Tetsuro
An uncommon Japanese masculine name meaning "to become enlightened".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Tetsuro. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tetsuro today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tetsuro births was 1924 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tetsuro. 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 Tetsuro. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1924
6 babies that year
Average age
-
1924 SSA rank
#4,299
Tracked since 1924
Census
Tetsuro in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 100 people with the first name Tetsuro, which placed it at #53,336 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
#53,336
National first-name rank
People counted
100
100 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tetsuro
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tetsuro is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and White (2.0%). 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 Tetsuro 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 Tetsuro at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.0% · 93
- Two or more races3.0% · 3
- White2.0% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 2
Popularity
Tetsuro: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Tetsuro 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 Tetsuro during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Geography
Where Tetsuros live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tetsuro
The given name Tetsuro originates from Japan, where it is a masculine name composed of two kanji characters: "tetsu" meaning iron or steel, and "ro" meaning son. Together, the name can be interpreted as "son of iron" or "strong son." The earliest known examples of this name date back to the 15th century during the Muromachi period in Japan.
In ancient Japanese culture, the name Tetsuro was often bestowed upon newborn sons with the intention of imbuing them with qualities of strength, resilience, and fortitude, much like the durability of iron or steel. This name carried connotations of valor and perseverance, traits that were highly valued in the samurai warrior class of feudal Japan.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tetsuro was Tetsuro Watanabe, a prominent daimyo (feudal lord) who lived in the late 16th century. He played a significant role in the unification of Japan under the renowned shogunate of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Another notable figure named Tetsuro was Tetsuro Nakaoka, a renowned Zen Buddhist monk and calligrapher who lived during the Edo period (1603-1868). His works of calligraphic art are highly regarded and can be found in various temples and museums across Japan.
In the realm of literature, Tetsuro Watsuji (1889-1960) was a prominent Japanese philosopher and scholar known for his contributions to the study of ethics and aesthetics. His seminal work, "Fūdo," explored the relationship between human beings and their natural environments, significantly influencing the field of environmental philosophy.
During the 20th century, Tetsuro Masuda (1915-1990) gained recognition as a pioneering engineer and inventor. He played a crucial role in the development of Japan's television broadcasting industry and held numerous patents for his innovations in electronics and telecommunications.
Another notable figure with the name Tetsuro was Tetsuro Tamba (1922-2006), a celebrated Japanese actor who gained international acclaim for his performances in both Japanese and Western films. He is particularly renowned for his roles in Akira Kurosawa's masterpieces, such as "Seven Samurai" and "Rashomon."
People
Tetsuro + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tetsuro 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
Tetsuro: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tetsuro?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tetsuro 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 - US residents.
Is Tetsuro a common name?
We classify Tetsuro as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tetsuro most popular?
The single biggest year for Tetsuro was 1924, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tetsuro is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tetsuro in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 100 people with the name Tetsuro, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #53,336 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 Tetsuro 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 Tetsuro?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tetsuro appears almost entirely male. Of the 103 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Tetsuro?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tetsuro is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and White (2.0%). 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 Tetsuro most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tetsuro in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (93 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 Tetsuro in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tetsuro a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tetsuro 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 Tetsuro still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tetsuro 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 Tetsuro 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 have the name Tetsuro?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.