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 and document writing, it is common to write the family surname first and the personal name or first name second.

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 choosing Japanese names. There is even a proper reading to be used in the ideograms that make up the name. You can't go out and take any ideogram and use your ON and KUN readings 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, they are used for different purposes. Hiragana is the standard script, the kanji is writing to distinguish homonymous words, like a written sign language, whereas the katakana is used to write Japanese words.

A single word can mix kanji and hiragana characters, like Japanese verbs that are usually written in Kanji and have a hiragana ending [verb 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 want, 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 a letter that has a long vowel, write the vowel twice. Example: If your name is Sarah slave Sahara. 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 that we are going to summarize and highlight in this Japanese name guide is How to discover the meaning of Japanese names. We made a video that summarized this entire article, let's leave it below:

Some are curious to know the meaning of a given name in Japanese. If it has the ideograms that make up that name, just throw it in the desu. This dictionary shows the meaning of each ideogram that makes up 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?

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

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 origin of Japanese surnames in our article. In short, Japanese surnames refer to descriptions of where families lived. Like the 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, which is why it has become such a common surname. the same with Yamamoto what does it mean on the mountain and Yamada which means mountain rice paddy.

The most common surname in Japan is Satou, more than 1,928,000 people have this surname. Satou is written mainly with the ideograms [佐藤] which together mean wisteria field. Today 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 terms 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 you can see here. These Honorifics can be used for both the first name and the last name, which is usually used more 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] – A diminutive suffix that expresses trust, affinity or security with the person. Generally, 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 boy. It is often used in the relationship “superior talking 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 mostly used to refer to people much higher up in the hierarchy, and sometimes to a person you idolize or greatly admire.

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:

  • ok [子]
  • mi [美]
  • ok [花・華]
  • and [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]
  • yes [哉・也]
  • kichi [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 in doubt whether a name is female or male, just type the name in romaji or kanji in google images and people will appear. We recommend activating safe search so that indecent images do not appear. You can check the gender of a name on desu

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

RōmajiHIRAGANAKANJIMEANINGS
THEREあい愛(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 愛 (ai) "love, affection" combined with 莉 (ri) "jasmine" or 梨 (ri) "pear".
here あき 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.
Hoshiほし 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 nameIdeograms
THERE 藍;愛
AIKO 愛子
AIMI 愛美
AKANE
AKEMI 明美
AKI 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
cabbage
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
HANA
HARU 1-晴, 2-春, 3-陽
HARUKA 遙, 遥, 悠, 遼
HARUKI 春樹
HARUMI 春美
HIDEKO 秀子
HIKARI
HIKARU
HIRO 1-裕, 2-寛, 3-浩
HIROMI 1-裕美, 2-浩美, 3-寛美
HISOKA
HITOMI
HOTARU
IZUMI
JUNE
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
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
KYOU 1-杏, 2- 京, 3- 協, 4- 郷
MAY
MAKI 1-真紀, 2-真希, 3-真貴, 4-真樹
MAKOTO
MANA
MARIKO 真里子
BUT 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
MICHI
MICHIKO 美智子
MIDORI
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
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
EOM
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
KING 1-鈴, 2-零, 3-麗, 4-霊
REIKO 麗子
Queen
RIA 理恵
RIKA
RIN
RYOKO 1-亮子, 2-涼子
SACHIKO 幸子
SAKI
SAKIKO 咲子
SAKURA
SANGO さんご
SAYURI 小百合
SETSUKO 節子
SHIGEKO 成子
SHIKA 鹿
SHINJU 真珠
SHIORI 詩織
SHIZUKA 静香
SHIZUKO 静子
SORA
SUMIKO 澄子
SUSUMU
SUZU
SUZUME
TAKAKO 1-隆子, 2-孝子, 3-貴子, 4-敬子
TAKARA
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
ONE AND
UMEKO 梅子
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

RōmajiHIRAGANAKANJIMEANINGS
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".
Haru 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 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 nameIdeograms
AKI 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
ATSUSHI
DAI
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
GOOO 五郎
HACHIRO 八郎
HAJIME 肇, 元
HARU 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
HOTAKA 穂高
ICHIRO 一郎
ISAMU
ISAO
IWAO
IZANAGI イザナギ
JIROU 二郎
JUNE
JUNICHI 順一
SWEARS 十郎
KAEDE
KATASHI
KATSU
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
MAMORU
MANABU
BUT 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
MASASHI
MASATO 正人
MASAYOSHI 昌良
MASAYUKI 正幸
MASUMI 真澄
MICHI
MICHIO 道夫
MIKIO 美樹夫
MINOR
MINORU
MITSUO 光子
MITSURU
NOT 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
IN THE RIVER 法男
OROCHI 大蛇
RAIDEN 雷電
ROKURO 六朗
RYO 1-亮, 2-遼, 3-諒, 4-涼
RYOTA 亮太
RYUU
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
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
YUUDAI 雄大

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