Kou
given name · Latin script
Meaning, in Japanese: Rōmaji transcription of こう
Recorded for both men and women· direction only, no split published
/koʊ/(machine-generated) pronunciation, model-generated
Kou is a given name written in the Latin script, with more bearers in China than in any other country.
- USUnited States1 in 188K(measured from records)
- AGAntigua & Barbuda≈1 in 6K
- TNTunisia≈1 in 26K
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- China (inferred from the name graph)
- Sources
- 215 (measured from records)
- ≈1 in 6.0K (inferred from the name graph)
≈9,300 people, est.
Highest-authority source
Antigua & Barbuda, est.
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Meaning & origin(measured from records)
nonstandard spelling of kōu
Sources 1
- kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.
How Kou is read(measured from records)
Kou is one spelling over 3 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.
- English44%
No dictionary in our sources glosses Kou in English.
- Japanese32%
Rōmaji transcription of こう
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
- Chinese9.0%
nonstandard spelling of kōu
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.
Where in the world(measured from records)
Kou counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN China | — | ≈9,300 est. | ≈1 in 150K | — | Kou | 37 |
| US United States | — | 1,774 | 1 in 188K | 1.5K | Kou | 215 |
| TN Tunisia | — | ≈450 est. | ≈1 in 26K | — | Kou | 5 |
| MY Malaysia | — | ≈260 est. | ≈1 in 125K | — | Kou | 26 |
| GB United Kingdom | — | ≈150 est. | ≈1 in 426K | — | Kou | 47 |
| TG Togo | — | ≈150 est. | ≈1 in 59K | 2 | — | 1 |
| AG Antigua & Barbuda | #130 | ≈16 est. | ≈1 in 6K | — | Kou | 1 |
Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex; Journal Officiel — Liste definitive des candidats (legislatives 2024). Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses(measured from records)
Kou is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
In Akan, the noise of a bottle or pot full of liquor set up. e-kon: nek. aaeii,+ he is stiff- necked; oseh ne k., he hardens his neck. Pr.29,1.- k6n-akyl: wokura yehk. kayen ko, by our necks are we driven. La. 5^5
as a wordDictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)
In mna, lime powder made by heating up pieces of coral; it is chewed together with betel nut and betel pepper fruits or leaves
as a wordAustronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0
In Hawaiian, your second person singular, o-type
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
In Luxembourgish, cow (female bovine animal)
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name(measured from records)
- Kō Nishimurab. 1923JPnot in their usual nameJapanese actor (1923-1997)
- Kō Nakahirab. 1926JPnot in their usual nameJapanese film director (1926–1978)
- Kojima Kōb. 1928JPnot in their usual nameJapanese manga artist (1928-2015)
- Kō Kitayamab. 1950JPnot in their usual nameJapanese architect
- Kō Ōtanib. 1957JPnot in their usual nameJapanese composer (born 1957)
- Kō Nakatab. 1960JPnot in their usual nameIslamic law scholar
- Kō Machidab. 1962JPnot in their usual nameJapanese writer, musician, and actor (born 1962)
- Ko Matsushitab. 1962JPnot in their usual nameConductor and composer
- Kou Shibasakib. 1981JPJapanese actor and singer
- Kō Itakurab. 1997JPnot in their usual nameJapanese footballer (born 1997)
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
How to address them(machine-generated)
A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.
Evidence(measured from records)
Attested in 36 sources across 23 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex | 2020 | 1.5K | #8,213 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex | 2020 | 281 | #8,213 |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1992 | 48 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1989 | 43 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1991 | 41 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1990 | 41 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1988 | 38 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1987 | 37 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1981 | 34 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1993 | 33 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1984 | 32 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1982 | 31 | — |
Reference works 5
- Dictionary of American Family Names
- The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
- Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
- Wikipedia surname tokens
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the name Kou mean?
- In Japanese, Rōmaji transcription of こう
- Where does the name Kou come from?
- nonstandard spelling of kōu Recorded by kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations).
- Is Kou a male or female name?
- Kou is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.
- How do you pronounce Kou?
- A machine transcription gives /koʊ/ (IPA) for English.
- In which country does Kou have the most bearers?
- Mondonomo estimates about 9.3 thousand people named Kou in China, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled kou.
- How common is the name Kou?
- In the United States, the national register counted 1,774 people named Kou in 2020, about 1 in 188 thousand residents.
- How common is Kou compared with other names?
- In Antigua & Barbuda, Kou is the 130th most common given name of 3,327 given names recorded there.
What do you want to know about Kou?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/kouThe payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. It takes a free API key (1,000 requests a day), which returns what this page shows everyone; the full country table, every register citation and the year-by-year series come with a licensed key, as does bulk access.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Kou” — the 130th most common given name in Antigua & Barbuda. Data snapshot 2026-10-10.