Koi
Feminine · “carp”
Koi is given to both — 669 girls and 813 boys since 1880. See Koi as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Koi is a carp in Japanese — and the word for carp is a homophone of the word for love, which the culture makes much of.
How old is the name Koi?
Koi first appears in US birth records in 1999 — 26 years ago. The typical Koi is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Koi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Koi most popular?
Koi peaked in 2025, reaching #2194 nationally. Today it ranks #2194, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From 鯉 to Koi
The story of Koi
Ornamental koi were bred from common carp by rice farmers in Niigata in the nineteenth century, and the fish became a symbol of perseverance through a legend of a carp swimming up a waterfall to become a dragon. That the word puns on 'love' is much used. Koi appears in American records for both sexes in current use.
Meaning
carp; love
From the Japanese koi, 鯉, 'carp'. A separate koi, 恋, means 'romantic love', and the two are homophones — a pun used constantly in Japanese poetry and gift-giving. The fish word is the source of the English 'koi'. Both are documented.
How the name formed
- 鯉
- koi
- Koi
Related forms: 鯉 · Koy
Pronouncing Koi
KOY
One syllable. Japanese says it the same way.
Nicknames for Koi
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
- 1999
- Most girls named
- 202584 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2194reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +55.6%84 in 2025, from 54
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.
Koi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 鯉 in Japanese — transliteration
- Koy in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Louisiana, Florida.
Kois among us
people named Koi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 19,134 born in 2025 was named Koi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Koi
- #2194
- Koi on the 2025 chart
- #852
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Koi went to 84 girls in 2025, but Coi and Khoi are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 108, which makes it the 852nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,342 places above the chart.
- Koi84
- Coi18
- Khoi6
About 1 girl in 14,882 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 19,134 for Koi itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Casaundra test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Koi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Casaundra climbed just as high around 1989, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Casaundra's path sketches the road Koi is walking now.
Koi 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 Koi is headed
Koi looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 21% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Koi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Koi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That carp and love are homophones in Japanese is a first-rate fact.
- The carp-becoming-a-dragon legend is a genuinely good image.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- It is the ordinary English word for the fish.
- It is used for both sexes.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Koi to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Koi? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Koi
Feminine · #2194 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kois are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Koi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Koi?
- Koi is the most-used spelling in US records — 84 of the 108 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Coi and Khoi.
- How popular is the name Koi in 2025?
- Koi ranks #2194 among US girl names in 2025, with 84 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Koi?
- About 1 in every 19,134 US girls born in 2025 was named Koi — 84 in all.
- Will my child share the name Koi with classmates?
- Koi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Koi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Asia#2194 · Zaila#2194 · Addalyn#2194 · Caylee#2194 · Olympia#2194 · Janna#2194 · Aqsa#2194 · Samiya#2194
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Koi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Koi and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle