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21,378 first names, 70,620 last names, 317,184 kanji variations.
one of the best Japanese name searches for a baby!
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.
Contents
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.)
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.
permanence, calm + truth
Pronunciations: Yuma, Haruma
permanence, calm + human
Pronunciations: Yuto, Haruto
the Sun, yang (in contrast to yin) + soar
Pronunciations: Haruto, Akito
harbor, port
Pronunciations: Minato, So
lotus
Pronunciation: Ren
bond, tie + greens
Pronunciations: Yuna, Yuina
blossom + goodness
Pronunciations: Sakura, Sara
the Sun, yang (in contrast to yin) + hollyhock plant
Pronunciations: Himari, Hina
white jasmine + child
Pronunciation: Riko
sprout, bud + due to, therefore
Pronunciations: Mei
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.
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.)
奏多
play (the instruments) + many
爽太
refreshing + big
蒼大
blue, green + large
優人
kind, gentle + human
勇士
brave + samurai, warrior
友音
friend + music sound
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.)
陸久
land + eternity
龍空
dragon + sky, space
璃来
lapis lazuli + come, future
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.)
夢衣
dream + clothes
祐生
help, rescue + live
唯愛
only + love
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.)
花華
flower + beauty, splendor
栄奈
glory, prosperity + big tree
羽夏
feathers + summer
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.
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.
Supporting Ukraine Kids together
As the situation in Ukraine escalates, I feel with emotions too overwhelming to name. There are many children in Ukraine whose homes have been destroyed and without food and water. Gentle support is needed.
Please donate to Save the Children.
According to Google Analytics, Japanese Names.info has been visited from 217 countries and regions for 30 days. Of course, Ukrainian and Russian users are also included.
For the kind Russian people
Apparently this isn't broadcast on Russian TV, but what the Russian government is doing isn't actually a peacekeeping operation, but is more correctly described as an invasion and looting of your relative's country, Ukraine.
The only power that can change the reality in Ukraine is for the Russian people to speak out. Please touch the world media outside of Russia to see how your government is causing the tragic situation. Thank you for a peaceful world!
e.g. UNICEF, Red CrossSort by Most Kanji Variations
This is the order of names with many variations of kanji.
Basically, names with more variations are more common and familiar to the Japanese.
Sort by Most Viewed
The names are sorted by the number of times they have been viewed on this site. This ranking is based on the behavior of users around the world, including Japan, so it does not mean that the names are commonly viewed by Japanese people only.
Please note that just because a name has been viewed more times does not mean it is a famous name in Japan.
What is Hiragana?
Hiragana is a syllabary used in written Japanese, which originated from the cursive style of Kanji.
What is Katakana?
Katakana is also a Japanese syllabary. Basically, the characters don't have any meaning by themselves, they only represent the sounds.
Japanese try to express the words came from foreign languages with the most similar sounds in Japanese using Katakana.
Households?
The names are sorted by the number of Japanese households where the surname is used.
The more households there are, the more famous and common the surname is.
About this site's data of last names