Aiko
A feminine Japanese name meaning "beloved child" or "little love".
Name Census estimates that about 1,253 living Americans carry the first name Aiko. It is a predominantly female name (95.2% of registrations). The average person named Aiko today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aiko births was 2023 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aiko. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Aiko with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Aiko is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 87 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Aiko is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 273,547 Americans
Peak year
2023
98 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,378
Tracked since 1912
Census
Aiko in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,782 people with the first name Aiko, which placed it at #8,189 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,189
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,782 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
60.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aiko
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aiko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 60.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (16.7%) and Hispanic (13.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Aiko described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Aiko at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander60.7% · 1,082
- Two or more races16.7% · 297
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 237
- White5.3% · 95
- Black or African American3.9% · 70
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Aiko
Aiko leans heavily female at 95.2% of total registrations, but 87 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Aiko as a male name
- Ranked #8,972 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (22 births)
Aiko as a female name
- Ranked #2,378 in 2024
- 76 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (77 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aiko leans strongly female. 1,725 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 61 male bearers (3.4%).
Popularity
Aiko: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aiko from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 397 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aiko by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aiko during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aikos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Hawaii, Texas recorded the most babies named Aiko, while Washington, Georgia, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 81 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aiko
The given name Aiko is of Japanese origin, derived from the combination of the words "ai" meaning love or affection, and "ko" meaning child. It's a popular Japanese name that has been in use for centuries, often bestowed upon baby girls with the hope that they will grow up to be loving and caring individuals.
The earliest known reference to the name Aiko can be traced back to the 8th century AD, during the Nara period of Japanese history. It appears in ancient Japanese literature and poetry, often used as a symbolic representation of innocence, purity, and the unconditional love between a parent and child.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Aiko was Aiko no Kiyomori, a Japanese noblewoman and courtesan who lived during the late 12th century. She was renowned for her beauty, intelligence, and influence within the imperial court of the Heian period.
Another famous Aiko from Japanese history was Aiko Hirano, a renowned novelist and poet who lived from 1828 to 1888. Her works often explored themes of love, loss, and the struggles of women in traditional Japanese society. She is considered a pioneer of the Edo period literary movement.
In the 20th century, Aiko Kubo, born in 1914, was a celebrated Japanese actress known for her roles in classical Kabuki and Noh theater. She was designated as a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government for her contributions to preserving traditional performing arts.
More recently, Aiko Miyawaki, born in 1995, is a popular Japanese singer and member of the acclaimed J-pop girl group IZ*ONE. Her talent and charisma have earned her a dedicated fan base both in Japan and internationally.
While the name Aiko is predominantly associated with Japanese culture, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among those who appreciate its gentle and loving connotations.
People
Aiko + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aiko as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aiko: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aiko?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,253 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aiko going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 273,547 US residents.
Is Aiko a common name?
We classify Aiko as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,807 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aiko most popular?
The single biggest year for Aiko was 2023, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aiko is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aiko in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,782 people with the name Aiko, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,189 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Aiko in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Aiko?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aiko leans strongly female. 1,725 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 61 male bearers (3.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Aiko?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aiko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 60.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (16.7%) and Hispanic (13.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Aiko most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Aiko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.7% (1,082 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Aiko in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aiko a female name?
Yes, 95.2% of people registered as Aiko in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Aiko still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aiko in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Aiko can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Aiko?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.