Imari
A feminine Japanese name meaning "born beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 3,336 living Americans carry the first name Imari. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Imari today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Imari births was 2003 (161 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Imari. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Imari with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 102,744 Americans
Peak year
2003
161 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,006
Tracked since 1969
Census
Imari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,457 people with the first name Imari, which placed it at #6,510 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,510
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,457 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Imari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Imari is Black at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.6%) and Two or More Races (7.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Imari described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Imari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.8% · 1,837
- Hispanic or Latino12.6% · 310
- Two or more races7.9% · 193
- White3.3% · 81
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Imari
Imari is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 3,403 total registrations, 1,061 (31.2%) were male and 2,342 (68.8%) were female.
Imari as a male name
- Ranked #4,006 in 2024
- 27 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (50 births)
Imari as a female name
- Ranked #5,490 in 2024
- 23 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (124 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Imari on both sides of the split. Of the 2,455 people counted with this name, 675 were male (27.5%) and 1,780 were female (72.5%).
Popularity
Imari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Imari from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,280 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Imari by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Imari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Imaris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Florida, New York recorded the most babies named Imari, while Tennessee, New Jersey, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Imari
The name Imari finds its origins in Japan, derived from the Japanese words "i" meaning celebration and "mari" meaning ball or sphere. It is believed to have emerged during the Edo period (1603-1868) in the Arita region of northwestern Kyushu, where the renowned Imari porcelain was produced.
Imari porcelain, known for its intricate blue and white designs, gained immense popularity both within Japan and abroad, particularly in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. The name Imari became associated with this exquisite artform, symbolizing the celebration and splendor it represented.
While the name Imari does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its connection to the iconic Imari porcelain has undoubtedly contributed to its cultural significance and enduring legacy.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Imari can be traced back to Imari Tokuemon (1617-1685), a renowned Japanese potter and one of the pioneers of Imari porcelain production. His artistry and contributions to this celebrated ceramic style have left an indelible mark on Japanese culture and history.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Imari. Imari Kazuo (1904-1965), a Japanese writer and poet, gained recognition for his literary works that explored themes of human nature and societal dynamics.
Imari Nobuko (1932-2022) was a celebrated Japanese actress who graced the silver screen with her captivating performances, leaving a lasting impact on the Japanese film industry.
Imari Tsubaki (1930-2023) was a renowned Japanese ceramist and Living National Treasure, renowned for her mastery of the traditional Imari porcelain techniques and her dedication to preserving this ancient art form.
Imari Kichiemon (1642-1705), a talented potter from the Arita region, played a pivotal role in refining and popularizing the intricate Imari porcelain style, earning him a place in the annals of Japanese ceramic history.
Imari Tomoe (1920-2012), a Japanese artist and calligrapher, was revered for her exceptional skill in traditional Japanese calligraphy and her contributions to preserving this ancient art form.
People
Imari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Imari as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Imari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Imari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,336 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Imari going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 102,744 US residents.
Is Imari a common name?
We classify Imari as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,403 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Imari most popular?
The single biggest year for Imari was 2003, when 161 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Imari is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Imari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,457 people with the name Imari, or 0.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,510 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Imari in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Imari?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Imari on both sides of the split. Of the 2,455 people counted with this name, 675 were male (27.5%) and 1,780 were female (72.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Imari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Imari is Black at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.6%) and Two or More Races (7.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Imari most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Imari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.8% (1,837 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Imari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Imari a female name?
Yes, 68.8% of people registered as Imari in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Imari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Imari in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Imari can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Imari?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.