Kino
A Japanese unisex name meaning "beautiful garden" or "modern garden".
Name Census estimates that about 256 living Americans carry the first name Kino. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kino today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kino births was 2021 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kino. 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
256
~ 1 in 1,338,884 Americans
Peak year
2021
13 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,414
Tracked since 1969
Census
Kino in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 369 people with the first name Kino, which placed it at #25,627 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
#25,627
National first-name rank
People counted
369
369 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
44.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kino
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kino is Black at 44.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.6%). 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 Kino 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 Kino at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American44.7% · 165
- Hispanic or Latino24.7% · 91
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.6% · 54
- White8.4% · 31
- Two or more races4.6% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 11
Popularity
Kino: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kino from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 54 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kino 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 Kino 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 Kino
The given name Kino has its origins in Japanese culture, with its roots tracing back to the Edo period (1603-1868) of Japan. The name is derived from the Japanese word "kinou," which means "to travel" or "to journey." This suggests that the name may have been associated with travelers, explorers, or those who embarked on spiritual or physical journeys.
Historically, the name Kino has been linked to various notable figures in Japanese history. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the writings of the renowned Japanese poet and diarist, Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). Basho, considered a master of the haiku form, referred to Kino in his travel journals, suggesting that it may have been the name of a companion or fellow traveler.
In the realm of Japanese Buddhist monks, the name Kino holds significance. Kino Awa (1698-1776) was a prominent Zen Buddhist monk who founded the Myoshin-ji branch of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. His teachings and writings on the practice of zazen (seated meditation) have had a lasting impact on the tradition.
Another noteworthy figure bearing the name Kino was Kino Tsurayuki (872-945), a renowned Japanese poet and scholar during the Heian period. Tsurayuki is best known for his contributions to the anthology of Japanese poetry, the Kokin Wakashū, which he edited and compiled. His literary works have been celebrated as significant contributions to the development of Japanese literature.
In the field of Japanese art, the name Kino is associated with Kino Yoshio (1905-1990), a prominent woodblock print artist and member of the Sosaku Hanga movement. Kino's distinctive prints, often depicting landscapes and scenes from everyday life, have been widely exhibited and celebrated both in Japan and internationally.
Crossing over to the realm of Japanese cinema, Kino Shindo (1934-2012) was a celebrated film director and screenwriter. His films, such as "The Naked Pursuit" (1962) and "The Inugami Family" (1976), explored themes of family dynamics, social issues, and the complexities of human relationships. Shindo's work has been recognized with numerous awards and has left a lasting impact on Japanese cinema.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Kino, each leaving their mark in various fields and disciplines. The name's association with travel, spirituality, and artistic expression has contributed to its enduring presence in Japanese culture and history.
People
Kino + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kino as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kino: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kino?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 256 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kino 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 1,338,884 US residents.
Is Kino a common name?
We classify Kino as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 263 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kino most popular?
The single biggest year for Kino was 2021, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kino is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kino in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 369 people with the name Kino, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,627 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 Kino 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 Kino?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kino leans strongly male. 336 people counted with this name were male (91.1%), compared with 33 female bearers (8.9%). 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 Kino?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kino is Black at 44.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.6%). 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 Kino most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kino in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.7% (165 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 Kino in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kino a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kino 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 Kino still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kino 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 Kino 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 people have the name Kino?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Kino, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.