Riko
A feminine Japanese name meaning "Child of truth" or "Brilliant child".
Name Census estimates that about 193 living Americans carry the first name Riko. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 55.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Riko today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Riko births was 2017 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Riko. 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 Riko with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
193
~ 1 in 1,775,929 Americans
Peak year
2017
18 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,003
Tracked since 1978
Census
Riko in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 351 people with the first name Riko, which placed it at #26,494 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
#26,494
National first-name rank
People counted
351
351 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
56.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Riko
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Riko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.4%. The next largest groups are Black (16.2%) and Hispanic (14.2%). 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 Riko 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 Riko at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander56.4% · 198
- Black or African American16.2% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino14.2% · 50
- White7.7% · 27
- Two or more races4.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Riko
Riko is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 196 total registrations, 88 (44.9%) were male and 108 (55.1%) were female.
Riko as a male name
- Ranked #12,003 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (8 births)
Riko as a female name
- Ranked #13,176 in 2023
- 7 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2017 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Riko on both sides of the split. Of the 355 people counted with this name, 145 were male (40.8%) and 210 were female (59.2%).
Popularity
Riko: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Riko from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 78 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Riko remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Riko 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 Riko 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 Riko
The name Riko is believed to have originated from the Japanese language, where it is a combination of the kanji characters 理 (ri) meaning "reason" or "logic," and 子 (ko) meaning "child." The name, therefore, carries the meaning of "logical child" or "child of reason." It is a name that has been in use in Japan for many centuries, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the Heian period (794-1185 AD).
One of the earliest known references to the name Riko can be found in the ancient Japanese literary work, "The Tale of Genji," written in the early 11th century by the renowned author Murasaki Shikibu. In this classic work, a minor character named Riko is mentioned, suggesting that the name was in use among the aristocratic classes of that time.
Throughout Japanese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Riko. One of the earliest recorded was Riko no Kenshi (1198-1275), a celebrated Japanese Buddhist monk and calligrapher who lived during the Kamakura period. He was renowned for his mastery of the art of calligraphy and his contributions to the development of the Zen Buddhist tradition in Japan.
Another prominent figure with the name Riko was Riko Kubota (1801-1859), a Japanese poet and scholar of the late Edo period. She is best known for her collection of poetry titled "Riko Kushu," which showcased her skill in traditional Japanese poetic forms such as waka and haiku.
In more recent times, Riko Hirai (1884-1957) was a Japanese educator and feminist who played a significant role in advocating for women's rights and education in Japan during the early 20th century. She founded several schools for girls and worked tirelessly to promote gender equality in education.
Another notable Riko was Riko Nakasone (1910-1995), a Japanese artist and printmaker who gained international recognition for her unique woodblock prints depicting traditional Japanese themes and landscapes. Her works have been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries around the world.
While the name Riko may have originated in Japan, it has also been adopted and used in other cultures and languages over time. However, its roots and earliest recorded instances can be traced back to the Japanese language and culture, where it has held a significant place throughout history.
People
Riko + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Riko as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Riko: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Riko?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 193 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Riko 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 1,775,929 US residents.
Is Riko a common name?
We classify Riko as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 196 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Riko most popular?
The single biggest year for Riko was 2017, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Riko is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Riko in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 351 people with the name Riko, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,494 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 Riko 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 Riko?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Riko on both sides of the split. Of the 355 people counted with this name, 145 were male (40.8%) and 210 were female (59.2%). 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 Riko?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Riko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.4%. The next largest groups are Black (16.2%) and Hispanic (14.2%). 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 Riko most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Riko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.4% (198 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 Riko in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Riko a female name?
Yes, 55.1% of people registered as Riko 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.
Is Riko still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Riko 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 Riko 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 called Riko?
You can see how many people share the name Riko on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.