Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1980. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nao through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 118
- 23 boys · 95 girls
- Most popular year
- 2003
- 13 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 7 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 786 as a first name in 2020; 170 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.
Nao’s family of names
In Japanese usage, Nao is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 南朋. In Japanese usage, Nao is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 奈央. In Japanese usage, Nao is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 奈穂.
The ring: spellings.
Spellings & scripts 7
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Nao
- Nao ShikataJapanese association football playerborn 1979
- Nao KodairaJapanese speed skaterborn 1986
- Nao HibinoJapanese tennis playerborn 1994
- Nao EguchiJapanese association football playerborn 1992
- Nao TōyamaJapanese voice actress and singerborn 1992
- Nao KusakaJapanese Greco-Roman wrestlerborn 2000
- Nao ŌmoriJapanese actorborn 1972
- Nao IwadateJapanese association football playerborn 1988
- Nao AsahiJapanese tarento, actress, idol, and modelborn 1994
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Nao, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Meiko
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Zen
“one who is enlightened”
79% boys · 21% girls
Emiri
Emiri is a feminine given name from Japanese. It is used in French.
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Nijay
54% boys · 46% girls
Wen
“one who is fairskinned” · “a beloved friend”
55% boys · 45% girls
Deaven
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Bar
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Hardeep
74% boys · 26% girls