Susumu
A Japanese masculine given name literally meaning "to advance" or "to make progress".
Name Census estimates that about 23 living Americans carry the first name Susumu. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Susumu today is around 92 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Susumu births was 1919 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Susumu. 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 Susumu is about 92 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Susumus were born before 1944.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Susumu. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
23
~ 1 in 14,902,363 Americans
Peak year
1919
27 babies that year
Average age
92
years old
1943 SSA rank
#3,203
Tracked since 1914
Census
Susumu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 257 people with the first name Susumu, which placed it at #32,623 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
#32,623
National first-name rank
People counted
257
257 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Susumu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Susumu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and White (1.2%). 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 Susumu 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 Susumu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.7% · 246
- Two or more races2.7% · 7
- White1.2% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Susumu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Susumu from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 201 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
Susumu 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 Susumu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Susumus live
Origin
Meaning and history of Susumu
The given name Susumu has its origins in Japan, where it has been in use since ancient times. It derives from the Japanese words "susumu" meaning "to advance" or "to progress", and "su" meaning "lead" or "excel". The name was likely given to children with the hope that they would grow up to lead accomplished lives and make progress in their endeavors.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Susumu can be found in the Kojiki, an ancient chronicle of Japan's mythology and early history, dating back to the 8th century AD. The text mentions a figure named Susumu no Mikoto, who was revered as a deity associated with the wind.
Throughout Japanese history, several notable individuals have borne the name Susumu. One such figure was Susumu Tonami (1596-1673), a prominent samurai and military strategist during the Edo period. He served under the powerful Tokugawa shogunate and played a crucial role in suppressing various uprisings and rebellions.
In the realm of literature, Susumu Nakanishi (1896-1986) was a celebrated poet and essayist who helped shape modern Japanese literature. His works often explored themes of nature, spirituality, and the human condition.
During the 20th century, the name Susumu gained recognition in the field of science and technology. Susumu Tachi (1928-2012) was a pioneering computer scientist and robotics engineer who made significant contributions to virtual reality and human-computer interaction.
Another notable figure was Susumu Ohno (1928-2010), a renowned Japanese-American geneticist who proposed the revolutionary theory of gene duplication, which helped explain the evolution of complex organisms and the emergence of new biological functions.
While the name Susumu has a rich historical significance in Japan, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among individuals of Japanese descent or those with an appreciation for Japanese culture and tradition.
People
Susumu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Susumu 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
Susumu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Susumu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Susumu 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 14,902,363 US residents.
Is Susumu a common name?
We classify Susumu as "Very Rare". It ranks above 42.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 351 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Susumu most popular?
The single biggest year for Susumu was 1919, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Susumu is about 92 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Susumu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 257 people with the name Susumu, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,623 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 Susumu 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 Susumu?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Susumu appears almost entirely male. Of the 259 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Susumu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Susumu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and White (1.2%). 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 Susumu most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Susumu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.7% (246 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 Susumu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Susumu a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Susumu 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 Susumu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Susumu 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 Susumu 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 share the name Susumu?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.