Shinichi
A masculine name of Japanese origin meaning "one who believes in truth".
Name Census estimates that about 2 living Americans carry the first name Shinichi. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shinichi today is around 102 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shinichi births was 1920 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shinichi. 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
- • The typical person named Shinichi is about 102 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Shinichis were born before 1934.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shinichi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
2
~ 1 in 171,377,169 Americans
Peak year
1920
14 babies that year
Average age
102
years old
1928 SSA rank
#4,088
Tracked since 1915
Census
Shinichi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 364 people with the first name Shinichi, which placed it at #25,851 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
#25,851
National first-name rank
People counted
364
364 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shinichi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shinichi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (0.8%). 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 Shinichi 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 Shinichi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.1% · 346
- Two or more races3.8% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Shinichi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shinichi from the 1910s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 57 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shinichi 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 Shinichi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shinichis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shinichi
The given name Shinichi has its origins in the Japanese language. It is a masculine name that has been in use for centuries, with records dating back to the Muromachi period (1336-1573) in Japan.
Shinichi is a combination of two Japanese words: "shin" meaning "truth" or "reality," and "ichi" meaning "one" or "first." Together, the name can be interpreted to mean "the first truth" or "honest reality." This name embodies the virtues of honesty and truthfulness, which were highly valued in traditional Japanese culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shinichi can be found in the historical text "Taiheiki," a chronicle of the Nanboku-cho period (1336-1392). The name appears in reference to a warrior named Shinichi no Hiraizumi, who fought in the battles between the Northern and Southern Courts during this turbulent period of Japanese history.
Another notable figure bearing the name Shinichi was Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998), a renowned Japanese violinist and music educator. He developed the Suzuki Method, a revolutionary approach to teaching music that emphasized the development of musical ability from a young age through immersion and parental involvement. His method has been widely adopted around the world and has inspired generations of musicians.
In the literary world, Shinichi Hoshi (1926-1997) was a celebrated Japanese science fiction author known for his imaginative and thought-provoking works. His stories often explored themes of scientific advancement, human nature, and the consequences of technological progress. Hoshi's contributions to the genre earned him numerous accolades and a respected place in the annals of Japanese literature.
The name Shinichi also has religious significance in Japan. Shinichi Hisamatsu (1889-1980) was a prominent Zen Buddhist philosopher and scholar who dedicated his life to studying and teaching the principles of Zen. His works on the nature of enlightenment and the practice of zazen (seated meditation) have been highly influential in the spread of Zen Buddhism both within Japan and internationally.
Another notable figure was Shinichi Mochizuki (1950-present), a Japanese mathematician renowned for his groundbreaking work in arithmetic geometry and number theory. In 2012, he claimed to have proven the famous ABC Conjecture, a long-standing problem in number theory, though his proof remains the subject of ongoing verification and debate within the mathematical community.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Shinichi, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry associated with this name of Japanese origin.
People
Shinichi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shinichi 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
Shinichi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shinichi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shinichi 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 171,377,169 US residents.
Is Shinichi a common name?
We classify Shinichi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 4.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 89 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shinichi most popular?
The single biggest year for Shinichi was 1920, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shinichi is about 102 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shinichi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 364 people with the name Shinichi, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,851 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 Shinichi 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 Shinichi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shinichi leans strongly male. 367 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Shinichi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shinichi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (0.8%). 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 Shinichi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Shinichi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.1% (346 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 Shinichi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shinichi a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shinichi 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 Shinichi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shinichi 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 Shinichi 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 Americans are named Shinichi?
Find out how many people have the name Shinichi on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.