Asoka

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Ashok in IN India, US United States, GB United Kingdom and 23 more, อโศก in TH Thailand and Ашок in RU Russia.

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

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Asoka is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name418 records spelled Asoka4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Sri Lanka, United States

  Also written Aśoka, Asōka, Asōkā

• Romanian given name47 records spelled Asoka2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India

  Also written Ashoka

• Nepali given name43 records spelled Asoka2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India

  Also written Aśoka

• Polish given name39 records spelled Asoka2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Poland

  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.

Other recorded senses●

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.

Notable people with this name●

• 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).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 38 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Asoka?

We estimate roughly 5.9 thousand people bear Asoka (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Asoka have the most bearers?

Asoka is most frequently recorded in India, where it is most often spelled ashok.

How common is Asoka compared with other names?

In India, Asoka is the 18th most common given name of 4,777,337 given names recorded there.

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.).