Shoko
A Japanese feminine name meaning "calico, flowering field".
Name Census estimates that about 29 living Americans carry the first name Shoko. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shoko today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shoko births was 1993 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shoko. 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 Shoko. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
29
~ 1 in 11,819,115 Americans
Peak year
1993
9 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
1993 SSA rank
#9,428
Tracked since 1984
Popularity
Shoko: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shoko from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 16 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
Shoko 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 Shoko 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 Shoko
The name Shoko has its origins in the Japanese language. It is a feminine name that dates back several centuries in Japan. The name is derived from the Japanese word "shoko" which means "soaring" or "flying high." It is believed that the name was originally bestowed upon girls in hopes that they would soar to great heights and achieve success in life.
In ancient Japanese literature, the name Shoko can be found in several historical texts and records. One notable example is the Tale of Genji, a classic work of Japanese literature written in the early 11th century. In this text, a minor character named Shoko is mentioned as a lady-in-waiting to one of the main characters.
The earliest recorded use of the name Shoko can be traced back to the Heian period (794-1185 AD) in Japan. During this time, it was a popular name among the aristocratic class and members of the imperial court.
Throughout history, several notable Japanese women have borne the name Shoko. One of the most famous was Shoko Asahara (1955-2018), the founder and leader of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, responsible for the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
Another notable figure was Shoko Egawa (1920-2008), a Japanese writer and feminist who played a significant role in promoting women's rights and gender equality in post-World War II Japan.
In the field of sports, Shoko Murata (born 1989) is a Japanese judoka who won a gold medal in the women's 78 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Shoko Tendo (1913-2001) was a celebrated Japanese artist known for her intricate woodblock prints and paintings depicting traditional Japanese themes and landscapes.
Lastly, Shoko Nakazawa (1842-1914) was a prominent educator and pioneer of modern education in Japan during the Meiji era, playing a crucial role in establishing formal schooling for girls.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Shoko
People
Shoko + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shoko 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
Shoko: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shoko?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shoko 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 11,819,115 US residents.
Is Shoko a common name?
We classify Shoko as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shoko most popular?
The single biggest year for Shoko was 1993, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shoko is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shoko a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shoko 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.
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.