Common Japanese first names

Today I want to introduce some common Japanese first names. The most common baby names in Japan are tracked every year by several organizations and they analyze the name trends of each year.

In the past year 2017, one of the trends was that names of famous Japanese sport teams that were successful and outstanding in the year were very popular.

For example, the girl name “Sakura” ranked top in the popular pronunciation ranking due to the brilliant women’s hockey team Sakura Japan that made it to the World Cup.

Here are the lists of the most common Japanese first names for 2017! (According to a survey conducted by Meiji Yasuda Simei, a Japanese major insurance company.)

The 5 most popular Kanji characters

 Most kanji characters have several different pronunciations, so the name can be pronounced in several different ways.

Along with the kanji, I’ve listed the meanings of the kanji and a few possible pronunciations.

Boy names

悠真

permanence, calm + truth

Pronunciations: Yuma, Haruma

悠人

permanence, calm + human

Pronunciations: Yuto, Haruto

陽翔

the Sun, yang (in contrast to yin) + soar

Pronunciations: Haruto, Akito

湊

harbor, port

Pronunciations: Minato, So

蓮

lotus

Pronunciation: Ren

Girl names

結菜

bond, tie + greens

Pronunciations: Yuna, Yuina

咲良

blossom + goodness

Pronunciations: Sakura, Sara

陽葵

the Sun, yang (in contrast to yin) + hollyhock plant

Pronunciations: Himari, Hina

莉子

white jasmine + child

Pronunciation: Riko

芽依

sprout, bud + due to, therefore

Pronunciations: Mei

The 5 most popular pronunciations

 Here are the most popular pronunciations. Each of these pronunciations can be represented (symbolized) by so many different kanji combinations. I’ve listed a few possible kanji combinations.

Boy names

Haruto

春士
spring (as in season) + samurai, warrior

波流都
wave + flow, stream + city

悠人
permanence, calm + human (Mentioned above. This combination is the most popular lately.)

Sota

奏多
play (the instruments) + many

爽太
refreshing + big

蒼大
blue, green + large

Yuto

優人
kind, gentle + human

勇士
brave + samurai, warrior

友音
friend + music sound

Haruki

晴喜
clear (the weather) + joy

遙輝
far away, long ago + shine

春樹
spring (as in season) + tree (This is the kanji combination for the internationally renowned writer Haruki Murakami.)

Riku

陸久
land + eternity

龍空
dragon + sky, space

璃来
lapis lazuli + come, future

Girl names

 Sakura

桜
cherry blossom

櫻
cherry tree

沙久羅
sand + eternity + silk

さくら
(This is Sakura in hiragana and it’s common as well. Hiragana is a set of alphabets.)

Yui

夢衣
dream + clothes

祐生
help, rescue + live

唯愛
only + love

Akari

明里
bright, clear + village

緋李
scarlet + plum

愛華莉
love + splendor, beauty, flower + white jasmine

あかり
(This is Akari in hiragana and it’s common as well.)

Hana

花華
flower + beauty, splendor

栄奈
glory, prosperity + big tree

羽夏
feathers + summer

Mei

夢依
dream + due to, therefore

恵良
blessings + goodness

芽依
sprout, bud + due to, therefore (Mentioned above. This combination is the most popular lately.)

メイ
This is Mei in katakana. Katakana is another set of alphabets. By the way, Mei, the character in the globally popular animation My Neighbor Totoro is written in katakana. “Mei” is the Japanese pronunciation for “May (the month)” and “Satsuki” means “May” in Japanese.

Appendix

Tokyo, Japan – April 29 2018: Ghibli museum is a place that shows the work of Japanese animation Studio Ghibli, features of children, technology and finearts dedicated to art and animation technique

Tokyo, Japan – Ghibli museum is a place that shows the work of Japanese animation Studio Ghibli, features of children, technology and finearts dedicated to art and animation technique.