Akira

“Meaning varies by kanji chosen; common ones include bright, light, wisdom” — Japanese origin

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

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. About 83% of babies named Akira in recent years have been girls.

Around the world: about 1 in 7,200 boys in Switzerland (2024) · about 1 in 16,000 boys in Canada (2024).

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

Famous Akiras

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

In stories & tradition

Akira Fudo — Devilman
Akira Yuki — Virtua Fighter · Virtua Fighter 2
Akira Nishikiyama — Yakuza · Yakuza 0

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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