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Japanese Female and Male Names Guide

Over the years Suki Desu has written several articles on Japanese names. These articles were the ones that generated the most visits to the site. In order to simplify the search for names, I decided to make a very complete guide of male and female Japanese names.

This Japanese Names Guide will be constantly updated with new facts, information and articles related to Japanese Names. Thank you in advance and I ask in advance for your sharing and comment.

The article is quite extensive and explains everything about Japanese names in detail. If you're just interested in seeing a list of meaningful names, the table of contents below will help you jump straight to that part:

How do Japanese names work?

Generally, a Japanese name is made up of the first name and last name. Both are written using Kanji, Japanese characters of Chinese origin. Each ideogram has a meaning, which enriches the meanings of Japanese names.

The Japanese usually refer to strangers by their surname, followed by a suffix of respect. Only when there is a certain intimacy do people call each other by their first name, or personal name. The full name may be used in certain situations.

The Japanese name can also be written using Hiragana. The full name is called jinmei [人名]. In formal writing and documents, it is common to write the family surname first and then the personal name or first name.

Japanese names usually have more than one meaning thanks to homonyms that are common in Japanese words. Some may have meaning of fruits, colors, numbers, but their writing has a different meaning.

There is a pattern in the choice of Japanese names. There is even a specific reading to be used for the ideograms that make up the name. You cannot just pick any ideogram and use its leitura ON e KUN to form a name.

If you want to know more about how Japanese names work and how they are chosen, see the article below:

Guide of Japanese female and male names
What is your name?

The Writing of Japanese Names

As already mentioned, the names are written in Ideograms of Chinese origin, but they can also be written in Hiragana depending on the situation. For those who don't know, the Japanese language is composed of 3 scripts, Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.

These 3 scripts coexist in the language, used for different purposes. Hiragana is the standard script, kanji is used to distinguish homophones, like a written sign language, while katakana is used to write Japanese words.

A single word can mix kanji and hiragana ideograms, like Japanese verbs that are usually written in kanji and have a hiragana ending [to eat = 食べる]. Foreign names are written in Katakana.

For example, my name is Kevin, so I have to write something like Kebin [ケビン], but if I wish, I can also choose Japanese ideograms with similar readings to form my name using ideograms. A complicated but fun task.

The article below will help you understand more about the writing and speaking of Japanese names:

Guide of Japanese female and male names
Stamp and Signature Seal

Transcribe your name to Katakana

The tool below allows you to type your name and see it written in Katakana:

The tool is not perfect! If your name ends with a consonant, do not write the consonant. If your name has any letter that has a long vowel, write the vowel 2 times. Example: If your name is Sarah write Saara. If your name has syllables with "C", think about replacing it with "K".

Guide of Japanese female and male names
Article cover!

Discovering the Meaning of a Japanese Name

The first article we will summarize and highlight in this Japanese names guide is How to discover the meaning of Japanese names. We made a video that summarizes this entire article, we will leave it below:

Some people are curious to know the meaning of a certain name in japonês. If it has the ideograms that make up this name, just throw it into jisho.org. This dictionary shows the meaning of each ideogram that composes the name in question.

If the person is looking for Japanese names with a specific meaning, they can do the reverse process, using the English word on the jisho.org dictionary; Then they should take the ideogram and search on jisho using the hashtag #names.

I won't go into the subject further because we already have the article and the video in question. With these instructions you will be able to decipher meanings, create any name, discover its writing and meaning. Can we proceed with the Guide?

Japanese surnames and their meanings

Back in Japan, people didn't have last names. So, to differentiate some people from others, the Japanese used to refer to the person who lived in a certain place. That's how Japanese surnames came about.

You can see in detail the origem dos sobrenomes japoneses em nosso artigo. In summary, Japanese surnames refer to descriptions of where families lived. Such as foot of the mountain, rice field, wide bridge, or village.

