Mitsuko

Girls' name

Japanese name; meaning depends on kanji

Mitsuko has been given to 565 babies in the U.S. since 1911. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1919, with 48 recorded.

Babies named Mitsuko, 1981

1 in 692,000

Mitsuko over time, 1880–2025

Girls

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Mitsuko: meaning, origin, and history

Japanese name; meaning depends on kanji

Japanese

What Mitsuko means

Mitsuko is documented with more than one possible Japanese character combination. The Latin-letter spelling records a pronunciation; it does not specify one unique kanji spelling or one universal meaning.

Possible character meanings include light, child.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Mitsuko is used in Japanese.

Another recorded pronunciation is /mi.t͡sɨᵝ.ko̞/ and /mit͡s.ko̞/ for Mitsuko.

Origin, language, and formation

Mitsuko is used in English. Its origins include Japanese.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 565 girls were recorded with the name Mitsuko between 1911 and 1981. Its highest annual count was 48 in 1919; its best national rank was #1,050 in 1919.

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 Mitsuko?

Mitsuko had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1981, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1981: 1 in 692,000; 5 of 3,459,130 births
Among girls only: 1 in 334,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 1981: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 479,538 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Mitsuko 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 1981 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 479,538 children born in 1981 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Mitsuko. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Mitsukos were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Mitsuko was born before 1922 — so the typical Mitsuko is around 103 today.

Median birth year: 1922; About 103 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 53.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 0.88%; Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950: 5; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 53.1% of all recorded uses (300).

Is Mitsuko 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: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1919 (48)
Years since peak: 106; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 22.8% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,050; 1919

Where Mitsuko is used

Across 1910–2025, Mitsuko was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 1,449 girls, against 1 in 35,202 across all states with data. It was least common in California (1 in 100,000).

169 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Hawaii1 in 1,449
2California1 in 100,000

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. Mitsuko has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Mitsuko by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #1,050; 1919
Peak year: 1919; 48 that year
First recorded: 1911
Last recorded: 1981
All-time count: 565
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Mitsuko

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

Mithra Mitra Mitsuki Mitzy Mithila Mitsue Shizuko Mitchell Mitchelle Mitsuye Setsuko Mitzie Haruko Hatsuko Nezuko Mitali Teruko Kazuko Tsuruko Nobuko Chizuko Mitsy Natsuko Yasuko

Sibling names for Mitsuko

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

For a sister

Lovie Hortense Lue Theda Rubye Winnifred Johnie Norine

For a brother

Casimir Edd Ora Verne Haywood Buck Wilber Dee

Explore around Mitsuko

Top names of 1919, Mitsuko's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1919 Girls' names starting with M Japanese Names