Onii-chan and Onee-chan Meaning - Japanese Siblings

Have you ever wondered what "onii-chan," "onee-chan," "onii-san," "onee-san," and other variations mean in Japanese? Do you know the meaning of "imouto," "otouto," "kyoudai," and "shimai"? Have you ever heard the term "aniki"? Do you know how to say "brother" and "sister" in Japanese?

We have previously written an article talking about the family members in Japanese. In this article, we will do a thorough research to understand the meaning and difference of these words.

The relationship between younger and older siblings is highly valued in Japan. Japanese culture often portrays younger sisters affectionately addressing their older brothers as "onii-chan" in anime.

Have you ever noticed how anime exaggerate this little sister scheme? Most of the time they are lolis, but do you know what loli means? Click here and read our article on loli, lolicon and lolita.

Big Brother - What does Onii-chan mean?

Onii-chan is nothing more than an informal way of saying big brother in Japanese. The character Onii [お兄] literally means older brother. already the chan it is an honorific of childish, informal and intimate treatment, as if it were a diminutive (little brother).

The most formal and common is to use the suffix san, so we also hear the words onii-san for older brother. You can use these expressions after the person's name as an honorific (Kevin-oniichan).

This treatment is used for any older brother you have, sometimes it is even used for people you consider a brother, even without any kinship.

We also recommend reading:

Oniichan or Onii-chan, which one is right?

There isn't a correct way; this dash is just a romanization option we use to separate the words "brother" from the suffix "chan" or another suffix like "san." Be careful not to write just "onichan" because then you will be referring to the demon, ogre, or monster "Oni" [鬼].

The meaning of "onii-chan," "onee-chan," and similar terms is "older brother" and "older sister," respectively.

Big Sister - What does Onee-chan mean?

Onee-san is the informal way of saying big sister in Japanese. The character "Onee" [お姉] literally means older sister. As we've already mentioned, the suffix "chan" is an informal diminutive (little sister).

Onee-san is the more formal way of saying big sister. Because women are highly respected, men generally tend to use onee-san more than onee-chan depending on the family situation.

What does Anne mean?

"Ane" [姉] is another way of referring to an older sister, especially when talking about your own sister to others. Another even more formal and archaic way is "aneue" [姉上].

Meaning of onii-chan, onee-chan, onii-san and onee-san
Two sisters hugging a Pokemon

Different ways to say older brother in Japanese

In Japanese there is a hierarchy of treatment, a formal, common and informal language. This is one of the main reasons there are so many variations and ways of saying big brother in Japanese. To make it easier we will put a list of words below exemplifying the idea a little:

Remember that all the words in the list below refer to older sisters or brothers:

DescriptionOlder brotherbig sister
Keigo - Too formal - Sovereignonii-sama [お兄さま]onee-sama [お姉さま]
Sonkeigo (brothers from above)aniue [兄上]aneue [姉上]
Formal - Everyday - Commononii-san [お兄さん]onee-san [お姉さん]
a little more informalnii-san [兄さん]nee-san [姉さん]
Without any respectful suffixes, informalnii [兄]nee [姉]
Informal suffix and diminutiveonii-chan [お兄ちゃん]onee-chan [お姉ちゃん]
Totally informal with diminutive suffixnii-chan [兄ちゃん]nee-chan [姉ちゃん]
Alternative to nii and neeani [兄]ane [姉]
Precious, esteemed, honorableAniki [兄貴]aneki [姉貴]
Meaning of onii-chan, onee-chan, onii-san and onee-san

Aniki It is often used by the yakuza, it is like a comrade brother, where the character [貴] refers to something precious, esteemed and valuable.

The article is still halfway through, but we recommend also reading:

Imouto and Otouto - Younger sister and brother

To refer to the younger brothers, we use the word otouto [弟]. The younger sisters are called imouto [妹].

These words don't usually use suffix, except when referring to members of another family, like your friend's younger sister, you should use imouto-san.

Unlike the terms onii-san and onee-san, you don't use "imouto" and "otouto" as often to talk to your younger siblings. Japanese people usually call younger people by name.

If you search for “younger sister” in the Japanese dictionary, you will see that there are endless ways to convey the idea of a younger but unusual sister.

Kirino
Kirino

Do you happen to like younger sisters? I hope you're no lolicon if I don't kill you! The little sisters are all mine!

The meaning of "onii-chan," "onee-chan," and similar terms is "older brother" and "older sister," respectively.
Picture from the anime - Ore no Imouto ga Konnani kawaii wake ga nai

Different ways to say brothers in Japanese

We have already learned the main ways of referring to younger and older siblings. Now let's see other Japanese words used to refer to brothers in Japanese:

JapaneseKanaRomajiPortuguese
兄弟きょうだいkyoudaiBrothers Sisters
姉妹しまいshimaisisters
あにaniOlder brother
あねaneEldest sister
おとうとotoutoYounger brother
いもうとimoutoYounger sister
双子ふたごfutagotwins
義弟ぎていI shookyounger half brother
義妹ぎまいgimaiyounger half sister

Futago - When are twins?

If both are twins, what do they call each other? Who will decide to be the younger brother or older brother? The Japanese word for twins is futago [双子] which literally means children in pair or set.

In reality, everyone is already aware that even twins, even when born at the same time, are taken in an order, so those who first came out of the mother’s belly are considered older. So, it can be said:

  • futago in the ani Twin brother;
  • futago in the ring Twin sister;
  • futago on onisan [双子のお兄さん] older twin brother;
  • futago on oneesan [双子のお姉さん] older twin sister;
  • futago no otouto [Younger Twin Brother]
  • futago no imouto Twin younger sister;
  • tsuin [Twin] from English twins;
Gotoubun no Hanayome - 5 identical quintuplet sisters
Gotoubun no hanayome - 5 quintuple sisters

Remember if! Never learn Japanese by studying single words. If you are confused on the correct order or way to study the Japanese language. We recommend reading our: Study Guide for Learning Japanese.

Kyoudai and Shimai - Other ways to talk about siblings

If we want to speak in the plural, brothers and sisters, we can use the combination of the ideograms of older brother and younger brother. Brothers in Japanese are spelled "kyoudai" [兄弟] and sisters in Japanese are spelled "shimai" [姉妹].

Kyoudai can encompass all siblings, even females, although you can rarely find Kyoudai written in other ways using 2 of the 4 characters used for siblings [兄-弟-姉-妹].

Meaning of onii-chan, onee-chan, onii-san and onee-san
Photo from the anime Uchuu Kyoudai - Brothers in Space

I hope this article has cleared up any doubts you may have had about the terms "onii-chan," "onee-chan," "onii-san," and "onee-san," as well as others related to siblings in Japanese such as "imouto," "otouto," "kyoudai," and "shimai"! Thank you for your comments and for sharing this information!

If you want to know the name of the family members, we recommend the video below:

Meaning of onii-chan, onee-chan - brothers in japanese

Read more articles from our website

Thanks for reading! But we would be happy if you take a look at other articles below:

Read our most popular articles:

Do you know this anime?