Akira
Masculine · “bright”
Akira is given to both — 2,020 boys and 7,817 girls since 1880. See Akira as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Akira is bright or clear in Japanese, and the character chosen decides which — the sound alone does not.
How old is the name Akira?
Akira first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Akira alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 1,400 people named Akira are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Akira most popular?
Akira peaked in 1927, reaching #937 nationally. Today it ranks #2539, 1,602 places below that high. See the whole 1927 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From 明 to Akira
The story of Akira
The commonest character for Akira, 明, is the sun and the moon written side by side — brightness made of both. Akira Kurosawa directed Seven Samurai and Rashomon. The name is used for both sexes in Japan, more often masculine. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
bright, clear
From the Japanese akira, written 明, 'bright'; 亮, 'clear'; 昭, 'shining'; among many others. The kanji fixes the meaning; the romanised sound does not. The character 明 combines the sun and the moon. The Japanese is documented.
How the name formed
- 明
- Akira
Related forms: 明 · 亮
Pronouncing Akira
ah-KEE-rah
Three syllables, even weight. Japanese gives each mora equal value rather than stressing one.
Nicknames for Akira
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1913
- Most boys named
- 202552 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #937reached in 1927
- Change vs 2023
- +6.1%52 in 2025, from 49
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Akira in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 明 in Japanese — transliteration
- 亮 in Japanese — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Akiras among us
people named Akira are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 32,848 born in 2025 was named Akira
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Larue test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Akira's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Larue climbed just as high around 1912, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Larue's path sketches the road Akira is walking now.
Akira sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Akira is headed
Akira looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 17% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Akira beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Akira in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the character is the sun and moon written together is a first-rate fact.
- Kurosawa is a first-rate bearer.
- Aki and Kira are two short forms, both real names elsewhere.
- The meaning depends on characters the Latin alphabet cannot show.
- It is used for both sexes in Japan.
- English speakers apply a stress pattern Japanese does not have.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Akira to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Akira
Masculine · #2539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Akiras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Akira are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Akira in 2025?
- Akira ranks #2539 among US boy names in 2025, with 52 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Akira?
- About 1 in every 32,848 US boys born in 2025 was named Akira — 52 in all.
- Will my child share the name Akira with classmates?
- Akira will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Akira
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Yanis#2539 · Ebenezer#2539 · Mazen#2539 · Ziyad#2539 · Mercer#2539 · Ramy#2539 · Konnor#2539 · Luigi#2539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Akira? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Akira and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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