For example, Nakamura [中村] means "in the middle of the village," many people live in villages, for this reason it became such a common surname. The same with Yamamoto which means "at the mountain" and Yamada which means "rice paddy of the mountain."

The most common surname in Japan is Satou, with over 1,928,000 people owning this surname. Satou is mainly written with the ideograms [佐藤] which together mean "field of wisteria." Nowadays, there are about 200,000 surnames in Japan.

Guide of Japanese female and male names

Honorific Treatments in Japanese Names

In addition to saying the name, in Japan we use honorifics or suffixes after the name to show respect. Similar to the Sir, Professor and others. In Japan it is uncommon to call a person only by name, these suffixes are always used.

The use of suffixes is necessary in names, because Japanese names have several homonyms. They help us to distinguish common words from the names of people in Japan. Even though the writing is different, the Japanese pronunciation is limited to 109 syllables.

There are hundreds of Japanese honorifics that you can see here. These honorifics can be used both with the first name and the surname, which is usually more common in formal conversations. Fortunately, we will summarize the main honorifics here:

San [さん] - A title of respect commonly used between equals of any age. Although the closest analogue in English is “Sr.” or "Miss". San is universally added to a person's name, in both formal and informal contexts.

Chan [ちゃん] - Diminutive suffix that expresses trust, affinity, or security with the person. In general, chan is informal, used for babies, children, grandparents and teenagers. Chan is most often used to refer to young women.

Kun [君] – This is an informal suffix used between friends, a colleague, a brother or a younger boyIt is commonly used in the relationship "superior speaking to an inferior" to refer to the inferior.

Sama [さま] - It is a significantly more respectful and formal version of the san. It is mainly used to refer to people who are much higher in the hierarchy, and sometimes to someone you idolize or ire greatly.

Guide of Japanese female and male names
A very popular suffix is Senpai and Kouhai!

How to know if a Japanese name is feminine or masculine?

In the West we can differentiate between a masculine and feminine name by their endings, but in Japanese it is more complicated, as we constantly see feminine names ending in “O” and masculine names ending in “A”. How to differentiate gender in Japanese names?

Many Japanese names can be considered Unisex, but some names are considered feminine and masculine by the way they are written, ideograms used and also by their endings. See some examples below:

Generally feminine names end or have the following ideograms and phonemes:

  • ko [子]
  • mi [美]
  • ka [花・華]
  • e [江・恵]
  • na 奈・[菜]
  • no [乃]
  • laughs [里]
  • oh [愛]
  • sa [幸]

Usually masculine names end in or have the following ideograms and phonemes:

  • [郎]
  • ta [太]
  • suke [介・助・祐]
  • o [男・夫・雄・生]
  • ya [哉・也]
  • [吉]
  • hiko [彦]
  • nobu [信]

Usually Japanese female names use cute ideograms like child, flowers, beauty and others. There may be exceptions and we find male names with such ideograms. If a first name has more than three syllables, it is almost always a masculine name.

If you are unsure whether a name is feminine or masculine, just type the name in romaji or kanji into Google Images and you will see people. We recommend enabling safe search to avoid inappropriate images. You can check the gender of a name at jisho.org

Lists of Japanese Names and their Meanings

Now it's time to share a complete list of all the name articles on the site:

Other Japanese Name Articles

Some articles have slightly different themes, we will list them below:

Chinese names and Korean names

Suki Desu is also focused on other Asian countries, so we also write articles on Korean names and Chinese names. In order to help your search, we will leave these articles below:

Learn Words Article Names

We also have another site focused on words, and there we share several lists of names. As a bonus, I'll let some of the articles on this site Learn Words. Hope you enjoyed this Japanese name guide! If you liked it share!

