Chiaki
A Japanese feminine name meaning "a thousand autumn trees" or "autumn glow".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Chiaki. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chiaki today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chiaki births was 1990 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chiaki. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Chiaki. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1990
6 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2012 SSA rank
#15,379
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Chiaki: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chiaki from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Chiaki remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chiaki 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 Chiaki 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 Chiaki
The name Chiaki is of Japanese origin and is composed of two kanji characters: chi (智) meaning "wisdom" or "intellect," and aki (明) meaning "bright" or "brilliant." This combination suggests a name that symbolizes intelligence, clarity, and enlightenment.
The earliest recorded use of the name Chiaki dates back to the Heian period (794-1185 CE) in Japan, where it was primarily used for male children born into aristocratic families. During this time, the name was often associated with scholars, poets, and individuals who pursued intellectual and artistic endeavors.
In the Edo period (1603-1868 CE), the name Chiaki gained popularity among the samurai class and was sometimes given to children born during the autumn season, as the character "aki" also means "autumn." This association with the changing seasons and the natural cycle of life added a layer of symbolism to the name.
Historically, the name Chiaki has been borne by several notable individuals in Japan. One of the earliest recorded figures was Chiaki no Kanefusa (1132-1205 CE), a renowned poet and scholar who served as a court official during the late Heian period. Another significant figure was Chiaki no Munetaka (1141-1199 CE), a prominent samurai and military strategist who played a pivotal role in the Genpei War.
During the Edo period, Chiaki Hatsushima (1664-1744 CE) was a renowned painter and calligrapher who contributed to the development of the Rinpa school of Japanese art. In more recent times, Chiaki Mukai (born 1952) became the first Japanese woman to travel to space when she served as a payload specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1994.
Another notable individual with the name Chiaki was Chiaki Nakatani (1925-1990), a renowned Japanese film director and screenwriter who was known for his socially conscious and critically acclaimed films, such as "Kuroi Ame" (Black Rain) and "Ningen no Yakusoku" (The Human Promise).
While the name Chiaki has historically been more prevalent among males, it has also been used for female children in modern times, reflecting the changing societal norms and the increasing acceptance of gender-neutral names in Japanese culture.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Chiaki
People
Chiaki + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chiaki as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Chiaki: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chiaki?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chiaki 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Chiaki a common name?
We classify Chiaki as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chiaki most popular?
The single biggest year for Chiaki was 1990, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chiaki is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Chiaki a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chiaki 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.
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.