Teruko
A feminine Japanese name meaning "shining child, radiant child".
Name Census estimates that about 32 living Americans carry the first name Teruko. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Teruko today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Teruko births was 1927 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Teruko. 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 Teruko is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Terukos were born before 1968.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Teruko. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
32
~ 1 in 10,711,073 Americans
Peak year
1927
45 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1981 SSA rank
#8,076
Tracked since 1913
Census
Teruko in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 615 people with the first name Teruko, which placed it at #17,751 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
#17,751
National first-name rank
People counted
615
615 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
89.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Teruko
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teruko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.4%) and Two or More Races (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 Teruko 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 Teruko at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander89.9% · 553
- Black or African American4.4% · 27
- Two or more races4.2% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 5
- White0.7% · 4
Popularity
Teruko: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Teruko from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 230 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
Teruko 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 Teruko during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Terukos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Teruko
The given name Teruko is a feminine Japanese name that originated in the late 19th century. Its roots can be traced back to the Japanese words "teru", meaning "radiant" or "shining", and "ko", which is a common ending for Japanese girls' names that signifies a child or daughter. Together, Teruko conveys the meaning of "radiant child" or "shining daughter".
While the name itself does not have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its components reflect the cultural values of Japan, where names often carry symbolic meanings related to nature, beauty, or virtues. The popularity of the name Teruko peaked in the early to mid-20th century in Japan.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Teruko dates back to the late 19th century, with Teruko Arishima (1888-1976), a Japanese writer and translator who played a significant role in introducing Western literature to Japan. Another notable figure is Teruko Kondō (1919-1962), a Japanese communist activist and writer who was active in the mid-20th century.
In the world of arts and culture, Teruko Awano (1933-2011) was a renowned Japanese dancer and choreographer who specialized in classical Japanese dance forms. Teruko Inuzuka (1932-2016) was a respected Japanese actress known for her roles in both film and television, while Teruko Akatsuki (1935-2023) was a celebrated Japanese novelist and essayist.
Teruko Yahara (1910-1998) was a Japanese cyclist who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, becoming one of the first Japanese women to participate in the Olympic Games. Lastly, Teruko Matsushita (1909-1991) was a Japanese entrepreneur and businesswoman who played a crucial role in the development of the Panasonic Corporation, founded by her husband, Konosuke Matsushita.
People
Teruko + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Teruko as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Teruko: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Teruko?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 32 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Teruko 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 10,711,073 US residents.
Is Teruko a common name?
We classify Teruko as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 405 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Teruko most popular?
The single biggest year for Teruko was 1927, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Teruko is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Teruko in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 615 people with the name Teruko, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,751 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 Teruko 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 Teruko?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Teruko appears almost entirely female. Of the 611 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Teruko?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teruko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.4%) and Two or More Races (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 Teruko most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Teruko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.9% (553 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 Teruko in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Teruko a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Teruko 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.
Is Teruko still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Teruko 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 Teruko 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 Teruko?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.