end up with the same dog name through different cultural paths. That kind of multi-generational arrival is rare at this rank tier.