Kiko - Name Meaning and Popularity -

Meaning of Kiko

Kiko, a succinct unisex name bearing both Japanese and Iberian heritage, derives in its Japanese usage from the kanji pair 喜 (ki, “joy”) and 子 (ko, “child”), while in Latin-inflected cultures it functions as an affectionate diminutive of Francisco or Enrique. Pronounced KEE-koh (/ˈkiːkoʊ/) across English and Japanese, it exemplifies a rare linguistic bridge between Eastern syllabaries and Western diminutivizing traditions. In the United States, Kiko’s trajectory reveals an early resonance in the 1980s—achieving a national rank of 678 in 1980—followed by a period of relative obscurity and a modest resurgence since 2015, during which annual occurrences have fluctuated between five and twenty-two newborns, corresponding to rankings in the low 900s. This statistical pattern, akin to a gentle undulation, underscores the name’s capacity to appeal to parents seeking both gender neutrality and a cross-cultural echo, embedding in its concise phonetic form the promise of vivacity and global interconnectedness.