Akane
Feminine Japanese name meaning "brilliant/madder red".
Name Census estimates that about 339 living Americans carry the first name Akane. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Akane today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Akane births was 1998 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Akane. 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 Akane with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
339
~ 1 in 1,011,075 Americans
Peak year
1998
18 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,493
Tracked since 1979
Census
Akane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 509 people with the first name Akane, which placed it at #20,333 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
#20,333
National first-name rank
People counted
509
509 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
65.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Akane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akane is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.3%) and Two or More Races (11.2%). 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 Akane 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 Akane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander65.8% · 335
- Hispanic or Latino15.3% · 78
- Two or more races11.2% · 57
- White4.1% · 21
- Black or African American3.1% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Akane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Akane from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 96 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Akane remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Akane 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 Akane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Akanes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Akane
The name Akane originates from Japanese and has its roots in the Heian period (794-1185 CE). It is derived from the combination of the Japanese words "aka" meaning "red" and "ne" meaning "root" or "origin". The name can be interpreted to mean "deep red" or "brilliant red".
In ancient Japanese culture, the color red held great significance and was associated with strong emotions, passion, and vitality. The name Akane may have been given to children in hopes of bestowing upon them these qualities or as a reflection of their vibrant personalities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Akane can be found in the ancient Japanese literary work "The Tale of Genji" written in the early 11th century by the renowned author Murasaki Shikibu. In this classic work, Akane is mentioned as the name of a minor character.
Throughout Japanese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Akane. Akane Yamaguchi (1884-1976) was a pioneering Japanese educator and feminist who fought for women's rights and educational reforms in the early 20th century.
Akane Tendo is a fictional character from the popular anime and manga series "Ranma ½" created by Rumiko Takahashi in the late 1980s. She is one of the main characters and serves as a love interest for the protagonist.
Akane Hosoyamada (born 1982) is a Japanese voice actress known for her roles in various anime series, including as the voice of Hatsune Miku in the Vocaloid software.
Akane Yamaguchi (born 1986) is a Japanese professional wrestler who has competed in various promotions, including World Wonder Ring Stardom and Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling.
Akane Omae (born 1989) is a Japanese actress and model who has appeared in numerous television dramas, films, and stage productions in Japan.
People
Akane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Akane 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
Akane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Akane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 339 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Akane 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 1,011,075 US residents.
Is Akane a common name?
We classify Akane as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 345 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Akane most popular?
The single biggest year for Akane was 1998, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Akane is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Akane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 509 people with the name Akane, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,333 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 Akane 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 Akane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Akane leans strongly female. 505 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Akane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akane is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.3%) and Two or More Races (11.2%). 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 Akane most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Akane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.8% (335 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 Akane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Akane a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Akane 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 Akane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Akane 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 Akane 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 people have the name Akane?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.