Aoi
A Japanese name meaning "blue", derived from the word's color.
Name Census estimates that about 232 living Americans carry the first name Aoi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Aoi today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aoi births was 2016 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aoi. 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 Aoi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
232
~ 1 in 1,477,389 Americans
Peak year
2016
21 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,978
Tracked since 1994
Census
Aoi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 398 people with the first name Aoi, which placed it at #24,271 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
#24,271
National first-name rank
People counted
398
398 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
88.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aoi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aoi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.5%) and White (2.5%). 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 Aoi 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 Aoi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander88.4% · 352
- Two or more races6.5% · 26
- White2.5% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 5
- Black or African American0.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Aoi
Aoi leans heavily female at 84.7% of total registrations, but 36 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Aoi as a male name
- Ranked #8,978 in 2023
- 8 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2016 (10 births)
Aoi as a female name
- Ranked #12,579 in 2019
- 7 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2014 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aoi on both sides of the split. Of the 395 people counted with this name, 95 were male (24.1%) and 300 were female (75.9%).
Popularity
Aoi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aoi from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 118 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aoi 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 Aoi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aois live
Origin
Meaning and history of Aoi
The name Aoi has its origins in the Japanese language. It is a unisex name that can be given to both boys and girls. The name is derived from the Japanese word "ao," which means "blue" or "green." It is believed to have been first used as a name during the Heian period (794-1185 CE) in Japan.
The name Aoi has been associated with various historical figures and literary works. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the classic Japanese novel "The Tale of Genji," written in the early 11th century. In the novel, Aoi is the name of one of the main characters, a noblewoman who becomes a consort of the protagonist, Genji.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Aoi. One of the most famous was Aoi Kyu (1678-1769), a renowned Japanese poet and scholar during the Edo period. Another notable figure was Aoi Hitomi (1884-1961), a Japanese painter and calligrapher who was active in the early 20th century.
In the realm of Japanese literature, Aoi Tori (1923-1967) was a prominent writer and poet known for her innovative and experimental style. Aoi Naga (1933-2018) was a renowned Japanese actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her long career.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Aoi was Aoi no Shosho (945-1023), a Japanese calligrapher and court official during the Heian period. She was known for her exceptional calligraphy skills and served as a tutor to members of the imperial family.
While the name Aoi has its roots in Japanese culture, it has also been adopted by individuals in other parts of the world. However, the historical and cultural significance of the name remains strongly tied to its Japanese origins.
People
Aoi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aoi 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
Aoi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aoi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 232 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aoi 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 1,477,389 US residents.
Is Aoi a common name?
We classify Aoi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 235 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aoi most popular?
The single biggest year for Aoi was 2016, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aoi is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aoi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 398 people with the name Aoi, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,271 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 Aoi 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 Aoi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Aoi on both sides of the split. Of the 395 people counted with this name, 95 were male (24.1%) and 300 were female (75.9%). 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 Aoi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aoi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.5%) and White (2.5%). 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 Aoi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Aoi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.4% (352 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 Aoi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aoi a female name?
Yes, 84.7% of people registered as Aoi 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 Aoi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aoi 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 Aoi 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 Aoi?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Aoi at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.