Ringo
A masculine Japanese name meaning "apple tree" or "small apple".
Name Census estimates that about 232 living Americans carry the first name Ringo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ringo today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ringo births was 1965 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ringo. 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 Ringo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
232
~ 1 in 1,477,389 Americans
Peak year
1965
18 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,554
Tracked since 1964
Census
Ringo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 460 people with the first name Ringo, which placed it at #21,867 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
#21,867
National first-name rank
People counted
460
460 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
30.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ringo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ringo is Hispanic at 30.0%. The next largest groups are White (28.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (27.8%). 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 Ringo 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 Ringo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino30.0% · 138
- White28.3% · 130
- Asian and Pacific Islander27.8% · 128
- Black or African American8.7% · 40
- Two or more races4.1% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 5
Popularity
Ringo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ringo from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 64 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ringo 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 Ringo 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 Ringo
The name Ringo is believed to have originated from the Japanese language. It is thought to be a shortened form of the Japanese name Ringo, which means "apple" or "apple tree." The name's roots can be traced back to the late 19th century when it first gained popularity in Japan.
While the name Ringo is not found in any ancient texts or religious scriptures, it does have some historical references. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was Ringo Starr, the drummer and singer of the legendary rock band The Beatles. Born Richard Starkey in 1940, he adopted the stage name Ringo Starr early in his career.
Another notable bearer of the name was Ringo Sheena, a Japanese singer-songwriter born in 1978. Her unique stage name, which combines her given name Ringo with the surname Sheena, has contributed to her distinctive persona in the Japanese music industry.
In the world of sports, Ringo Tsukino was a Japanese professional boxer who competed in the bantamweight division. Born in 1976, he had a successful career, becoming the Japanese bantamweight champion in 2003.
Ringo Lam, a Hong Kong film director and producer, was also known for his influential crime and action movies. Born in 1955, he directed several critically acclaimed films, including "City on Fire" and "Full Alert."
Lastly, Ringo Bonavena was an Argentine heavyweight boxer who competed in the 1960s and early 1970s. Born in 1942, he was known for his powerful punches and entertaining fighting style, earning him the nickname "The Ringo Kid."
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Ringo throughout history, showcasing its cultural significance and diverse representation across various fields.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ringo
People
Ringo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ringo 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
Ringo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ringo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 232 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ringo 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 1,477,389 US residents.
Is Ringo a common name?
We classify Ringo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 244 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ringo most popular?
The single biggest year for Ringo was 1965, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ringo is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ringo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 460 people with the name Ringo, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,867 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 Ringo 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 Ringo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ringo leans strongly male. 432 people counted with this name were male (93.9%), compared with 28 female bearers (6.1%). 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 Ringo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ringo is Hispanic at 30.0%. The next largest groups are White (28.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (27.8%). 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 Ringo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ringo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 30.0% (138 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 Ringo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ringo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ringo 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 Ringo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ringo 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 Ringo 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 Ringo?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Ringo, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.