Japanese Surnames: 200+ Names, Origins, and Meanings

Most Japanese people walk around with just two names, and the family name goes first. If you grew up hearing Smith, John, that already feels backwards. The stranger part is what those family names are made of: rice fields, wells, bridges, and a wisteria that keeps showing up in Satou, Itou, and Katou.

Until the Meiji years, ordinary people were not supposed to flash a surname in public. Then everyone had to register one, and Japan became one of the countries with the most family names on Earth — even though the Japanese language has relatively few syllables.

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The History of Japanese Surnames

Not long ago, during the Meiji Era (1868–1912), commoners were not meant to use surnames in public. Nobility, artists, and clan leaders could. Warriors, doctors, monks, and merchants sometimes bought or received one. Everyone else was identified by job or place; a shopkeeper often went by the name of the shop.

How did people differentiate themselves from one another?

If in a city two people are named Souta, the one living in the mountain would end up being called Yamamoto no Souta, which literally means Souta from the foot of the mountain 山本 (base of the mountain). This is yet another reason why the surname comes before the given name.

For this reason, Japanese names and surnames tend to be simple and have common meanings that identify personality, family origin, the place they lived, their social class, and history.

The ideograms still make the picture more complex: one kanji can be read in several ways, and you can write the same sound with other characters. A single name can carry more than one meaning depending on how it is written.

Estimates put Japanese surnames somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000. Counted by kanji spelling, published lists go as high as about 291,000, which is why Japan sits among the countries with the largest number of family names.

Examples of Origins of Japanese Surnames

As mentioned, many Japanese surnames referred to specific locations or characteristics of a particular family. Here are some popular examples:

• Derived from the name of the place — Watanabe, Takahashi, Sasaki, Ishikawa, Hasegawa, Miura, Chiba;
• Derived from topography and landscape — Yamamoto, Yamada, Mori, Ikeda;
• Derived from directional or positional relation — Minami, Kita, Tatsumi;
• Derived from occupation — Hattori, Shoji, Tokairin, Inukai, Ukai, Kobun.

Myouji — Family Name in Japanese

Surnames or family names in Japanese are called myouji [名字 or 苗字], sometimes referred to as sei [姓]. Historically, sei and uji [氏] marked clan rank granted from above; myouji is the house name a family actually lives under. The full name, or seimei [姓名], is that family name plus the given name. The imperial family still has no surname.

Below are some related words that can help expand your Japanese vocabulary:

Japanese	Romaji	Meaning
同姓	dousei	Same surname
元姓	gensei	Previous, original surname
他姓	tasei	Another surname
異姓	isei	Different surname
宮号	miyagou	Imperial surname
漢姓	kansei	Chinese surname
名前	namae	First name
ラストネーム	rasutoneemu	Last name
家名	kamei	Family name, house

The Most Common Surnames in Japan

The most common surname in Japan is Satou, with around two million people. Satou is usually written 佐藤: 佐 means help or assistant, and 藤 is wisteria. That wisteria is not decoration. It is the same character as in Fujiwara, the clan that once lent the 藤 to retainers as a mark of status. Itou, Katou, Saitou, Gotou, and Endou sit in the same family of names.

The ten names below cover about a tenth of the country. The counts are estimates and move a little depending on the survey, but the order at the top is stubborn.

	Surname	Population	Kanji	Meaning
1	Satou	~2,000,000	佐藤	Help / assistant + wisteria
2	Suzuki	~1,750,000	鈴木	Bell tree
3	Takahashi	~1,450,000	高橋	Tall / high bridge
4	Tanaka	~1,350,000	田中	Middle of the rice field
5	Watanabe	~1,150,000	渡辺 / 渡邊	To cross the edge
6	Itou	~1,100,000	伊藤	Wisteria of Ise
7	Yamamoto	~1,090,000	山本	Base of the mountain
8	Nakamura	~1,070,000	中村	Inside the village
9	Kobayashi	~1,040,000	小林	Small forest
10	Katou	~870,000	加藤	Add + wisteria / wisteria of Kaga

Saitou (斉藤 / 斎藤) is still everywhere, but when the two spellings are counted separately it usually sits just outside this top ten. The first character 斎 can point to purification or to a vegetarian meal prepared for monks; 斉 is closer to “together” or “in line.” In both cases the 藤 is that same Fujiwara wisteria.

Japanese given names and surnames do not always read like a word-for-word English gloss. The characters for Takahashi can be written High (高) then Bridge (橋) and still mean a tall or long bridge. Take the literal meaning as a hint, not a contract.

Are Japanese Surnames Just Nicknames?

It is tempting to treat Japanese surnames as nicknames, because so many of them started as a label for where someone lived or what they did. That is closer to a village descriptor than to a medieval European trade name like Baker — and it is not the same as calling a friend by a cute short form.

