| Akari | Aiko | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Light, brightness | Child of love |
| Origin | Japanese | japanese |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | ah-KAH-ree | AH-ee-koh |
| Syllables | 3 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1990 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2023 (111) | 2023 (77) |
| In 2025 | 104 | 0 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Akari | Aiko |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 513 | 384 |
| 2010s | 386 | 301 |
| 2000s | 176 | 311 |
| 1990s | 57 | 124 |
| 1980s | 0 | 60 |
| 1970s | 0 | 45 |
| 1950s | 0 | 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 7 |
| 1930s | 0 | 108 |
| 1920s | 0 | 306 |
| 1910s | 0 | 134 |
Akari is commonly written with kanji meaning “light” or “brightness.”
A Japanese name most commonly written 愛子, from ai 'love, affection' and ko 'child' — 'child of love, beloved child'. Meaning depends on the kanji chosen, but the 愛 (love) spelling is the standard one.
Akari is more popular than Aiko today: about 104 US babies were given the name Akari in 2025, compared with 0 named Aiko.
Akari means Light, brightness (Japanese origin), while Aiko means Child of love (japanese origin).
In US records, Akari first appears in 1990 and Aiko in 0, so Aiko has the longer recorded history.