Given name
Naoko
“an obediant daughter”·“one who is straightforward; honest”
Naoko is used as a given name. Interpretations include “an obediant daughter” (Japanese) and “one who is straightforward; honest” (Japanese). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Original Japanese奈於子
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “an obediant daughter” (Japanese) and “one who is straightforward; honest” (Japanese). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Japanese.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1977. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Naoko through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 67
- 0 boys · 67 girls
- Most popular year
- 1982
- 9 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 7 in 1993. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 9 in 1982. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,693 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.
Naoko’s family of names
In Japanese usage, Naoko is a Roman-alphabet rendering of なおこ. In Filipino usage, Naoko was borrowed from the Japanese form なおこ. In Japanese usage, Naoko is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 奈於子.
The ring: spellings.
Spellings & scripts 7
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Naoko
- Naoko KawakamiJapanese association football playerborn 1977
- Naoko YamazakiJapanese astronaut (1970-)
- Naoko TakeuchiJapanese manga artist (born 1967)
- Naoko TakahashiJapanese long-distance and marathon runnerborn 1972
- Naoko MoriJapanese actressborn 1971
- Naoko YamadaJapanese animation directorborn 1984
- Naoko FukatsuJapanese table tennis playerborn 1938
- Naoko MatsuiJapanese voice actress (born 1961)
- Naoko SawamatsuJapanese tennis playerborn 1973
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
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