Sotaro
A Japanese masculine name meaning "thick-standing son" or "prosperous son".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Sotaro. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sotaro today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sotaro births was 2015 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sotaro. 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 Sotaro. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2015
5 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2015 SSA rank
#13,772
Tracked since 2015
Popularity
Sotaro: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Sotaro 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 Sotaro during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Sotaro
The name Sotaro originates from Japan and has its roots in the Japanese language. It is a masculine given name that can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Sotaro is a combination of two Japanese words: "so" meaning "frank" or "plain," and "taro" meaning "eldest son." Together, the name can be interpreted as "frank eldest son" or "plain eldest son." This naming convention, where names reflect the order of birth and gender, was once common in Japanese culture.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Sotaro can be found in the literary works of Natsume Soseki, a renowned Japanese novelist and scholar who lived from 1867 to 1916. In his novels, Soseki often used common Japanese names like Sotaro for his characters, lending the name a sense of familiarity and cultural significance.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sotaro. One such individual was Sotaro Kawai (1878-1950), a Japanese businessman and philanthropist who founded the Kawai Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, now known as Kawai Musical Instruments. Kawai's contributions to the development of the piano industry in Japan were significant, and he is remembered for his dedication to promoting music education.
Another prominent figure was Sotaro Ishiwara (1891-1967), a Japanese diplomat and writer who served as the Japanese ambassador to Sweden from 1939 to 1942. Ishiwara played a crucial role in diplomatic relations between Japan and Sweden during the turbulent years of World War II.
In the field of sports, Sotaro Suzuki (1922-2001) was a Japanese baseball player and manager who had a successful career spanning several decades. He played for the Yomiuri Giants from 1941 to 1957 and later became the team's manager from 1965 to 1973, leading them to several championships.
Sotaro Fujiwara (1925-2021) was a Japanese artist known for his abstract expressionist paintings and his involvement in the Gutai Art Association, an influential avant-garde art movement in post-war Japan. Fujiwara's works are held in collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Lastly, Sotaro Hayashi (1932-2021) was a Japanese mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of topology. He served as a professor at various universities in Japan and was awarded the Fujiwara Prize, one of the most prestigious honors in mathematics, in 2004.
People
Sotaro + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sotaro 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
Sotaro: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sotaro?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sotaro 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Sotaro a common name?
We classify Sotaro as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sotaro most popular?
The single biggest year for Sotaro was 2015, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sotaro is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Sotaro in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sotaro a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sotaro 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 Sotaro still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sotaro 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 Sotaro 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Sotaro?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.