Masako
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Meaning
child of correctness and elegance (kanji-dependent); famously borne by Empress Masako of Japan
The story
Masako is a Japanese name whose meaning shifts with the kanji chosen to write it, most often read as a child of correctness and elegance. Its most famous bearer is Empress Masako of Japan, who came to the role by one of the most discussed paths in modern royalty: Harvard-educated and a rising diplomat in Japan's foreign ministry, she gave up that career to marry Crown Prince Naruhito in 1993, weathered years of intense public scrutiny with acknowledged difficulty, and became empress in 2019 at the start of the Reiwa era. Her story, of brilliance adapting itself to tradition, has made her a quietly admired figure far beyond Japan. In American records Masako is a genuine rarity, showing only the faintest trace, which means a name with an empress behind it and almost no one else wearing it.
How popular is Masako around the world?
In the United States, Masako is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source. At the 2022 census, 345 people in Brazil were named Masako, ranked 17,288th, with a median age of 78.
Masako is on the official records of Brazil and Spain.
United States
under 5 a year
In the United States, Masako is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Masako has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 500,000
At the 2022 census, 345 people in Brazil were named Masako, ranked 17,288th, with a median age of 78.
Among people named Masako living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1940s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 1.6M
In Spain, 28 residents are named Masako, ranked 23,522nd among women, with a mean age of 63 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
South Australia
last on record 1979
Masako is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Masako
People given the name Masako in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1930 to 1979. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Masako deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Masako truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Masako fits with your family’s names and surname.
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