Where did the baby name Kaoir come from in the 2010s?

Keyshia Ka'oir, 2017

Video vixen Keyshia Ka’oir (pronounced kee-sha kay-or) founded her companies Ka’oir Cosmetics and Ka’oir Fitness in 2010 and 2011, respectively. She also started dating rapper Gucci Mane (born Radric Delantic Davis) around that time. So it’s not surprising that, within a few years, the name Kaoir started popping up in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 2018: 34 baby girls named Kaoir
  • 2017: 15 baby girls named Kaoir
  • 2016: 9 baby girls named Kaoir
  • 2015: 5 baby girls named Kaoir
  • 2014: 9 baby girls named Kaoir [debut]
  • 2013: unlisted

Usage picked up with the airing of the 10-episode TV show “The Mane Event” (Oct. to Dec., 2017), which kicked off with a livestreamed broadcast of Keyshia and Gucci’s wedding. (The other nine episodes consisted of wedding planning.) With the show also came the debuts of the variant names Kior, Kaior, Keior, and Kayoir.

Notably, Kior was a top debut name of 2017 — I think because various media outlets (including VH1 and Bossip) were misspelling her name “Kior” around that time.

kior typo
VH1 misspells Ka’oir as “Kior” in 2017

She began her modelling career as Keyshia Dior in 2009, but changed her name to Keyshia Ka’oir a few years later. She put out a press release about the switch in early 2012:

I have officially changed my name from Keyshia Dior to Keyshia Ka’oir. […] I decided to put “Keyshia Dior” the urban video model successfully to rest and launch “Keyshia Ka’oir” to continue the expansion of my imprint. 

Sources: 5 Things to Know About Gucci Mane’s New Wife Keyshia Ka’oir, Gucci Mane’s Livestreamed Wedding Made the All-White Party a Thing Again, Introducing…KEYSHIA KA’OIR

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