Hiro
Favored or prosperous, a masculine Japanese given name.
Name Census estimates that about 849 living Americans carry the first name Hiro. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Hiro today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hiro births was 2016 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hiro. 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.
People living today
849
~ 1 in 403,715 Americans
Peak year
2016
77 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,115
Tracked since 1915
Gender
Gender distribution for Hiro
Out of the 873 babies given the name Hiro since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Hiro as a male name
- Ranked #2,115 in 2024
- 70 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (77 births)
Hiro as a female name
- Ranked #4,574 in 1915
- 5 female births in 1915
- Peak: 1915 (5 births)
Popularity
Hiro: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hiro from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 441 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hiro remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hiro 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 Hiro during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hiros live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Hiro, while Colorado, Wisconsin, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hiro
The name Hiro originated from the Japanese language and culture. It is a masculine name that dates back to ancient times in Japan. The name Hiro is derived from the Japanese word "hiroshi," which means "generous" or "tolerant." It is also sometimes associated with the word "hiromu," meaning "to spread" or "to prosper."
In Japanese history, the name Hiro has been recorded in various ancient texts and chronicles. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Kojiki, a collection of Japanese myths and legends dating back to the 8th century AD. The Kojiki mentions a character named Hirokasu, which is a variant of the name Hiro.
Throughout Japanese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Hiro. One of the most famous was Hiro Onoda, a Japanese imperial army officer who famously refused to surrender after World War II ended in 1945. Onoda remained a fugitive in the Philippines until 1974, unaware that the war had ended nearly 30 years earlier. He was born in 1922 and died in 2014.
Another significant figure with the name Hiro was Hiro Aragaki, a Japanese novelist and poet who lived from 1939 to 1999. Aragaki was known for his innovative literary works that explored themes of identity and cultural dislocation in post-war Japan.
In the world of sports, Hiro Matsuda was a renowned Japanese sumo wrestler who competed in the early 20th century. He was born in 1883 and achieved the prestigious rank of ozeki, one of the highest levels in sumo wrestling.
Hiro Mashima is a contemporary Japanese manga artist and writer, best known for creating the popular series "Fairy Tail." He was born in 1977 and continues to be an influential figure in the world of manga and anime.
Lastly, Hiro Hamada is a fictional character from the Disney animated film "Big Hero 6," which was released in 2014. Although not a real person, Hiro Hamada has become a beloved character in popular culture, representing themes of innovation, resilience, and the power of friendship.
People
Hiro + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hiro 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
Hiro: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hiro?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 849 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hiro 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 403,715 US residents.
Is Hiro a common name?
We classify Hiro as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 873 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hiro most popular?
The single biggest year for Hiro was 2016, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hiro is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Hiro a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Hiro 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.