Japanese female names with meanings

Rōmaji HIRAGANA KANJI MEANINGS
AI あい Love 愛(ai) = Love
Akemi あけみ 明美/朱美 The Kanji 美(mi) Means Beauty, beautiful / The kanji 明(Ake) Means resplendent, illuminate, shine. The kanji 朱(Ake), another way of writing this name, means something red, scarlet.
Sawako さわこ 爽子 爽 (Sawa) Means refreshing, invigorating, clear, happy.子 (Ko) means Child
Yuuki ゆうき 優希悠生 優 (Yuu) "gentleness, superiority" or 悠(Yuu) "distant, leisurely" combined with 希(Ki) "hope", trade (Ki) "Radiant" or 生(Ki) "Life".
Akiko あきこ 晶,明,秋 + 子 The kanji have the meanings: 晶 (Aki) "spark", 明 (Aki) "bright" or "Autumn" from: 秋 (Aki) combined with 子 (ko) "child".
Aimi あいみ 愛美 愛 (ai) "love, affection" and 美 (mi) "beautiful".
Akane あかね 赤根 Akane means dark red, 赤(aka, red) "ne" can mean many things the kanji 根 means root, perseverance.
Airi あいり Love 愛 (ai) "love, affection" combined with 莉 (ri) "jasmine" or 梨 (ri) "pear".
Autumn autumn 晶, 明, 秋, 亜希 晶 "spark", 明 "bright" or: 秋 "Autumn". It can also come from 亜 (a) "second, Asia" combined with 希 (Ki) "hope".
Akiko あきこ Like Aki, + 子 meaning child.
Ami あみ 亜美 亜 (a) "second, Asia" and 美 (mi) "beautiful".
Ayane あやね 彩音, 綾音, 絢音 彩 (Aya) "color", 綾 (Aya) "design" or 絢 (Aya) "kimono design" combined with 音 (ne) "sound".
Chika[ko] ちかこ 千香子 Chika or Chikako: 千 (Chi), "thousand", 智 (Chi) "wisdom, intellect" or 散 (Chi), "dispersion", 香 (ka) "the scent of perfume" and 子 (ko) "child"
Emi えみ 恵,絵+美 恵(e) "blessing, favor" or 絵(e) "imagine" combined with 美(mi) "beautiful".
Hana[ko] はなこ 花子 花 (hana) "flower" and 子 (ko) "child".
Haruka はるか 遥, 春花, 晴香' 遥 "far, distant". It can also come from 春 (Haru) "Spring" or 晴 (Haru) "enlighten" combined with 花(ka) "flower" or 香 (ka) "smell, perfume".
Hitomi ひとみ 瞳"pupil of the eye". It can also come from 智 (hito) "wisdom, intellect" and 美 (mi) "beautiful". This name is often written in hiragana.
Star ほし star It means star.
Keiko けいこ 慶子, 敬子, 啓子' 慶 (kei) "celebrate", 敬 (kei) "respect" or "open" to 啓 (kei) combined with 子 (ko) "child".
Misaki みさき 美咲 美 (mi) "beautiful" and 咲 (saki) "flower".
Mizuki みずき 美月, 瑞希 美(mi) "beautiful" and 月 (zuki) "moon". It can also come from 瑞 (mizu) "Congratulations" and 希 (Ki) "hope".
Naoko なおこ 直子 直 (nao) "honest, straight" and 子 (ko) "child".
Satomi さとみ 里 (sato) "Village" or "sage" from 聡 (sato) combined with 美 (mi) "beautiful".

