Kou

A unisex name with no widely documented etymology — one syllable, given to 5 babies a year in the US.

Babies a year
5
the US, 2017
Rarity
Very rare
among names in use
US popularity
—
outside the top 1000
UK popularity
—
outside the ONS list

Kou by the numbers

Kou was given to 5 American babies in 2017, the most recent full year we hold.

Its American peak was 48 babies in 1992, so it is a 1990s name that has since fallen a long way.

What we can tell you about Kou

Not every name has a meaning to trace. Plenty are coined rather than inherited — invented outright, blended from two names, or respelled from an older one — and where we cannot find an etymology we can stand behind, we would rather say so than make one up. What follows comes from the birth records themselves.

Spelled almost the same

Other names in the records within a letter or two of Kou. Close spellings are not always related names, but they are usually worth seeing together.

  • Koawarrior; a type of tree259 in England and Wales (2025)
  • Koia type of ornamental carp fish51 in the US (2017)
  • Koy27 in the US (2017)

Sounds like Kou

Names that are said the same way as Kou, however they are written. Sounding alike does not mean they share a history.

  • Coyquiet; modest; still waters142 in the US (2017)
  • Khoi5 in England and Wales (2025)
  • Coye7 in the US (2017)
  • Koh5 in the US (2017)

Names about as common as Kou

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