Chiyoko
Feminine · “child of a thousand generations”
Chiyoko is a Japanese girl's name, usually written with characters meaning child of a thousand generations. It came to America with Japanese families, and its wish for long life is the same one sung in Japan's national anthem.
How old is the name Chiyoko?
Chiyoko first appears in US birth records in 1909 — 116 years ago. The typical Chiyoko alive today was born around 1921, making them about 104 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Chiyoko are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Chiyoko most popular?
Chiyoko peaked in 1917, reaching #1162 nationally. See the whole 1917 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From chiyo + ko to Chiyoko
The story of Chiyoko
Japan's anthem, Kimigayo, opens with the wish that the emperor's reign last for a thousand generations, for eight thousand, using the same chiyo that begins this name. In the eighteenth century the poet Kaga no Chiyo, known as Chiyo-ni, wrote one of the most loved haiku: finding a morning glory wound around the bucket of her well, she went to borrow water from a neighbor rather than tear it. Japanese families brought Chiyoko to Hawaii and the West Coast.
Meaningscholars disagree
child of a thousand generations
Chiyoko is most often written with chi, thousand, yo, generations or ages, and ko, child. Other characters with the same sounds are also used.
How the name formed
- chiyo + ko
- Chiyoko
Related forms: Chiyoko
Pronouncing Chiyoko
chee-YOH-koh
Japanese gives the syllables nearly equal weight.
Nicknames for Chiyoko
Limited
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
- 1909
- Most girls named
- 192341 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1162reached in 1917
- Change vs 1935
- 0.0%5 in 1937, from 5
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.
Chiyoko in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Chiyoko in Japanese — same name
Chiyokos among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Chiyoko are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Chiyoko sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Its usual meaning, a wish for long life, is lovely.
- Chiyo is a graceful short form.
- English speakers will stress it unevenly.
- The meaning depends on the characters a family chooses.
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Chiyoko
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Chiyokos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Chiyoko are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Chiyoko in 2025?
- Chiyoko is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Chiyoko with classmates?
- Chiyoko will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
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Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Chiyoko? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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