Miko
Masculine · “who is like God?”
Miko is given to both — 980 boys and 613 girls since 1880. See Miko as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Miko is a Hungarian and Slovak form of Michael — who is like God? — and it is separately a Japanese word for a shrine attendant.
How old is the name Miko?
Miko first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Miko is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Miko are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Miko most popular?
Miko peaked in 2023, reaching #1970 nationally. Today it ranks #2718, 748 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Mikha'el to Miko
The story of Miko
Michael is the archangel whose name asks who is like God, and Hungarian and Slovak shorten Mihály and Michal to Miko. Separately, a miko is a Shinto shrine attendant, historically a medium. Both routes reach American records, where the name is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
who is like God?
As a European name, from Michael, from the Hebrew Mikha'el — a rhetorical question. As Japanese, miko names a shrine maiden, from characters meaning 'shrine child'. Both are documented and unrelated. The Hebrew is settled where that route holds.
How the name formed
- Mikha'el
- Michael
- Miko
Related forms: Mikó · 巫女 · Michael
Pronouncing Miko
MEE-koh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Japanese gives each mora even weight.
Nicknames for Miko
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
- 1971
- Most boys named
- 202378 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1970reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −17.5%47 in 2025, from 57
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.
Miko in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mikó in Hungarian — same name
- 巫女 in Japanese — related form
- Michael in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Mikos among us
people named Miko are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 36,342 born in 2025 was named Miko
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Miko
- #2718
- Miko on the 2025 chart
- #813
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Miko went to 47 boys in 2025, but Mikko, Micco and Mico are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 115, which makes it the 813th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,905 places above the chart.
- Mikko55
- Miko47
- Micco7
- Mico6
About 1 boy in 14,853 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 36,342 for Miko 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 Haley test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Miko's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Haley climbed just as high around 1993, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Haley's path sketches the road Miko is walking now.
Miko 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 Miko is headed
Miko should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Miko beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Miko in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the name is a rhetorical question is a first-rate piece of Hebrew.
- Mike is available as an English short form with an enormous record.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The Japanese word of the same spelling names a female shrine attendant.
- Michael is what English speakers will substitute.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Miko to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Miko
Masculine · #2718 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mikos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Miko are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Miko?
- Miko is one of 4 recorded spellings. Mikko is the more common one — 55 births in 2025 against 47 for Miko.
- How popular is the name Miko in 2025?
- Miko ranks #2718 among US boy names in 2025, with 47 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Miko?
- About 1 in every 36,342 US boys born in 2025 was named Miko — 47 in all.
- Will my child share the name Miko with classmates?
- Miko will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Miko
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Einar#2718 · Kurtis#2718 · Sasha#2718 · Jovany#2718 · Ahsan#2718 · Xavien#2718 · Yassin#2718 · Unknown#2718
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Miko? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Miko 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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