Akira

Meaning: Meaning varies by kanji chosen; common ones include bright, light, wisdom
Origin: Japanese

Boy's name · #2539 in the US (2025) · Vintage

17% boys · 83% girls — About 83% of babies named Akira in recent years have been girls. Akira →

Popularity over time

Akira is an heirloom: its strongest era came around 1927, when it ranked #938. It has thinned since but never left the records — about 2,000 boys since 1913, ranked #2539 today.

Across the states

See where Akira is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 2 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Akira ranks in other countries and regions.

#1,755 in France (2025) · #1,942 in Switzerland (2025) · #2,674 in England & Wales (2025) · #1,970 in Canada (2024).

Famous Akiras

Akira Kurosawa — Japanese filmmaker (1910–1998)
Akira Toriyama — Japanese manga artist and character designer (1955–2024)
Akira Suzuki — Japanese chemist (born 1930)
Akira Yoshino — Japanese engineer and researcher (born 1948), known as an inventor of lithium-ion battery
Akira Nishino — Japanese association football player and manager

In stories & tradition

Akira Fudo — Devilman (manga)
Akira Yuki — Virtua Fighter 2 (video game)
Akira Nishikiyama — Yakuza (video game)

What Akiras become

Among 1,518 notable people named Akira:

Business leaders appear 2.65× more often than among typical names — e.g. Akira Mori, Japanese businessman.

Similar names: Kaito · Akiva · Sora · Ryu · Akai · Asai

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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