Yuriko
A feminine Japanese name meaning "lily child" or "prosperous child".
Name Census estimates that about 360 living Americans carry the first name Yuriko. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yuriko today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yuriko births was 1923 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yuriko. 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.
People living today
360
~ 1 in 952,095 Americans
Peak year
1923
42 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,178
Tracked since 1914
Popularity
Yuriko: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yuriko from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 258 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
Yuriko 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 Yuriko during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yurikos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Hawaii, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Yuriko, while Arizona, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 98 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yuriko
Yuriko is a Japanese feminine given name. It is derived from the Japanese words "yuri" meaning "lily" and "ko" meaning "child", thus the name translates to "child of the lily". The name has its origins in the Heian period of Japanese history, dating back to around the 8th to 12th centuries CE.
The lily flower has long been a symbol of purity and nobility in Japanese culture. The name Yuriko may have been given to girls from noble or samurai families during this time period, reflecting the desired qualities of purity and grace. Variations of the name, such as Yurika and Yurika, also existed.
While the name Yuriko does not appear to have any direct references in ancient Japanese texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that it was used in aristocratic circles during the Heian period. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name may have been in family records or poetry from that era.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Yuriko was Yuriko Miyamoto (1899-1951), a Japanese novelist and poet who was active in the early 20th century. Her works often explored themes of women's roles and societal expectations in Japan at the time.
Another famous Yuriko was Yuriko Kikuchi (1920-2016), a Japanese-American actress who appeared in several Hollywood films during the 1940s and 1950s, including "Sayonara" and "Tokyo Joe". She was one of the first Japanese actresses to gain recognition in American cinema.
In the world of sports, Yuriko Miyazaki (born 1951) is a former Japanese professional golfer who won several tournaments on the LPGA Tour in the 1970s and 1980s. She was one of the pioneering Japanese golfers to compete on the international stage.
Yuriko Nagatomi (born 1936) is a Japanese writer and translator, known for her translations of works by authors such as Gabriel García Márquez and Italo Calvino into Japanese.
Finally, Yuriko Koike (born 1952) is a Japanese politician who served as the first female Governor of Tokyo from 2016 to 2022. She has had a long career in politics and was also the first woman to lead a major political party in Japan.
People
Yuriko + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yuriko as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yuriko: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yuriko?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 360 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yuriko 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 952,095 US residents.
Is Yuriko a common name?
We classify Yuriko as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 760 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yuriko most popular?
The single biggest year for Yuriko was 1923, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yuriko is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Yuriko a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yuriko 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.
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.