Affectionate forms usually come from changing the given name or adding suffixes such as -san, -chan, and -kun. If you want the playful side of that habit, there is a separate walk through how Japanese nicknames are built.

List of 200 Common Surnames in Japan

Below is a compact list of 200 common Japanese surnames, in alphabetical order, with kanji and a short English sense. The same reading can have more than one spelling, and the same spelling can have more than one reading, so treat the meaning as a starting point.

Kanji	Romaji	Meaning
阿部	Abe	Pleasant group
秋山	Akiyama	Autumn Mountain
安藤	Andou	Tranquil Wisteria
青木	Aoki	Green Tree
青山	Aoyama	Blue/Green Mountain
新井 / 荒井	Arai	New well / new residence
荒木	Araki	Wild Tree
浅野 / 淺野	Asano	Shallow Plain
馬場	Baba	Horse Riding Land
千葉	Chiba	Thousand Leaves
遠藤	Endou	Distant Wisteria
藤井	Fujii	Wisteria Well
藤本	Fujimoto	Origin of Wisteria
藤田	Fujita	Wisteria Plantation
藤原	Fujiwara	Wisteria Field
福田	Fukuda	Lucky Rice Field
福井	Fukui	Good Luck Well
福島	Fukushima	Island of Good Luck
古川	Furukawa	Old River
後藤	Gotou	Behind the Wisteria
萩原	Hagiwara	Clover Plain
浜田	Hamada	Beach Rice Field
原	Hara	Field
原田	Harada	Plantation in the Field
長谷川	Hasegawa	Long river running through the valley
橋本	Hashimoto	Base/Origin of the Bridge
服部	Hattori	Alliance Clothes
早川	Hayakawa	Fast River
林	Hayashi	Forest
樋口	Higuchi	Water Spout
平井	Hirai	Calm / flat well
平野	Hirano	Flat Field
平田	Hirata	Peaceful Rice Field
広瀬 / 廣瀬	Hirose	Wide and Shallow
本田	Honda	Original Rice Field
本間	Honma	Name of a clan that ruled the province of Sado
堀	Hori	Ditch
星野	Hoshino	Field of Stars
市川	Ichikawa	City River
五十嵐	Igarashi	Fifty Storms
飯田	Iida	Cooked Rice Husk
池田	Ikeda	Plantation with Pond
今井	Imai	Current Well
井上	Inoue	Above the Well
石橋	Ishibashi	Stone Bridge
石田	Ishida	Rocky Plantation
石原	Ishihara	Rocky Plain
石井	Ishii	Stone Well
石川	Ishikawa	Rocky River
伊藤	Itou	Wisteria of Ise (city of Mie)
岩本	Iwamoto	Base of the Rock
岩崎	Iwasaki	End of the Rock
岩田	Iwata	Rocky Rice Plantation
鎌田	Kamata	Sickle Rice Field
金子	Kaneko	Fortunate Child
片山	Katayama	Single Mountain
加藤	Katou	Wisteria of Kaga (Old name of Ishikawa)
川口	Kawaguchi	River Entrance
川上	Kawakami	Above the river
川村	Kawamura	River Village
川波	Kawanami	River Wave
川崎	Kawasaki	End of the River
菊地 / 菊池	Kikuchi	Land of chrysanthemums / chrysanthemum pond
木村	Kimura	Village with Trees
木下	Kinoshita	Under the Tree
北村	Kitamura	North Village
小林	Kobayashi	Small Forest
小池	Koike	Small Pond
小島	Kojima	Small Island
小松	Komatsu	Small Pine
近藤	Kondou	Near the Wisteria
小西	Konishi	Small West
河野	Kouno (Kawano)	River with plain
小山	Koyama	Small Mountain
久保	Kubo	Uneven Land
久保田	Kubota	Rice Plantation with uneven land
工藤	Kudou	Skillful Wisteria
熊谷	Kumagai	Bear Valley
栗原	Kurihara	Chestnut Plain
黒田	Kuroda	Black Rice Field
前田	Maeda	In front of the Rice Field
丸山	Maruyama	Round Mountain
増田	Masuda	Expanded Plantation
松原	Matsubara	Pine Plain
松田	Matsuda	Rice Field with Pine
松井	Matsui	Pine Well
松本	Matsumoto	Base of the Pine
松村	Matsumura	Pine Village
松尾	Matsuo	Pine Tail
松岡	Matsuoka	Pine Hill
松下	Matsushita	Under the pine
松浦	Matsuura	Pine Bay
南	Minami	South
三浦	Miura	Three Bays
三宅	Miyake	Three Houses
宮本	Miyamoto	Origin of the Temple/Palace
宮田	Miyata	Rice Plantation of the Sanctuary
宮崎	Miyazaki	End of the Temple/Palace
水野	Mizuno	Water Field
