Given name & surname
Kono
“an industrious man”
Kono is used as a given name and a surname. One African interpretation is “an industrious man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One African interpretation is “an industrious man.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is African.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1972. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Kono through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6
- 6 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1972
- 6 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 boys is 6 in 1972. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,248 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Kono’s family of names
In English usage, Kono as a surname was borrowed from the Japanese form 河野.
The ring: across languages.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Kono, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Kito
“one who is precious”
94% boys · 6% girls
Jomo
“one who works the earth; a farmer”
>99% boys
Montsho
“a dark-skinned beauty”
>99% boys
Oba
“a king”
>99% boys
Kenyatta
“one who is musically talented”
77% boys · 23% girls
Yohance
“a gift from God”
>99% boys
Olaniyan
“honored by all”
>99% boys
Oji
“one who brings gifts”
>99% boys