Hiroto
A masculine Japanese name composed of the elements "prosperous" and "soar".
Name Census estimates that about 189 living Americans carry the first name Hiroto. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hiroto today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hiroto births was 2009 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hiroto. 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 Hiroto with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
189
~ 1 in 1,813,515 Americans
Peak year
2009
14 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,046
Tracked since 1991
Census
Hiroto in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 278 people with the first name Hiroto, which placed it at #31,017 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
#31,017
National first-name rank
People counted
278
278 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
80.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hiroto
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hiroto is Asian/Pacific Islander at 80.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.4%) and White (4.7%). 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 Hiroto 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 Hiroto at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander80.9% · 225
- Two or more races9.4% · 26
- White4.7% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 12
- Black or African American0.7% · 2
Popularity
Hiroto: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hiroto 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 89 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
Hiroto 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 Hiroto during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hirotos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hiroto
The name Hiroto is of Japanese origin, derived from the combination of two kanji characters: "hiro" meaning "generous" or "prosperous," and "to" meaning "soaring" or "taking flight." This name gained popularity in Japan during the Kamakura period (1185-1333 CE) and is often associated with a sense of grandeur and aspiration.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hiroto can be found in the chronicles of the Kamakura shogunate, where it was mentioned as the name of a minor samurai warrior who fought alongside the famous Minamoto clan. While his exploits were not extensively documented, his name served as a symbol of the ideals valued by the warrior class of that era.
In the Edo period (1603-1868 CE), the name Hiroto was adopted by several prominent families within the merchant and artisan classes. One noteworthy bearer of this name was Hiroto Matsumoto (1752-1824), a renowned woodblock artist who contributed to the development of the ukiyo-e style of Japanese art.
As Japan transitioned into the Meiji era (1868-1912 CE), the name Hiroto gained renewed popularity among the emerging middle class. Hiroto Nagai (1876-1957) was a pioneering educator who advocated for the modernization of Japan's education system and played a pivotal role in shaping the country's post-Meiji educational reforms.
During the 20th century, the name Hiroto continued to be embraced by Japanese families. Hiroto Ishida (1905-1977) was a celebrated novelist and playwright who explored themes of social justice and the human condition in his works. Another notable bearer was Hiroto Kobayashi (1938-1998), a revered architect known for his innovative and sustainable designs that harmonized with the natural environment.
In more recent times, the name Hiroto has been carried by individuals from various walks of life. Hiroto Saikawa (born 1953) is a former CEO of Nissan Motor Company, while Hiroto Kyoguchi (born 1993) is a professional boxer and Olympic gold medalist, representing Japan in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Throughout its history, the name Hiroto has embodied a sense of ambition, prosperity, and soaring aspirations. Its enduring presence in Japanese culture reflects the values and ideals that have shaped the nation's social and cultural landscape over centuries.
People
Hiroto + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hiroto 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
Hiroto: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hiroto?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 189 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hiroto 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 1,813,515 US residents.
Is Hiroto a common name?
We classify Hiroto as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 191 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hiroto most popular?
The single biggest year for Hiroto was 2009, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hiroto 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 Hiroto in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 278 people with the name Hiroto, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,017 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 Hiroto 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 Hiroto?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hiroto leans strongly male. 277 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Hiroto?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hiroto is Asian/Pacific Islander at 80.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.4%) and White (4.7%). 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 Hiroto most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hiroto in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.9% (225 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 Hiroto in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hiroto a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hiroto 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 Hiroto still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hiroto 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 Hiroto 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 common is the name Hiroto?
See how many people have the name Hiroto on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.