Takao
A masculine Japanese name meaning "highest" or "the highest peak".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Takao. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Takao today is around 93 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Takao births was 1922 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Takao. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Takao is about 93 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Takaos were born before 1943.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Takao. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1922
15 babies that year
Average age
93
years old
1935 SSA rank
#3,603
Tracked since 1914
Census
Takao in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 290 people with the first name Takao, which placed it at #30,183 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
#30,183
National first-name rank
People counted
290
290 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Takao
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takao is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Takao 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 Takao at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.7% · 266
- Two or more races3.1% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 6
- Black or African American1.7% · 5
- White1.4% · 4
Popularity
Takao: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Takao from the 1910s through to the 1930s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 77 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Takao 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 Takao during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Takaos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Takao
The name Takao is a masculine Japanese name with origins dating back to the 8th century. It is believed to be derived from the Japanese words "taka," meaning "tall" or "noble," and "o," meaning "male." The name was likely first used during the Nara period in Japan, which spanned from 710 to 794 CE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Takao can be found in the Shoku Nihongi, an early Japanese chronicle completed in 797 CE. The chronicle mentions a nobleman named Takao no Michinobu, who served as a government official during the late 8th century.
In Japanese mythology, the name Takao is associated with Mount Takao, a sacred mountain located in western Tokyo. The mountain is believed to have been named after a legendary priest named Takao, who is said to have lived and meditated on the mountain during the 8th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Takao. One of the earliest was Takao Fujisawa (1887-1976), a Japanese painter and printmaker who was a pioneer of the Japanese creative print movement known as sosaku-hanga.
Another famous Takao was Takao Saito (1904-1976), a Japanese architect who designed several notable buildings in Tokyo, including the Kokugikan sumo wrestling arena and the Nippon Budokan martial arts arena.
In the realm of literature, Takao Iwami (1895-1962) was a Japanese novelist and poet known for his works that explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition. His most famous novel, "Koi to Shi no Aida" (Between Love and Death), was published in 1924.
More recently, Takao Furuno (1938-2022) was a Japanese businessman and entrepreneur who founded Furuno Electric Company, a leading manufacturer of marine electronics and navigation equipment.
In the world of sports, Takao Kawaguchi (born 1976) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler who has achieved the rank of ozeki, the second-highest rank in professional sumo.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Takao, a name steeped in Japanese tradition and culture, with roots dating back to the 8th century.
People
Takao + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Takao as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Takao: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Takao?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Takao 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Takao a common name?
We classify Takao as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 146 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Takao most popular?
The single biggest year for Takao was 1922, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Takao is about 93 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Takao in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 290 people with the name Takao, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,183 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 Takao 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 Takao?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Takao leans strongly male. 281 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 3 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Takao?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takao is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Takao most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Takao in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (266 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 Takao in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Takao a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Takao in the SSA data are male. 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 Takao still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Takao 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 Takao 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 many people have Takao as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.