Satoru
A masculine Japanese name meaning "enlightened" or "wise".
Name Census estimates that about 19 living Americans carry the first name Satoru. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Satoru today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Satoru births was 1917 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Satoru. 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 Satoru. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
19
~ 1 in 18,039,702 Americans
Peak year
1917
17 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1993 SSA rank
#8,519
Tracked since 1914
Census
Satoru in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 343 people with the first name Satoru, which placed it at #26,904 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
#26,904
National first-name rank
People counted
343
343 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Satoru
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Satoru is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Satoru 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 Satoru at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.7% · 318
- Two or more races4.4% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 6
- White0.9% · 3
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
Popularity
Satoru: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Satoru from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 127 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Satoru 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 Satoru during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Satorus live
Origin
Meaning and history of Satoru
The name Satoru is of Japanese origin and has its roots in the ancient Japanese language. It is a masculine given name that has been in use for centuries, with records dating back to the Heian period (794-1185 AD) in Japan.
The name Satoru is derived from the Japanese verb "satoru," which means "to understand" or "to comprehend." It is believed that the name was initially given to children in the hope that they would grow up to be wise, insightful, and have a deep understanding of the world around them.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Satoru can be found in the ancient Japanese literary work, "The Tale of Genji," written in the early 11th century by the Japanese noblewoman and lady-in-waiting, Murasaki Shikibu. In this classic work of Japanese literature, the name Satoru was used as a minor character.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Satoru. One of the most famous was Satoru Iwata (1959-2015), a Japanese businessman who served as the fourth president and CEO of Nintendo from 2002 until his untimely death in 2015. Under his leadership, Nintendo released popular gaming consoles such as the Nintendo DS and the Wii.
Another notable figure was Satoru Noda (1908-1996), a Japanese economist and academic who served as the Governor of the Bank of Japan from 1970 to 1979. He played a crucial role in shaping Japan's economic policies during his tenure and was widely respected for his expertise in monetary affairs.
In the world of literature, Satoru Hashimoto (1886-1939) was a prominent Japanese novelist and poet who was part of the Shinkankakuha (Neo-Sensationalist) literary movement in the early 20th century. His works explored themes of individualism and the human condition, and he is considered a significant figure in modern Japanese literature.
The name Satoru has also been associated with the world of sports. Satoru Furuta (1971-present) is a former professional baseball player from Japan who played as an outfielder for the Yakult Swallows and the Orix BlueWave in the Nippon Professional Baseball league.
Lastly, Satoru Yamaguchi (1909-1972) was a Japanese composer and conductor who made significant contributions to the world of classical music. He is particularly renowned for his compositions that blended traditional Japanese music with Western classical styles, creating a unique and innovative sound.
People
Satoru + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Satoru 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
Satoru: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Satoru?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Satoru 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 18,039,702 US residents.
Is Satoru a common name?
We classify Satoru as "Very Rare". It ranks above 39.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 235 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Satoru most popular?
The single biggest year for Satoru was 1917, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Satoru is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Satoru in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 343 people with the name Satoru, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,904 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 Satoru 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 Satoru?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Satoru appears almost entirely male. Of the 344 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Satoru?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Satoru is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Satoru most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Satoru in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.7% (318 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 Satoru in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Satoru a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Satoru 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 Satoru still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Satoru 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 Satoru 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 Satoru?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.