Kori
A feminine Japanese name meaning "ice" or "frozen".
Name Census estimates that about 15,501 living Americans carry the first name Kori. It is a predominantly female name (90.5% of registrations). The average person named Kori today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kori births was 2016 (503 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kori. 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
16K
~ 1 in 22,112 Americans
Peak year
2016
503 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#893
Tracked since 1953
Gender
Gender distribution for Kori
Kori leans heavily female at 90.5% of total registrations, but 1,537 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kori as a male name
- Ranked #4,132 in 2024
- 26 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (57 births)
Kori as a female name
- Ranked #893 in 2024
- 299 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (475 births)
Popularity
Kori: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kori from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,659 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kori remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kori 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 Kori during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Koris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kori, while New Hampshire, West Virginia, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 258 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kori
The given name Kori has its origins in the Japanese language and culture. It is a feminine name that can be traced back to the Heian period (794-1185 CE) in Japan. The name Kori is derived from the Japanese word "kori," which means "little basket" or "small container." This name was likely given to girls with the hope that they would be graceful, feminine, and able to carry and hold precious things, both tangible and intangible.
In ancient Japanese folklore and literature, there are references to the name Kori, often associated with characters who embodied traits of gentleness, elegance, and beauty. One notable example is the character Kori-no-Hime, a princess from the classic Japanese novel "The Tale of Genji" written by Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kori can be traced back to the 12th century in Japan. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Kori-no-Tsubone, a court lady who served during the reign of Emperor Go-Toba (1180-1239 CE).
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kori:
1. Kori Ubusuna (1483-1528), a Japanese female poet and calligrapher during the Muromachi period.
2. Kori Tomonobu (1589-1633), a Japanese samurai and daimyo (feudal lord) who served under the Tokugawa shogunate.
3. Kori Kumazawa (1619-1691), a prominent Japanese painter and calligrapher during the Edo period.
4. Kori Kurayoshi (1752-1828), a Japanese scholar and poet who served as a court advisor during the Edo period.
5. Kori Tomioka (1836-1905), a Japanese diplomat and statesman who played a significant role in the modernization of Japan during the Meiji Restoration.
While the name Kori is primarily associated with Japanese culture, it has also been adopted in other parts of the world, although with varying meanings and origins. It is important to note that this report focuses solely on the history and meaning of the given name Kori from a Japanese perspective.
People
Kori + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kori 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
Kori: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kori?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,501 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kori 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 22,112 US residents.
Is Kori a common name?
We classify Kori as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,097 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kori most popular?
The single biggest year for Kori was 2016, when 503 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kori is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kori a female name?
Yes, 90.5% of people registered as Kori 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.