望月	Mochizuki	Full Moon
森	Mori	Forest
森本	Morimoto	Base of the Forest
森田	Morita	Plantation in the Forest
村上	Murakami	Above the village
村田	Murata	Plantation of the Village
長井 / 永井	Nagai	Very long / forever
長田 / 永田	Nagata	Long Rice Field
内藤	Naitou	Interior Wisteria
中川	Nakagawa	Central River
中島	Nakajima / Nakashima	Central Island
中村	Nakamura	Middle of the village
中西	Nakanishi	Center of the West
中野	Nakano	Central Field
中田	Nakata / Nakada	Central Rice Field
中山	Nakayama	Inside the Mountain
成田	Narita	Formation of the Rice Field
西田	Nishida	Rice Plantation of the West
西川	Nishikawa	River of the West
西村	Nishimura	West Village
西山	Nishiyama	West Mountain
西沢	Nishizawa	West Marsh
野田	Noda	Rice Plantation in the Field
野口	Noguchi	Field Entrance
野村	Nomura	Field Village
小田	Oda	Small Rice Plantation
小川	Ogawa	Small River
岡田	Okada	Hill Rice Field
岡本	Okamoto	Base of the Hill
岡崎	Okazaki	Hill of the Cape
奥村	Okumura	Isolated Village
小野	Ono	Small Field
大橋	Oohashi	Big Bridge
大石	Ooishi	Big Stone
大久保	Ookubo	Big Hollow
大森	Oomori	Big forest
大西	Oonishi	Big West
大野	Oono	Big Plain
大沢 / 大澤	Oosawa	Big Marsh
大島	Ooshima	Big Island
太田	Oota	Fertile Rice Field
大谷	Ootani	Big Valley
大塚	Ootsuka	Big Ancient Mound
尾崎	Ozaki	End of the Cape
小沢 / 小澤	Ozawa	Small Marsh
斎藤 / 齋藤	Saitou	Purifying wisteria
酒井	Sakai	Sake Well
坂本	Sakamoto	Bottom of the Descent
桜井 / 櫻井	Sakurai	Cherry Blossom Well
佐野	Sano	Small Field
佐々木	Sasaki	Support Tree
佐藤	Satou	Help / assistant + wisteria
沢田	Sawada	Rice Plantation in the Marsh
関 / 關	Seki	Barrier/Gate
柴田	Shibata	Plantation with Twigs
島田	Shimada	Island Plantation
清水	Shimizu	Pure Water
篠原	Shinohara	Bamboo Grass Plain
菅原	Sugawara	Rush Field
杉本	Sugimoto	Origin of Cedar
杉山	Sugiyama	Cedar Mountain
須藤	Sutou / Sudou	Mandatory Wisteria
鈴木	Suzuki	Bell Tree
田口	Taguchi	Entrance to the Rice Field
高田	Takada / Takata	High Plantation
高木	Takagi	High Tree
高橋	Takahashi	High Bridge
高野	Takano	High Field
高山	Takayama	High Mountain
武田	Takeda	Warrior's Rice Field
竹内	Takeuchi	Inside the Bamboo Grove
田村	Tamura	Village with Rice Field
田辺 / 田邊	Tanabe	Next to the rice plantation
田中	Tanaka	Middle of the rice field
谷口	Taniguchi	Opening of the Valley
土屋	Tsuchiya	Clay House
辻	Tsuji	Crossroads (Transverse Road)
内田	Uchida	Inside the Plantation
内山	Uchiyama	Inside the Mountain
上田	Ueda / Ueta	Top/Upper Plantation
上野	Ueno	On top of the Plain
和田	Wada	Harmonious Plantation
渡辺	Watanabe	Crossing by the edge
山田	Yamada	Mountain Rice Field
山口	Yamaguchi	Opening to the Mountain
山本	Yamamoto	Base of the mountain
山中	Yamanaka	Center of the Mountain
山下	Yamashita	Under the Mountain
山内	Yamauchi	Inside the Mountain
山崎	Yamazaki / Yamasaki	End of the Mountain
矢野	Yano	Arrow field
安田	Yasuda	Peaceful rice field
横田	Yokota	Rice Field Next to
横山	Yokoyama	Next to the Mountain
吉田	Yoshida	Auspicious Plantation
吉川	Yoshikawa	Auspicious River
吉村	Yoshimura	Auspicious Village
吉岡	Yoshioka	Auspicious Hill

How can I discover the meaning of my name?

Look up each character in a dictionary such as jisho and then try to see how the two pieces sit together. Japanese names can have different pronunciations and different kanji, so do not trust a list until you know how the name is actually written.

If you want a slower walk through that process, there is a full guide on how to discover the meaning of Japanese names.