List of Japanese female names with Kanji

Japanese name Ideograms
AI 藍;愛
AIKO 愛子
AIMI 愛美
AKANE
AKEMI 明美
AUTUMN 1-秋, 2-明, 3-晶
ASAMI 麻美
ASUKA 明日香
ATSUKO 1-篤子, 2-温子
AYA 1-彩, 2-綾
AYAKO 1-彩子, 2-綾子
AYAME 菖蒲
AYANO 1-彩乃, 2-綾乃
CHIE
CHIEKO 恵子
CHIHARU 千春
CHIKA 散花
CHINATSU 千夏
CHIYO 千代
CHIYOKO 千代子
CHOU Butterfly
EIKO 栄子
EMI 1-恵美, 2-絵美
EMIKO 1-恵美子, 2-笑子
ERI 絵理
ETSUKO 悦子
FUJI Wealth
HANA flower
SPRING 1-晴, 2-春, 3-陽
HARUKA 遙, 遥, 悠, 遼
HARUKI 春樹
HARUMI 春美
HIDEKO 秀子
LIGHT Light
HIKARU
HIRO 1-裕, 2-寛, 3-浩
HIROMI 1-裕美, 2-浩美, 3-寛美
HISOKA
HITOMI Eye
HOTARU
IZUMI Spring
JUNE Order
JUNKO 1-順子, 2-純子
KAEDE
KAMEKO 上子
KAMIKO 上子
KAORI 香織
KAORU
KASUMI
KATSUMI 勝美
KAZUE 一恵
KAZUKO 1-和子, 2-一子
KAZUMI 和美
KEI 1-恵, 2-慶, 3-桂, 4-敬, 5-啓, 6-圭, 7-景
KIKU
KIMI you
KIYOKO 清子
KIYOMI 清見
KO 1-幸, 2-光, 3-康
KOHAKU 琥珀
KOTONE 琴音
KOU 1-幸, 2-光, 3-康
KUMIKO 久美子
KYO 1-杏, 2- 京, 3- 協, 4- 郷
TODAY 1-杏, 2- 京, 3- 協, 4- 郷
MAI
MAKI 1-真紀, 2-真希, 3-真貴, 4-真樹
MAKOTO sincerity
MANA Love
MARIKO 真里子
MASA 1-正, 2-雅, 3-昌, 4-真, 5-政, 6-将
MASAMI 雅美
MASUMI 真澄
MASUYO 益世
MAYUMI 麻弓
MEGUMI
MI beauty
PATH Path
MICHIKO 美智子
MIDORI green
MIEKO 美枝子
MIHO 1-美保, 2-美帆
MIKI 1-美紀, 2-美姫, 3-美樹, 4-美貴
MINAKO 美奈子
MINOR village
MISAKI 美咲
MITSUKO 光子
MITSURU
MIWA 1-美和, 2-美輪, 3-三和, 4-三輪
MIYAKO 美夜子
MIYOKO 美代子
MIYUKI 1-美幸, 2-美雪, 3-深雪
MIZUKI 美月
MOE
MOMO モモ
MOMOE 百恵
MOMOKO 桃子
MORIKO 森子
NAOKI 直樹
NAOKO 1-直子, 2-尚子
NAOMI 直美
NATSUMI 夏美
NOBUKO 信子
NORI 1-儀, 2-典, 3-則, 4-法
NORIKO 法子 or 典子
REI 1-鈴, 2-零, 3-麗, 4-霊
REIKO 麗子
REN Lotus
RIE 理恵
RIKA Spring
RIN
RYOKO 1-亮子, 2-涼子
SACHIKO 幸子
SAKI
SAKIKO 咲子
CHERRY BLOSSOM Cherry Blossom
SANGO さんご
SAYURI 小百合
SETSUKO 節子
SHIGEKO 成子
DEER 鹿
SHINJU pearl
SHIORI 詩織
SHIZUKA 静香
SHIZUKO 静子
SORA Sky
SUMIKO 澄子
SUSUMU
SUZU bell
SUZUME
TAKAKO 1-隆子, 2-孝子, 3-貴子, 4-敬子
TREASURE Treasure
TAMIKO 民子
TERUKO 照子
TOMIKO 美子
TOMOKO 1-友子, 2-知子, 3-智子
TOSHIKO 敏子
TSUKIKO 月子
PLUM plum
UMEKO 梅子
RABBIT Rabbit
YASU ヤス
YASUKO 康子
YOKO 1-洋子, 2-陽子
YOSHI 1-義, 2-吉, 3-良
YOSHIE 1-佳江, 2-由栄, 3-淑恵, 4-好恵
YOSHIKO 1-好子, 2-芳子, 3-良子
YUKA 1-由佳, 2-佑香
YUKI 1-幸, 2-雪
YUKIKO 由希子
YUKO 1-優子, 2-裕子, 3-祐子
YUMI 由美
YUMIKO 由美子
YURIKO 百合子

