Neko
Feminine Japanese name meaning "cat".
Name Census estimates that about 1,195 living Americans carry the first name Neko. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 79.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Neko today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Neko births was 2021 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Neko. 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 Neko with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Neko is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 286,824 Americans
Peak year
2021
63 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,028
Tracked since 1968
Census
Neko in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 933 people with the first name Neko, which placed it at #13,076 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
#13,076
National first-name rank
People counted
933
933 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
36.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neko
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neko is White at 36.2%. The next largest groups are Black (28.5%) and Hispanic (17.4%). 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 Neko 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 Neko at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White36.2% · 338
- Black or African American28.5% · 266
- Hispanic or Latino17.4% · 162
- Two or more races14.0% · 131
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Neko
Neko is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,214 total registrations, 967 (79.7%) were male and 247 (20.3%) were female.
Neko as a male name
- Ranked #4,028 in 2024
- 27 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (55 births)
Neko as a female name
- Ranked #16,932 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Neko on both sides of the split. Of the 930 people counted with this name, 670 were male (72.0%) and 260 were female (28.0%).
Popularity
Neko: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Neko from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 443 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Neko remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Neko 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 Neko during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nekos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Georgia, Florida recorded the most babies named Neko, while Texas, Michigan, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Neko
The name Neko has its origins in the Japanese language, where it literally means "cat." The word "neko" is derived from the Old Japanese word "neko," which was used to refer to felines as early as the 8th century AD. This name's connection to cats likely stems from the deep cultural significance that cats have held in Japanese society for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Neko can be found in the 10th-century Japanese literary work, The Pillow Book, written by Sei Shōnagon. In this work, she mentions a cat named Neko that belonged to a noblewoman at the imperial court. This suggests that the name was already in use as a pet name or nickname for cats during this time period.
Throughout Japanese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Neko. For instance, Neko Masahiro (1638-1696) was a renowned Japanese poet and calligrapher during the Edo period. Another notable figure was Neko Yoshimune (1717-1751), a samurai warrior and daimyō (feudal lord) who governed the Aizu domain in northern Japan.
In the realm of traditional Japanese arts, Neko Shōhaku (1876-1923) was a celebrated nihonga (Japanese-style) painter known for his depictions of cats and other animals. His works were highly influential in the development of modern Japanese art.
Moving into more recent history, Neko Case (born 1970) is an acclaimed American singer-songwriter and musician, known for her powerful vocals and poetic lyrics. While her given name is not of Japanese origin, it is likely a nod to her love for cats, as she is an avid animal rights advocate.
Neko Oikawa (born 1994) is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Neko Nitta. She has competed in various promotions, including World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she held the Wonder of Stardom Championship in 2021.
It is worth noting that while the name Neko has a clear connection to felines in Japanese culture, its use as a given name for humans is relatively uncommon, likely due to its literal meaning. However, its enduring presence in Japanese literature, art, and popular culture highlights the name's unique charm and cultural significance.
People
Neko + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Neko as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Neko: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Neko?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,195 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Neko 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 286,824 US residents.
Is Neko a common name?
We classify Neko as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,214 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Neko most popular?
The single biggest year for Neko was 2021, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Neko is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Neko in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 933 people with the name Neko, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,076 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 Neko 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 Neko?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Neko on both sides of the split. Of the 930 people counted with this name, 670 were male (72.0%) and 260 were female (28.0%). 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 Neko?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neko is White at 36.2%. The next largest groups are Black (28.5%) and Hispanic (17.4%). 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 Neko most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Neko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.2% (338 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 Neko in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Neko a male name?
Yes, 79.7% of people registered as Neko 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 Neko still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Neko 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 Neko 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 are named Neko?
Find out how many people share the name Neko on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.