Given name
Ayako
Ayako is a feminine given name from Japanese. It is used in English, French, and Tagalog.
Original Japanese亜矢子
Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1908. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ayako through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 543
- 0 boys · 543 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 30 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2019. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 30 in 1918. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,465 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ayako’s family of names
In Filipino usage, Ayako was borrowed from the Japanese form あやこ. In Japanese usage, Ayako is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 亜矢子. In Japanese usage, Ayako is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 彩子.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.
Spellings & scripts 6
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Ayako
- Ayako KitamotoJapanese association football playerborn 1983
- Ayako KawasumiJapanese voice actress and singerborn 1976
- Ayako MoriyaJapanese princess; youngest daughter of Norihito, Prince Takamado, and Hisako, Princess Takamadoborn 1990
- Ayako WakaoJapanese actress (1933-)
- Ayako HamadaMexican professional wrestlerborn 1981
- Ayako FujitaniJapanese actress and writerborn 1979
- Ayako MiuraJapanese novelist, Protestant (1922–1999)
- Ayako SonoJapanese writer1931–2025
- Ayako UeharaJapanese classical pianistborn 1980
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Ayako, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Yaeko
Yaeko is a feminine given name from Japanese. It is used in English, French, Portuguese, and Tagalog.
>99% girls
Kayoko
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Eiko
Eiko is a feminine given name from Japanese.
>99% girls
Taeko
Taeko is a feminine given name from Japanese.
>99% girls
Yasuko
Yasuko is a feminine given name from Japanese. It is used in English, French, and Portuguese.
>99% girls
Asayo
Asayo is a feminine given name from Japanese.
>99% girls
Hatsuko
Hatsuko is a feminine given name from Japanese. It is used in English and Tagalog.
>99% girls
Asako
Asako is a feminine given name from Japanese.
>99% girls