Japanese male names with meanings

Rōmaji HIRAGANA KANJI MEANINGS
Ichigo いちご 一護 Although the word Ichigo literally means strawberry, the Kanji 護 means to defend, protect, guard. And of course 一 Means One or First.
Akio あきお '昭夫, 昭男, 昭雄' 昭 (Aki) "bright" combined with 夫 (o) "husband, man", 男 (o) "masculine" or 雄 (o) "hero, virile".
Akira あきら 昭,明,亮 昭"brilhante",明"brilhante" ou亮"limpar".
Daisuke だいすけ 大 (Dai) "big, big" and 輔 (suke) "help".
Spring はる 陽,春,晴 陽"Sun, 春"Spring" 晴"enlighten".
Hideki ひでき 秀,英+樹 秀 (conceal) "esteem, excellence" or 英 (conceal) "excellent" combined with 樹 (Ki) "tree".
Kenta けんた 健太 健 (Ken) "healthy, strong" and 太 (ta) "thick, big".
Ryuunosuke りゅうのすけ 龍之介 龍 (Ryuu) "dragon" or 隆 (Ryuu) "noble, prosperous" combined with 之 (not) "of" and 介 (suke) "forerunner, herald".
Shin しん It means real and true, with kanji 新 It means New.
Tsubasa つばさ wing It means Wing.
Yuuki ゆうき 優希, 悠希, 優輝, 悠生 優 (Yuu) "gentleness, superiority" or 悠 (Yuu) "distant, leisurely" combined with 希 (Ki) "hope", Comercio (Ki) "radiance" or 生 (Ki) "Life".
Yuuto ゆうと 優斗, 悠斗, 悠人, 悠翔, 優翔 優 (Yuu) "gentleness, superiority" or 悠 (Yuu) "distant, leisurely" combined with 斗 (to), which refers to the constellation Ursa Major, or 人 (a) "person" or e (a) "to sound, to fly".
Yuki ゆき 幸, 雪, 由貴, 由紀 幸 "Happiness" or 雪 "Snow". It can also come from 由 (Yu) "reason", combined with 貴 (Ki) "valuable" or 紀 (Ki) "chronicle".
Yamato やまよ 山よ It refers to the ancient Yamato period of Japanese history, which lasted until the 8th century. The individual kanji are 大 "big, big" and 和 "Harmony".

