Kao
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- KOW
- US rank, 2025
- #8,906 for boys
Kao is a boys' name. In 2025 it ranked 8,906th for boys in the US (8 babies).
Is Kao a girl's or a boy's name?
Kao is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 8 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Kao in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #8,906among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 8about 1 in 210,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to calltoo few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 8 boys in the US were named Kao, making it the 8,906th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 12,016th. Its busiest year was 1981, with 40 boys. It first appears in the records in 1980.
2025 had more boys named Kao than any year since 2019.
Half of all the boys named Kao in the US since 1880 were born between 1983 and 1995, the years shaded on the chart below.
Girls were 28% of the babies named Kao in the US in 1980, and 50% in 1995.
Kao in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8 | #8,906 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 5 | #12,232 |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 5 | #12,016 |
| 2019 | 10 | #7,638 |
| 2018 | 9 | #8,150 |
| 2017 | 8 | #8,835 |
| 2016 | 5 | #12,180 |
| 2015 | 9 | #8,035 |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | 7 | #9,703 |
| 2011 | 6 | #10,801 |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 0 | – |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 6 | #10,915 |
| 2006 | 5 | #12,048 |
| 2005 | 0 | – |
| 2004 | 5 | #11,348 |
| 2003 | 0 | – |
| 2002 | 0 | – |
| 2001 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 0 | – |
| 1998 | 8 | #6,837 |
| 1997 | 8 | #6,612 |
| 1996 | 10 | #5,528 |
| 1995 | 15 | #4,046 |
| 1994 | 18 | #3,590 |
| 1993 | 17 | #3,655 |
| 1992 | 32 | #2,298 |
| 1991 | 18 | #3,319 |
| 1990 | 19 | #3,160 |
| 1989 | 25 | #2,539 |
| 1988 | 20 | #2,760 |
| 1987 | 22 | #2,464 |
| 1986 | 18 | #2,776 |
| 1985 | 14 | #3,213 |
| 1984 | 22 | #2,291 |
| 1983 | 30 | #1,821 |
| 1982 | 28 | #1,928 |
| 1981 | 40 | #1,519 |
| 1980 | 23 | #2,213 |
Names like Kao
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Minh Yuri Mikko Yug Ryo Tru Dakota Khoi Zuko Ryu Kota Yitzchok
Names related to Kao
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Kao: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kao, updated 20 October 2026.