Akito
Akito is a Japanese name meaning "bright man".
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the first name Akito. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Akito today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Akito births was 2018 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Akito. 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 Akito with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
136
~ 1 in 2,520,252 Americans
Peak year
2018
14 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,241
Tracked since 1975
Census
Akito in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 187 people with the first name Akito, which placed it at #40,012 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
#40,012
National first-name rank
People counted
187
187 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
64.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Akito
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akito is Asian/Pacific Islander at 64.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (15.5%) and White (7.0%). 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 Akito 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 Akito at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander64.2% · 120
- Two or more races15.5% · 29
- White7.0% · 13
- Black or African American6.4% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2
Popularity
Akito: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Akito from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 65 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Akito remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Akito 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 Akito during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Akito
The name Akito is a Japanese given name derived from the words "aki" meaning "autumn" and "to" meaning "door" or "gate." It is believed to have originated during the Heian period (794-1185 CE) in Japan. The name is often associated with the arrival of autumn and the changing of seasons.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Akito 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 the tale, Akito is the name of a minor character, the son of Prince Genji.
Throughout Japanese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Akito. One such figure was Akito Arima (1617-1638), a Japanese samurai and military commander who served under the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period.
Another prominent Akito was Akito Watanabe (1835-1887), a Japanese politician and statesman who played a significant role in the Meiji Restoration and served as the Minister of Finance during the early years of the Meiji government.
In more recent times, the name Akito has been associated with Akito Nakajima (1943-2019), a Japanese musician and songwriter who was a member of the popular rock band Happy End. He wrote and composed many of the band's hit songs.
Akito Hirakawa (1924-2022) was a Japanese actor and voice actor who had a prolific career spanning over seven decades. He is particularly known for his voice work in various anime series and films, including his iconic portrayal of the character Captain Okita in the "Space Battleship Yamato" franchise.
Akito Arima (1930-2020) was a renowned Japanese architect and educator. He designed several notable buildings, including the Fukuoka Dome and the Tokyo Dome Hotel, and served as the president of the University of Tokyo from 1992 to 1998.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout Japanese history who have borne the name Akito, showcasing its enduring presence and cultural significance within Japanese society.
People
Akito + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Akito 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
Akito: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Akito?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 136 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Akito 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 2,520,252 US residents.
Is Akito a common name?
We classify Akito as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 137 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Akito most popular?
The single biggest year for Akito was 2018, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Akito is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Akito in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 187 people with the name Akito, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,012 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 Akito 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 Akito?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Akito leans strongly male. 183 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 5 female bearers (2.7%). 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 Akito?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akito is Asian/Pacific Islander at 64.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (15.5%) and White (7.0%). 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 Akito most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Akito in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.2% (120 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 Akito in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Akito a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Akito in the SSA data are male. 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 Akito still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Akito 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 Akito 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 Akito?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.