Neko
Neko was given to 34 boys in 2025, #3,423 among boys’ names; 1,248 Americans have been recorded with it since 1968 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,230 Americans named Neko and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (98% of everyone recorded); the median is 15 years old and half are between 8 and 23.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Neko by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Neko?
#3,423 among boys’ names, 2025
Neko rose from #3,656 in 2015 to #3,423 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 15.7 to 19.9 per million.
63 babies in 2021, the peak
Neko peaked in 2021, when 63 babies were given it (55 boys, #2,452 among boys’ names). The 34 births of 2025 are 54% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | under 5 | 34 | #3,423 | |
| 2024 | 5 | #16,986 | 27 | #4,041 |
| 2023 | 8 | #11,894 | 33 | #3,530 |
| 2022 | under 5 | 38 | #3,197 | |
| 2021 | 8 | #11,882 | 55 | #2,452 |
| 2020 | 6 | #14,626 | 36 | #3,182 |
| 2019 | 11 | #9,568 | 26 | #4,072 |
| 2018 | 8 | #12,176 | 26 | #4,073 |
| 2017 | 8 | #12,432 | 31 | #3,558 |
| 2016 | 13 | #8,732 | 31 | #3,582 |
Every recorded year (47)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 11 | #9,956 | 30 | #3,656 |
| 2014 | 14 | #8,370 | 33 | #3,350 |
| 2013 | 11 | #10,057 | 38 | #2,982 |
| 2012 | 10 | #11,027 | 49 | #2,540 |
| 2011 | 12 | #9,564 | 28 | #3,757 |
| 2010 | 18 | #7,134 | 35 | #3,221 |
| 2009 | 19 | #6,996 | 38 | #3,087 |
| 2008 | 11 | #10,593 | 28 | #3,800 |
| 2007 | 10 | #11,404 | 35 | #3,224 |
| 2006 | 9 | #12,137 | 21 | #4,459 |
| 2005 | 5 | #18,388 | 16 | #5,201 |
| 2004 | 6 | #15,526 | 21 | #4,212 |
| 2003 | under 5 | 19 | #4,376 | |
| 2002 | under 5 | 28 | #3,235 | |
| 2001 | under 5 | 16 | #4,826 | |
| 2000 | under 5 | 23 | #3,601 | |
| 1999 | under 5 | 13 | #5,236 | |
| 1998 | under 5 | 18 | #3,957 | |
| 1997 | under 5 | 13 | #4,860 | |
| 1996 | under 5 | 8 | #6,922 | |
| 1995 | under 5 | 14 | #4,434 | |
| 1994 | under 5 | 15 | #4,220 | |
| 1993 | under 5 | 14 | #4,379 | |
| 1992 | under 5 | 29 | #2,509 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 20 | #3,187 | |
| 1990 | under 5 | 18 | #3,409 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 13 | #4,198 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 20 | #2,819 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 6 | #6,012 | |
| 1980 | 6 | #9,947 | under 5 | |
| 1976 | 10 | #5,895 | under 5 | |
| 1974 | 5 | #9,731 | under 5 | |
| 1973 | 5 | #9,327 | under 5 | |
| 1972 | 6 | #7,929 | under 5 | |
| 1970 | 6 | #7,689 | under 5 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 5 | #4,821 | |
| 1968 | 6 | #6,772 | under 5 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Neko a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,248 Americans recorded as Neko, 20% are girls and 80% boys. In 2025 it went to 34 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Neko: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Neko, and how old are they?
1,230 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 98% of the 1,248 Americans ever recorded as Neko. The median Neko alive today is 15 years old; half are between 8 and 23.
The 2020 Census counted 930 people named Neko (260 women and girls, 670 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 994 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 45 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 150 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 494 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 537 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 2,916 babies since 1880, Neko is the most given (43% of them). In 2025 it was given to 34 of their 136 babies (25%), the second most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Neko
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Neko and names like it
- Compare Neko and NeikoBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sNeko peaked in 2021.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Neko since 1910.
- The top names of 2021The year the most babies were named Neko.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Neko alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with NMost given first.