Toshiko
A feminine Japanese name meaning "wise child" or "bright child".
Name Census estimates that about 81 living Americans carry the first name Toshiko. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Toshiko today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Toshiko births was 1923 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Toshiko. 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 Toshiko is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Toshikos were born before 1969.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Toshiko. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
81
~ 1 in 4,231,535 Americans
Peak year
1923
58 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1984 SSA rank
#12,072
Tracked since 1911
Census
Toshiko in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,296 people with the first name Toshiko, which placed it at #10,343 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
#10,343
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,296 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Toshiko
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toshiko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Black (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Toshiko 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 Toshiko at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.5% · 1,173
- Black or African American3.7% · 48
- Two or more races3.5% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 17
- White0.8% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Toshiko: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Toshiko from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 379 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
Toshiko 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 Toshiko during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Toshikos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Hawaii, Washington recorded the most babies named Toshiko, while Washington, Hawaii, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 204 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Toshiko
Toshiko is a Japanese given name derived from the words "toshi" meaning year or age, and "ko" meaning child or little one. The name dates back to the Heian period of Japanese history, which spanned from 794 to 1185 CE. It was originally used as a feminine name, but over time it also became a masculine name in certain regions.
The earliest recorded use of the name Toshiko can be traced back to the 10th century, where it appeared in various historical records and literary works from the Heian period. One notable example is the "Tale of Genji," a classic Japanese novel written by Murasaki Shikibu around 1010 CE, in which a character named Toshiko is mentioned.
During the Kamakura period (1185-1333 CE), the name Toshiko gained popularity among the samurai class. It was often given to daughters of prominent samurai families, as it was seen as a strong and auspicious name. One famous historical figure with this name was Toshiko Hojo (1263-1305), the wife of the powerful Kamakura shogun, Hojo Tokimune.
In the Edo period (1603-1868 CE), the name Toshiko continued to be widely used, particularly among the merchant and artisan classes. One notable bearer of the name from this time was Toshiko Asakura (1676-1747), a renowned calligrapher and painter who was celebrated for her artistic talents.
As Japan entered the modern era, the name Toshiko remained a popular choice for both girls and boys. One of the most famous Japanese authors of the 20th century, Toshiko Tamura (1884-1975), bore this name. She was known for her novels and short stories that explored the changing roles and experiences of women in modern Japanese society.
Another notable figure was Toshiko Fukuda (1924-1995), a Japanese politician and feminist activist. She was one of the first women to be elected to the Japanese Diet (parliament) and played a significant role in advocating for gender equality and women's rights in Japan.
While Toshiko is a name with deep historical roots in Japanese culture, it has also been adopted by people of other ethnicities and nationalities in more recent times. For example, Toshiko Akiyoshi (born 1929) is a Japanese-American jazz composer, arranger, and bandleader who has been a prominent figure in the jazz world for several decades.
People
Toshiko + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Toshiko 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
Toshiko: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Toshiko?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 81 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Toshiko 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 4,231,535 US residents.
Is Toshiko a common name?
We classify Toshiko as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 799 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Toshiko most popular?
The single biggest year for Toshiko was 1923, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Toshiko is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Toshiko in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,296 people with the name Toshiko, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,343 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 Toshiko 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 Toshiko?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Toshiko appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,296 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Toshiko?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toshiko is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Black (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Toshiko most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Toshiko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (1,173 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 Toshiko in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Toshiko a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Toshiko 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 Toshiko still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Toshiko 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 Toshiko 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 Toshiko as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Toshiko, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.