Masako
Feminine · “child”
Masako is a Japanese name, and it ends in the syllable that ended most Japanese women's names for about a century: ko, the word for child. That ending has a history of its own. It began at court, where it was not available to anyone else, spread to the whole country in a couple of generations, and has since gone quiet again.
How old is the name Masako?
Masako first appears in US birth records in 1909 — 116 years ago. The typical Masako alive today was born around 1922, making them about 103 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Masako are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Masako most popular?
Masako peaked in 1913, reaching #913 nationally. See the whole 1913 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Masako
For most of Japan's history the -ko ending belonged to the aristocracy. It closed the names of women at the imperial court and was not used below it. That changed in the modern era, when court habits became national ones, and within a generation or two ko was closing a very large share of girls' names across the country. Before that, ordinary women were commonly called by two syllables with an honorific o placed in front: O-Haru, O-Kiku, O-Take. That form survives now mostly in old novels and on the stage. Japanese families carried the -ko names to the United States, and the American record has held Masako since close to its own beginning.
Meaningscholars disagree
child, with a first element that changes according to the characters chosen
Japanese names are written in characters, and one sound can be written several ways with different senses. The ko at the end is the word for child in every version. The masa in front is most often the character for elegant or the one for upright, and which of them a particular family chose is not something an American record preserves.
Pronouncing Masako
MAH-sah-koh
Three even syllables with very little stress on any of them. English speakers press the first one, which is close enough that nobody minds.
Nicknames for Masako
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
- 192158 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #913reached in 1913
- Change vs 1976
- −28.6%5 in 1993, from 7
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.
Masakos among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Masako 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
Masako 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
- The sounds are regular and hold up in both languages: three open syllables and nothing that English lacks.
- It carries a documented naming tradition that a child can go and read about rather than guess at.
- It is short to write and almost impossible to mispronounce badly.
- In Japan the -ko ending now reads as belonging to an older generation, so the name lands differently there than it does in the United States.
- Outside a Japanese-speaking household the meaning depends on characters an American birth certificate does not record, so part of the name stays behind.
- It draws questions about origin more often than most names, which some children enjoy and some do not.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Masako 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 Masako? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Masako
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Masakos 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 Masako are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Masako in 2025?
- Masako is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Masako with classmates?
- Masako will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Masako? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Masako 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