Mako
A feminine name of Japanese origin meaning "truth" or "sincerity".
Name Census estimates that about 303 living Americans carry the first name Mako. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Mako today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mako births was 2022 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mako. 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 Mako with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
303
~ 1 in 1,131,202 Americans
Peak year
2022
34 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,970
Tracked since 1977
Census
Mako in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 516 people with the first name Mako, which placed it at #20,138 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
#20,138
National first-name rank
People counted
516
516 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
36.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mako
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mako is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.9%) and White (20.3%). 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 Mako 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 Mako at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander36.8% · 190
- Black or African American22.9% · 118
- White20.3% · 105
- Two or more races10.7% · 55
- Hispanic or Latino8.5% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Mako
Mako is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 306 total registrations, 241 (78.8%) were male and 65 (21.2%) were female.
Mako as a male name
- Ranked #4,970 in 2024
- 20 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (28 births)
Mako as a female name
- Ranked #11,717 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mako on both sides of the split. Of the 524 people counted with this name, 211 were male (40.3%) and 313 were female (59.7%).
Popularity
Mako: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mako from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 140 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
Mako 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 Mako during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mako
The name Mako has its origins in the Japanese language and culture. It is derived from the Japanese word "mako," which means shark or true shark. The name is believed to have been first used during the Edo period in Japan, which spanned from the early 17th century to the mid-19th century.
Mako was initially used as a name for boys, with the intention of bestowing qualities associated with sharks, such as strength, resilience, and fierceness. In Japanese mythology, sharks were often revered as powerful and majestic creatures, making the name a desirable choice for parents seeking to instill these traits in their sons.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mako can be found in the historical records of the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled over Japan during the Edo period. The name appears in several family registries and official documents from that era, indicating its widespread use among the samurai and noble classes.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mako. One of the most famous is Mako Iwamatsu (1915-2006), a Japanese-American actor known for his roles in films such as "The Crimson Kimono" and "Midway." Another prominent figure was Mako Sasaki (1900-1961), a Japanese baseball player who played for the Yomiuri Giants and was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
In the world of sports, Mako Nomachi (born 1982) is a Japanese swimmer who has competed in multiple Olympic Games and won several medals at the Asian Games and Pan Pacific Championships. In the realm of literature, Mako Yoshikawa (1908-1983) was a renowned Japanese poet and author known for her works exploring themes of feminism and social commentary.
Another notable figure was Mako Kagaku (1926-2010), a Japanese actor and voice actor who lent his talents to numerous anime and video game productions, including the popular Dragon Ball series, where he voiced the character of Master Roshi.
As the name Mako has traveled beyond its Japanese origins, it has gained popularity in other cultures and languages, often retaining its association with strength, resilience, and a connection to the natural world.
People
Mako + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mako as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mako: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mako?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 303 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mako 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 1,131,202 US residents.
Is Mako a common name?
We classify Mako as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 306 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mako most popular?
The single biggest year for Mako was 2022, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mako is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mako in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 516 people with the name Mako, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,138 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 Mako 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 Mako?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mako on both sides of the split. Of the 524 people counted with this name, 211 were male (40.3%) and 313 were female (59.7%). 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 Mako?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mako is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.9%) and White (20.3%). 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 Mako most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Mako in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.8% (190 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 Mako in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mako a male name?
Yes, 78.8% of people registered as Mako 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 Mako still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mako 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 Mako 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 Mako?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.