Asoka

Locally spelled Ashok in IN India, US United States, MY Malaysia and 4 more.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 13 languages in the etymology graph.

Asoka is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate name4 spellings in the group

  Also written Asōkā, Asōka, Aśoka

• French given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, India

  Also written Aśoka, Ashoka, Asôka

• Romanian name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Ashoka

• Nepali given name2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India

  Also written Aśoka

• Polish given name2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India

  Also written Ashoka

18 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Asoka is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In pi, A brahmin in Kassapa Buddha's time; he provided eight meals daily for monks and gave their distribution to Bīraṇī (q.v.) (J.i.41; Bu.xx.128).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

• In pi, An attendant of Vipassī Buddha who once fell ill and was cured by Tikicchaka (Tekicchakānī) Thera in a later life (Ap.i.190; ThagA.i.442).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

• In pi, Maurya king Asoka, patron of the Third Council and Buddhist missions; sent Mahinda and Saṅghamittā to Lankā (Mhv.xx.1; Mhv.xvii.110ff.).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

• In pi, Chief disciple of the future Buddha Metteyya; identified with Duṭṭhagāmaṇī in Mahāvaṃsa (Anāgatavaṃsa v.97; xxxii.81).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

• In pi, King of Magadha, son of Bindusāra, Mauryan ruler of Pātaliputta. Dpv.; Mhv. v.20; Mhv. v.189; Sp. 35ff.

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

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.

• Asoka Bandarageb. 1950SLAmerican sociologist

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).

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.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Where does the name Asoka come from?

Aśoka, the great Mauryan king; later called Dhammāsoka and Piyadassī in the chronicles (Dīpavaṃsa, Mhv.). Also linked with Mahinda's mission to Ceylon. Recorded by Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh).

Is Asoka a male or female name?

Asoka is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Asoka mean?

Recorded meaning: Aśoka, the great Mauryan king; later called Dhammāsoka and Piyadassī in the chronicles (Dīpavaṃsa, Mhv.).

In which country does Asoka have the most bearers?

Mondonomo estimates about 17 thousand people named Ashok in Bangladesh, more than in any other country we hold.

How common is the name Asoka?

In the United States, the national register counted 5,310 people named Ashok in 2020, about 1 in 63 thousand residents.

How common is Asoka compared with other names?

In Bangladesh, Asoka is the 804th most common given name of 29,323 given names recorded there.