Name Awesome

Hikari

#11,289 in 2025Girls' name

Light

Hikari has been given to 282 babies in the U.S. since 1993. In 2025 it ranked #11,289 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2018, with 19 recorded.

Babies named Hikari, 2025

1 in 414,000

Hikari over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
0510152018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Hikari: meaning, origin, and history

Light

Japanese

What Hikari means

Hikari means “light”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Hikari is used in Japanese.

Another recorded pronunciation is /çi.kä.ɾi/ for Hikari.

Origin, language, and formation

Hikari is used in English and French. Its origins include Japanese.

Hikari comes through Japanese ひかり.

Pronunciation and spelling

In French, Hikari is pronounced /i.ka.ʁi/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 277 girls were recorded with the name Hikari between 1993 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 19 in 2018; its best national rank was #6,254 in 2021.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #7,703 in 2020 to #11,289 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #12,254 in 2015 to #11,289 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Hikari between 2023 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2023; its best national rank was #12,926 in 2023.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Hikari?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 201,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#11,289
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Hikari sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Hikari. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Hikaris were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Hikari was born before 2016 — so the typical Hikari is around 9 today.

Median birth year
2016
About 9 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
39.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
89.2%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
277
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 39.7% of all recorded uses (110).

Is Hikari rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−4,240
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−3,586
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+965
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.00×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
42.1%
Peak was 2018 (19)
Years since peak
7
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
34.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#6,254
2021

Spellings of Hikari

Hikari is not the most common spelling — Kari is, with 64.8% against Hikari's 0.30%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Hikari is used

Across 1910–2025, Hikari was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 667,199 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Hikari has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Hikari around the world

Where Hikari ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • South Australia
    2006–2012
    #871
    in 2012

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Hikari by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#11,289
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,586
Best rank ever
#6,254
2021
Peak year
2018
19 that year
First recorded
1993
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
277
Count in 2025
8

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#12,926
2023
Peak year
2023
5 that year
First recorded
2023
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Hikari

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

DemariMayariSahariZahariKeyariZakariJakariSanariNamariTemariTahariMakariLamariKymariYamariSafariDakariZacariMahariHikmaJohariKanariAhmariKayari

Sibling names for Hikari

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Hikari

Top names of 2018, Hikari's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2021Girls' names starting with HJapanese Girl Names