List of Japanese male names with Kanji

Japanese name Ideograms
AUTUMN 1-秋, 2-明, 3-晶
AKIHIKO 明彦
AKIHIRO 大畠
AKIO 1-昭雄, 2-昭夫
AKIRA 1-明, 2- 亮
AOI 1-碧, 2- 葵
ARATA New
ATSUSHI
DAI big
DAIKI 1-大輝, 2-大貴, 3-大樹
DAISUKE 大輔
EIJI 1-永次, 2-英治, 3-英二, 4-栄治
SMOKE 文雄
GORO 五郎
GOROU 五郎
HACHIRO 八郎
BEGINNING 肇, 元
SPRING 1-晴, 2-春, 3-陽
HIDEAKI 秀明
HIDEKI 秀樹
HIDEO 英夫
HIKARU
HIRO 1-裕, 2-寛, 3-浩
HIROAKI 広朗
HIROKI 弘樹
HIROSHI 1-寛, 2-浩
HISAO 寿夫
HISASHI 久志
HISOKA
HITOSHI etc.
HOTAKA 穂高
ICHIROU Ichirō
ISAMU Courage
ISAO
IWAO
Izanagi イザナギ
JIROU 二郎
JUNE Order
JUNICHI 順一
SWEARS 十郎
KAEDE
KATASHI
KATSU win
KATSUMI 克己
KATSUO 勝雄
KATSURO 勝郎
KAZUHIKO 和彦
KAZUHIRO 一浩
KAZUKI 1-和希, 2-一輝
KAZUO 1-和夫, 2-一男
KEI 1-恵, 2-佳, 3-敬, 4-圭, 5-慧
KEIICHI 圭一
KEIJI 敬二
KEN 1-健, 2-謙, 3-研
KENSHIN 謙信
KENTA 健太
KICHIROU 吉郎
KIN
KIOSHI
KIYOSHI
KO 1-幸, 2-光, 3-康
KOHAKU 琥珀
KOICHI 光一
KOJI 光司
KOU 1-幸, 2-光, 3-康
KUNIO 國男
KUROU 九郎
KYO 1-杏, 2- 京, 3- 協, 4- 郷
MAKOTO sincerity
MAMORU
MANABU study
MASA 1-正, 2-雅, 3-昌, 4-真, 5-政, 6-将
MASAHIKO 正彦
MASAHIRO 正洋
MASAKI 昌樹
MASANORI 正則
MASAO 正男
MASARU win
MASASHI
MASATO 正人
MASAYOSHI 昌良
MASAYUKI 正幸
MASUMI 真澄
PATH Path
MICHIO 道夫
MIKIO 美樹夫
MINOR village
MINORU village
MITSUO 光子
MITSURU
NAO 1-直, 2-尚
NAOKI 直樹
NOBORU
NOBU 1-信, 2-延
NOBUO 信夫
NOBUYUKI 信行
NORI 1-儀, 2-典, 3-則, 4-法
NORIO 法男
OROCHI 大蛇
RAIDEN 雷電
ROKURO 六朗
RYO 1-亮, 2-遼, 3-諒, 4-涼
RYOTA 亮太
DRAGON
SABURO 三郎
SATORU 1-暁, 2-悟, 3-聡, 4-知, 5-覚, 6-諭, 7-了, 8-智
SATOSHI
SEIICHI 精一
SEIJI 精二
SHICHIRO 七郎
SHIGEO 重夫
SHIGERU
SHIN 1-晋, 2-信, 3-紳, 4-心, 5-慎, 6-新, 7-進, 8-真
SHINJI 真二
SHO
SHOICHI 翔一
SHOJI 翔二
SHOU
SHUICHI 修一
SHUJI 修二
SORA Sky
SUSUMU
TADAO 忠夫
TADASHI 1-忠, 2-正
TAKAHIRO 貴浩
TAKAO 孝雄
TAKASHI
TAKAYUKI 隆行
TAKEHIKO 1-雄彦, 2-岳彦
TAKEO 1-剛雄, 2-武雄
TAKESHI
TAKUMI 1-巧, 2-匠, 3-工
TAMOTSU
TARO 太郎
TATSUYA 竜也
TERUO 輝男
TETSUO 1-哲雄, 2-哲夫
TETSUYA 哲哉
TORU
TOSHI
TOSHIO 俊夫
TOSHIYUKI 敏幸
TSUNEO 恒雄, 恒夫
TSUTOMU
TSUYOSHI
YASUHIRO 1-泰裕, 2-泰弘, 3-恭弘, 4-泰博
YASUO 康夫
YASUSHI
YOICHI 1-妖一, 2-陽一, 3-洋一, 4-与一
YOSHI 1-義, 2-吉, 3-良
YOSHIAKI 義明
YOSHIHIRO 義博, 義弘, 義博
YOSHIKAZU 1-義量, 2-良和
YOSHIO 1-誉士夫, 2-良夫
YOSHIRO 1-義郎, 2-良郎, 3-義博
YOSHITO 1-義人, 2-美人, 3-由人
YOSHIYUKI 1-義行, 2-吉行, 3-由悠季
YUICHI 1-裕一, 2-雄一
YUKI 1- 幸, 2- 雪
YUKIO 1-幸雄, 2-行雄
YUTAKA
YUU Superior
YUUDAI 雄大