Hideki
A masculine Japanese name meaning "excellent" or "splendid one".
Name Census estimates that about 25 living Americans carry the first name Hideki. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hideki today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hideki births was 1974 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hideki. 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 Hideki. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
25
~ 1 in 13,710,174 Americans
Peak year
1974
9 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1982 SSA rank
#6,736
Tracked since 1974
Popularity
Hideki: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hideki from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Hideki remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hideki 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 Hideki 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 Hideki
The name Hideki is a Japanese masculine given name. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Japanese language. The name is comprised of two kanji characters: "hi" meaning "excellent" or "admirable," and "deki" meaning "to be born" or "to come into existence."
The earliest recorded use of the name Hideki dates back to the Heian period in Japan, which lasted from 794 to 1185 CE. During this time, the name appeared in various literary works and historical records, indicating its popularity among the nobility and samurai classes.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Hideki was Hideki Tojo (1884-1948), a Japanese military leader and prime minister during World War II. He played a significant role in Japan's imperial expansion and was later convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.
Another prominent individual with the name Hideki was Hideki Yukawa (1907-1981), a Japanese theoretical physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949 for his prediction of the existence of mesons, subatomic particles that mediate the strong nuclear force.
In the realm of sports, Hideki Matsui (born in 1974), a former professional baseball player, achieved fame as an outfielder for the New York Yankees and was a key member of their 2009 World Series championship team.
Hideki Noda (1955-2008) was a renowned Japanese playwright, director, and actor, known for his avant-garde theatrical works that often explored social and political themes. His plays, such as "The Bee" and "The Doll House," gained critical acclaim both in Japan and internationally.
Lastly, Hideki Kamiya (born in 1970) is a Japanese video game designer and writer, best known for his work on successful game franchises like "Resident Evil," "Devil May Cry," and "Bayonetta." His contributions have significantly influenced the action and survival horror genres in the gaming industry.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Hideki
People
Hideki + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hideki as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hideki: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hideki?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 25 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hideki 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 13,710,174 US residents.
Is Hideki a common name?
We classify Hideki as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hideki most popular?
The single biggest year for Hideki was 1974, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hideki is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Hideki a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hideki 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.
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.