Toshiro
Masculine Japanese name meaning "talented firstborn".
Name Census estimates that about 76 living Americans carry the first name Toshiro. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Toshiro today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Toshiro births was 2019 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Toshiro. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Toshiro. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
76
~ 1 in 4,509,926 Americans
Peak year
2019
10 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,991
Tracked since 1920
Census
Toshiro in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 221 people with the first name Toshiro, which placed it at #36,071 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
#36,071
National first-name rank
People counted
221
221 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
40.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Toshiro
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toshiro is Asian/Pacific Islander at 40.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (24.9%) and Black (16.7%). 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 Toshiro 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 Toshiro at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander40.7% · 90
- Two or more races24.9% · 55
- Black or African American16.7% · 37
- Hispanic or Latino14.5% · 32
- White3.2% · 7
Popularity
Toshiro: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Toshiro from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 32 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Toshiro remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Toshiro 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 Toshiro during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Toshiros live
Origin
Meaning and history of Toshiro
Toshiro is a masculine Japanese given name that has its origins in the 8th century. The name is derived from the Japanese words "toshi," meaning "year" or "age," and "hiro," meaning "generous" or "prosperous." Together, the name can be interpreted as "long-lived prosperity" or "generous age."
The earliest recorded use of the name Toshiro dates back to the Nara period (710-794 AD) in Japan. During this time, Japanese names were heavily influenced by Chinese culture and often incorporated words from the Chinese language. The name Toshiro is believed to have been adapted from the Chinese name "Tongshou," which has a similar meaning.
In Japanese history, the name Toshiro has been associated with various notable figures. One of the earliest examples is Toshiro Fujiwara, a prominent statesman and scholar who lived during the Heian period (794-1185 AD). He served as a Chief Minister and was known for his expertise in literature and poetry.
Another historical figure bearing the name Toshiro was Toshiro Mifune (1920-1997), a legendary Japanese actor who appeared in numerous critically acclaimed films, including many directed by Akira Kurosawa. Mifune is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors in Japanese cinema history and is often compared to American actor Marlon Brando for his intense and naturalistic performances.
In the realm of literature, Toshiro Mifune (1936-1997), a different individual from the aforementioned actor, was a renowned Japanese novelist and essayist. His works, such as "The Bark of the Bamboo Brush" and "The Setting Sun," explored themes of identity, alienation, and the complexities of modern Japanese society.
Another notable Toshiro was Toshiro Muto (1939-2021), a Japanese engineer and business executive who served as the CEO of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011. His leadership and decision-making during this crisis garnered both praise and criticism.
In the world of sports, Toshiro Kawamoto (1948-2019) was a Japanese professional baseball player and manager. He played for the Chunichi Dragons in Nippon Professional Baseball and later served as the team's manager, leading them to multiple league championships.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Toshiro, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of Japan.
People
Toshiro + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Toshiro 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
Toshiro: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Toshiro?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 76 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Toshiro 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 4,509,926 US residents.
Is Toshiro a common name?
We classify Toshiro as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 98 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Toshiro most popular?
The single biggest year for Toshiro was 2019, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Toshiro is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Toshiro in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 221 people with the name Toshiro, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,071 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 Toshiro 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 Toshiro?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Toshiro leans strongly male. 213 people counted with this name were male (93.0%), compared with 16 female bearers (7.0%). 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 Toshiro?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toshiro is Asian/Pacific Islander at 40.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (24.9%) and Black (16.7%). 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 Toshiro most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Toshiro in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.7% (90 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 Toshiro in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Toshiro a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Toshiro 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 Toshiro still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Toshiro 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 Toshiro 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 Toshiro as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.