Osamu

Boys' name

To control, through おさむ

Osamu has been given to 94 babies in the U.S. since 1920. 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 1925, with 11 recorded.

Babies named Osamu, 1997

1 in 725,000

Osamu over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Osamu: meaning, origin, and history

To control, through おさむ

Japanese

What Osamu means

Osamu belongs to the name family reached through Osamu → おさむ. Its meaning is “to control”.

Origin, language, and formation

Osamu is used in English, Czech and Tagalog. Its origins include Japanese.

Osamu comes through Japanese おさむ.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include おさむ.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Czech, Osamu is pronounced [ˈosamu].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 94 boys were recorded with the name Osamu between 1920 and 1997. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1925; its best national rank was #2,705 in 1925.

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 Osamu?

Osamu had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1997, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1997: 1 in 725,000; 5 of 3,624,676 births
Among boys only: 1 in 377,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1997: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 502,488 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Osamu sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1997 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 502,488 children born in 1997 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Osamu. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Osamus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Osamu was born before 1928 — so the typical Osamu is around 97 today.

Median birth year: 1928; About 97 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 61.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 10.6%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 15; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 61.7% of all recorded uses (58).

Is Osamu 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 1925 (11)
Years since peak: 100; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 34.7% average annual change
Best rank ever: #2,705; 1925

Spellings of Osamu

Osamu is not the most common spelling — Sam is, with 92.2% against Osamu's 0.07%.

Sam92.2%127,234
Sami3.8%5,303
Esau2.2%2,976
Osama0.71%979
Samy0.65%895
Isamu0.41%562
Osamu0.07%94

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 Osamu is used

Across 1910–2025, Osamu was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 692,270 across all states with data. It was least common in California (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Hawaii1 in 100,000
2California1 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. Osamu has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Osamu by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #2,705; 1925
Peak year: 1925; 11 that year
First recorded: 1920
Last recorded: 1997
All-time count: 94
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Osamu

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

Osayd Osaze Osaid Osamah Osama Ajamu Osa Osagie Osahon Osaro Damu Isamu Sadamu Osaiah Osai Imamu Osaretin Viliamu Tamu

Sibling names for Osamu

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

Concepcion Easter Gene Rosina Kattie Lavon Blanch Jaunita

For a brother

Domenick Hosea Rollin Alvis Jewel Eldridge Lenard Merritt

Explore around Osamu

Top names of 1925, Osamu's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1925 Boys' names starting with O