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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!
The website 明治安田生命 releases the rankings of “the most popular kanji for names” every year.
Every single kanji has its meaning, therefore, parents think carefully about which kanji to use for naming their child. Let’s find out what was the most popular kanji used for naming in 2019.
Contents
These top five kanji are in no particular order from last year! This kanji will be combined with other kanji to make a name.
Names with large scale impressions, such as “太”, “翔”, “大”, and “斗” rank among the most popular.
“太” is the number one most popular kanji used for naming a boy! The kanji “太” meaning “big”, “strong”, or ”thick” is a classic in boys’ names. This kanji gives a youthful and boyish image, so it is not used for girls. “太” is also popular because it is used in the kanji for the sun (太陽).
“太” is often used at the end of a name, as in “~太 (~ta).
These days, “太” has become so popular that other kanji is used instead with the same reading such as “汰”, “多” or “大”. (meaning – 汰: select/ 多: many, numerous/ 大: big, strong)
Names with “翔” became popular in the 1980s and are still very popular today.
The word “翔” means “flying” and from this image, it creates a strong image of a person who flies toward his dreams and hopes, which is why it is so popular today.
If the name is just “翔”, it’s pronounced “Shō” and is also very popular as a single letter name.
Besides, it can also be used at the end of a name by making it read “~to”. Here are some examples.
“美” has been in common use since the 1960s and is still very popular today!
Many of the most popular kanji for girls are associated with nature, such as “菜”, “花”, “莉”, “咲”, and “桜” that are inspired by flowers, plants, and nature that evoke a sense of beauty and kindness and are perfect for girls.
Only the kanji “陽” is ranked in the top 15 for both boys and girls. (In the boys’ ranking, it ranked fifth.)
“陽” means “sunshine” or “brightening”. So the parents probably want their children to be ‘a person who makes everyone cheerful like the sun’ or ‘a person with a warm heart like the sun’.
There are many ways to read “陽”, so it can be combined in many different ways to make names. Here are just a small selection of popular names with “陽”.
Also, the name of “陽子(Yoko)” became a popular name in the 1970s and 80s and today it’s a very classic and common name. There may be that the child is given the kanji “陽” from the mother’s or grand mother’s name, “陽子(Yoko)”. As I mentioned earlier, “陽” is very popular for boys too, so wouldn’t it be a great idea for siblings to name themselves together using the kanji for “陽”?
Reference 明治安田生命 名前ランキング
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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