Kao
#9,300 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' nameMeaning not yet documented
Kao has been given to 719 babies in the U.S. since 1980. In 2025 it ranked #9,300 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1981, with 40 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 66% boys, 34% girls all-time.
Babies named Kao, 2025
1 in 414,000
Kao over time, 1880–2025
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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.
Girls or boys — Kao over time
In 2025, Kao went to 0% girls and 100% boys.
A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.
How common is Kao?
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 boys only
- 1 in 213,000
- <0.01% of boys
- Rank, 2025
- #9,300
- of 13,926 boys’ names in use
- Coin-flip room size
- 287,238 kids
- Even odds of a second one
Where Kao sits on the popularity scale
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.
Put another way: gather 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kao. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.
When Kaos were born
Half of everyone ever recorded as Kao was born before 1989 — so the typical Kao is around 36 today.
- Biggest decade
- 1980s
- 50.9% of all use
- Born in the last 25 years
- 18.5%
- Spread across generations
- Recorded since 1950
- 475
- People you could plausibly meet
1980s — 50.9% of all recorded uses (242).
Is Kao 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
- —
- Not ranked then
- Rank vs 5 years ago
- +3,771
- Places climbed
- Rank vs 10 years ago
- −923
- Places dropped
- Births vs 10 years ago
- 0.89×
- Fewer babies than then
- Share of its own peak
- 20.0%
- Peak was 1981 (40)
- Years since peak
- 44
- Years
- Year-to-year steadiness
- Volatile
- 29.7% average annual change
Where Kao is used — boys
Across 1910–2025, Kao was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 98,118 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).
Most concentrated
- 1California1 in 100,000
- 2Minnesota1 in 100,000
- 3Oregon1 in 100,000
- 4Washington1 in —
Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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. Kao has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.
Where Kao is used — girls
Across 1910–2025, Kao was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 205,325 across all states with data. It was least common in California (1 in —).
Most concentrated
- 1Minnesota1 in 100,000
- 2Wisconsin1 in 100,000
- 3California1 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. Kao has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.
Kao around the world
Where Kao 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.
- France1980–1986#2,341in 1986
Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.
Kao by the numbers
The raw record for each sex the name is used for.
As a boy's name
Names similar to Kao
Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.
Sibling names for Kao
Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.