Mitsuru
A Japanese masculine name meaning "full excellence" or "excellent perfection".
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Mitsuru. It is a predominantly male name (97.2% of registrations). The average person named Mitsuru today is around 94 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mitsuru births was 1924 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mitsuru. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Mitsuru is about 94 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Mitsurus were born before 1942.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mitsuru. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1924
22 babies that year
Average age
94
years old
1935 SSA rank
#3,526
Tracked since 1916
Census
Mitsuru in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 216 people with the first name Mitsuru, which placed it at #36,618 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
#36,618
National first-name rank
People counted
216
216 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mitsuru
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mitsuru is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.7%) and Two or More Races (0.9%). 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 Mitsuru 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 Mitsuru at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.4% · 206
- White3.7% · 8
- Two or more races0.9% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Mitsuru
Mitsuru leans heavily male at 97.2% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mitsuru as a male name
- Ranked #3,526 in 1935
- 6 male births in 1935
- Peak: 1924 (22 births)
Mitsuru as a female name
- Ranked #5,653 in 1921
- 5 female births in 1921
- Peak: 1921 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mitsuru leans strongly male. 174 people counted with this name were male (80.6%), compared with 42 female bearers (19.4%).
Popularity
Mitsuru: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mitsuru from the 1910s through to the 1930s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 113 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Mitsuru remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mitsuru 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 Mitsuru during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mitsurus live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mitsuru
Mitsuru is a Japanese given name with a long and rich history. The name is derived from the Japanese words "mitsu" meaning "three" and "ru" meaning "born" or "emerge." Together, the name Mitsuru can be interpreted as "third-born child" or "born in the third month."
The name has its roots in the ancient Japanese naming traditions, where children were often named based on their birth order or the circumstances surrounding their birth. The earliest recorded use of the name Mitsuru dates back to the 8th century CE, during the Nara period in Japan.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Mitsuru was Mitsuru Koga, a Japanese calligrapher and poet who lived during the late 12th and early 13th centuries. His work is celebrated for its beauty and elegance, and he is considered one of the great masters of Japanese calligraphy.
Another notable historical figure with the name Mitsuru was Mitsuru Tohyama, a Japanese samurai and military strategist who lived during the late 16th century. He played a significant role in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, which was a decisive conflict that helped establish the Tokugawa shogunate.
In the modern era, Mitsuru Ushijima was a prominent Japanese writer and critic who lived from 1887 to 1972. He was known for his insightful literary critiques and his contributions to the development of modern Japanese literature.
Mitsuru Hirata, born in 1924, was a renowned Japanese architect whose work blended traditional Japanese design elements with modernist principles. He is celebrated for his innovative approach to residential and institutional architecture.
Mitsuru Matsushima, born in 1940, is a highly acclaimed Japanese artist known for his intricate and colorful calligraphic works. His artworks have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and he is recognized as a master of contemporary Japanese calligraphy.
While the name Mitsuru has its roots in ancient Japanese culture, it has transcended its historical origins and continues to be a popular given name in Japan today, carrying with it a sense of tradition and cultural significance.
People
Mitsuru + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mitsuru 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
Mitsuru: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mitsuru?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mitsuru 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 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Mitsuru a common name?
We classify Mitsuru as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 176 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mitsuru most popular?
The single biggest year for Mitsuru was 1924, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mitsuru is about 94 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mitsuru in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 216 people with the name Mitsuru, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,618 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 Mitsuru 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 Mitsuru?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mitsuru leans strongly male. 174 people counted with this name were male (80.6%), compared with 42 female bearers (19.4%). 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 Mitsuru?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mitsuru is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.7%) and Two or More Races (0.9%). 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 Mitsuru most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Mitsuru in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.4% (206 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 Mitsuru in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mitsuru a male name?
Yes, 97.2% of people registered as Mitsuru 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 Mitsuru still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mitsuru 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 Mitsuru 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 Mitsuru as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Mitsuru, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.