Satomi
A Japanese feminine name meaning "splendid beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 61 living Americans carry the first name Satomi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Satomi today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Satomi births was 1989 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Satomi. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Satomi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
61
~ 1 in 5,618,924 Americans
Peak year
1989
8 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2008 SSA rank
#19,954
Tracked since 1984
Census
Satomi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 680 people with the first name Satomi, which placed it at #16,535 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
#16,535
National first-name rank
People counted
680
680 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Satomi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Satomi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and White (2.1%). 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 Satomi 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 Satomi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.3% · 621
- Two or more races3.4% · 23
- White2.1% · 14
- Black or African American1.8% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Satomi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Satomi from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 35 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Satomi 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 Satomi 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 Satomi
The name Satomi has its origins in Japanese culture, tracing back to the Heian period (794-1185 AD). It is derived from the Japanese words "sa," meaning "sugar," and "tomi," meaning "wealth" or "fortune." This combination suggests the name carries connotations of sweetness, prosperity, and abundance.
Historically, the name Satomi was associated with the Satomi clan, a prominent samurai family that ruled over the Awa Province (present-day Chiba Prefecture) during the Sengoku period (1467-1615). One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Satomi Yoshizane (1477-1513), the 13th head of the Satomi clan and a skilled military strategist.
In the realm of literature, the name Satomi appears in the Edo period (1603-1868) work "Satomi Hakkenden" by Kyokutei Bakin. This classic Japanese novel features eight samurai warriors, each bearing the name Satomi, who possess supernatural powers and embark on various adventures.
Notable individuals named Satomi throughout history include Satomi Kaneaki (1524-1572), a powerful daimyo (feudal lord) who played a significant role in the Sengoku period battles. Satomi Fujiwara (1888-1973) was a renowned Japanese botanist and phycologist, known for her contributions to the study of freshwater algae.
Another historical figure bearing this name is Satomi Ton (1920-2008), a celebrated Japanese poet and author who received the prestigious Cikada Prize for her literary works. Satomi Ishihara (born 1951) is a Japanese actor and singer who has appeared in numerous films and television shows, gaining widespread popularity in Japan.
Satomi Abe (born 1962) is a Japanese judoka and Olympic medalist, having won a silver medal in the women's heavyweight category at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. This name has also been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including artists, scholars, and public figures, across different eras of Japanese history.
People
Satomi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Satomi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Satomi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Satomi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 61 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Satomi 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 5,618,924 US residents.
Is Satomi a common name?
We classify Satomi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 63 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Satomi most popular?
The single biggest year for Satomi was 1989, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Satomi is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Satomi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 680 people with the name Satomi, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,535 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 Satomi 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 Satomi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Satomi leans strongly female. 661 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 14 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Satomi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Satomi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and White (2.1%). 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 Satomi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Satomi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.3% (621 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 Satomi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Satomi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Satomi 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 Satomi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Satomi 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 Satomi 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 share the name Satomi?
Want to know how many people have the name Satomi? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.