Seiko
A feminine Japanese name meaning "blessed and respected child".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Seiko. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Seiko today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Seiko births was 1924 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Seiko. 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 Seiko. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1924
7 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
1925 SSA rank
#4,777
Tracked since 1919
Census
Seiko in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 548 people with the first name Seiko, which placed it at #19,346 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
#19,346
National first-name rank
People counted
548
548 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
87.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Seiko
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seiko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 87.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Black (4.2%). 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 Seiko 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 Seiko at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander87.0% · 477
- Two or more races4.6% · 25
- Black or African American4.2% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 16
- White1.3% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Seiko
Seiko is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 35 total registrations, 24 (68.6%) were male and 11 (31.4%) were female.
Seiko as a male name
- Ranked #4,777 in 1925
- 5 male births in 1925
- Peak: 1924 (7 births)
Seiko as a female name
- Ranked #16,928 in 2009
- 6 female births in 2009
- Peak: 2009 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Seiko leans strongly female. 513 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 37 male bearers (6.7%).
Popularity
Seiko: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Seiko from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 24 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
Seiko 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 Seiko during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Seikos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Seiko
The name Seiko originates from Japanese language and culture. It is a gender-neutral name that has been in use since the Edo period (1603-1868) in Japan. The name Seiko is derived from the Japanese words "sei" meaning "sincere" or "honest," and "ko" meaning "child." Thus, the name Seiko can be interpreted to mean "honest child" or "sincere child."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Seiko can be found in the Edo-period novel "Ukiyo Monogatari" (Tales of the Floating World) by Asai Ryoi, published in 1661. In this work, Seiko is the name of a character, a young woman from a samurai family.
Throughout Japanese history, several notable individuals have borne the name Seiko. One of the earliest was Seiko Fujii (1835-1900), a renowned painter and calligrapher during the late Edo and early Meiji periods. Another notable Seiko was Seiko Hidaka (1847-1918), a pioneering educator who founded one of the first girls' schools in Japan.
In more recent times, Seiko Matsuda (born 1962) is a popular Japanese singer and actress, known for her hit songs and television appearances. Seiko Hashimoto (born 1964) is a former Olympic athlete and politician who served as the President of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Another individual with the name Seiko is Seiko Tanaka (born 1975), a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. She has competed in various promotions, including RIZIN and Pancrase.
While these are just a few examples, the name Seiko has been borne by numerous individuals throughout Japanese history, reflecting its enduring popularity and cultural significance.
People
Seiko + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Seiko 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
Seiko: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Seiko?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Seiko 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Seiko a common name?
We classify Seiko as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 35 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Seiko most popular?
The single biggest year for Seiko was 1924, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Seiko is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Seiko in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 548 people with the name Seiko, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,346 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 Seiko 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 Seiko?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Seiko leans strongly female. 513 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 37 male bearers (6.7%). 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 Seiko?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seiko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 87.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Black (4.2%). 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 Seiko most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Seiko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.0% (477 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 Seiko in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Seiko a male name?
Yes, 68.6% of people registered as Seiko 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 Seiko still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Seiko 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 Seiko 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 Seiko?
You can see how many people have the name Seiko on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.