Japanese names and surnames of girls. Japanese names

Japanese female names, unlike male ones, are read quite simply and have a clear meaning. They have interesting traditions and unforgettable translation. Women's names amaze with their sound, and one can only guess what is hidden behind it. But we propose not to guess, but to find out what female Japanese names really mean. It will be interesting! Doubt? Read on and check for yourself!

Female Japanese names

Japanese female names are very easy to read and easily translated. The translation from Japanese is excellent as always. The meaning of the name gives its owner something sublime and beautiful. You can see for yourself, before you list of female Japanese given names.

Japanese female names are most often read by kuna so there is no difficulty in reading. And they have a simpler structure than male names. There are exceptions when female names are written exclusively in katakana or hiragana, and sometimes names can also be read according to on reading. But these are just exceptions to the rule. If you want to see also male Japanese names, click on the link!

Depending on the main component, female Japanese names can be divided into several groups. Yes, it could be the main component of the abstract meaning. For example, “love” (ay), “mind” (ti), “beauty” (mi). Often such components indicate the desire to possess the necessary qualities in the future. The second kind is animal or plant components. Thus, animal components are now practically not used, they are considered old-fashioned, but earlier this characterized the desired health. Components of the plant world are popular today and are quite common among female Japanese names. For example, momo (peach), hana (flower) and so on.

There are names and numerals. For example, a thousand (ti). There are also names that mean seasons or natural phenomena. For example, yuki (snow), natsu (summer).

Do you want to learn how to write names (and not only) in hieroglyphs and learn more about hieroglyphs?

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What Japanese female names have you already come across, for example, when watching Japanese movies or anime? Which ones do you like the most? Share in the comments, please.

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Personal names in Japan are the most difficult direction in Japanese. Women's names are no exception here. At first, reading the translations, it may seem that there is nothing complicated. In Japanese, the surname is pronounced first, and then the given name. In Russian, as in many Western languages, the first name is pronounced first, and only then the surname. But believe me - this is the smallest difficulty that you encounter when working with Japanese names. Although even such a trifle sometimes confuses people who are poorly familiar with Japanese culture.

In Japanese culture, and in particular personal names, over the past hundred years there have been dramatic changes. This also affected the spelling of names and their meaning. New hieroglyphs and signs for writing names were allowed. The last major change dates back to the nineties of the twentieth century. Then the Parliament of Japan amended the list of permitted characters for writing names. In principle, these signs are amended approximately every five years. But as they say, only a dead language does not change.

Particularly affected in modern names The Japanese change their attitude towards traditions. If earlier Japan was extremely traditional society, but now with each generation it is fading away. Very popular among modern Japanese names for girls are names from Japanese comics- manga. Manga is one of the Japanese cultural phenomena, comics covering a wide variety of topics for both children and adults. Manga, in fact, is not the usual children's comic, but rather serious literary and pictorial work. This cultural phenomenon known and popular all over the world.

Another difficulty is the transliteration of Japanese names for girls. Transliteration of any language causes a lot of controversy, to say nothing of the language of the Land of the Rising Sun. Most often in Russian practice, the Polivanov system is used. It was introduced in the thirties of the twentieth century and since then has been an unofficially approved transliteration system from Japanese to Cyrillic.

Japanese girl names popular in 2009-2011

List of Japanese female names, their spelling and meaning.

Here is a list of female Japanese names compiled by our editors. Of course, these are not all possible female Japanese names, but according to statistics, these are the most popular. Japanese names- this is the most hard part Japanese and therefore there are so many discrepancies in their translations. Happy viewing.

FEMALE names - ratio - Russian and Japanese

Alexandra - (protector) - - Mamoka

Alice - (from the noble class) - - Yoizokumi

Alla - (other) - - Sonota

Anastasia - (resurrected) - - Fukkatsumi

Anna - (mercy, grace) - - Jihiko

Antonina - (spatial) - - Sorariko

Anfisa - (blooming) - - Kaika, - Sakura

Valentine - (strong) - - Tsuyoi

Barbara - (cruel) - - Zankokumi

Vasilisa - (royal) - - Joteiko

Faith - (faith) - - Shinkori

Victoria - (winner) - - Shori

Galina - (clarity) - - Tomei

Daria - (great fire) - - Ohiko

Evgenia - (noble) - - Yoyidenko

Ekaterina - (purity, cleanliness) - - Koheiri

Elena - (sunny) - - Tayota

Elizabeth - (worshiping God) - - Kaikanna

Zinaida - (born of a god) - - Kamigauma

Zoya - (life) - - Sei, - Inochi

Inna - (turbulent stream) - - Hayakawa

Irina - (peace or anger) - - Sekai, - Ikari

Karina - (darling) - - Kawaimi

Kira - (mistress) - - Fujinka

Claudia - (limping) - - Rameyo

Xenia - (stranger, stranger) - - Khoromi

Larisa - (seagull) - - Kamome

Lydia - (sad song) - - Nageki

Love - (love) - - Ay, - Ayumi

Lyudmila - (dear to people) - - Tanomi

Margarita - (pearl) - - Shinjuka, - Tamae

Marina - (marine) - - Maritaimi

Maria - (bitter, stubborn) - - Nigai

Hope - (hope) - - Nozomi

Natalia - (born, native) - - Umari

Nina - (Queen) - - Quinmee

Oksana - (inhospitable) - - Isonaku

Olesya - (forest) - - Ringyoko

Olga - (light) - - Hikari

Polina - (destroying, destroying) - - Hakaina

Raisa - (heavenly, light, submissive) - - Tenshimi

Svetlana - (light) - - Hikaru

Seraphim - (flaming snake) - - Honooryumi

Snezhana - (snowy) - - Yuki, Yukiko

Sofia - (wise) - - Kasikomi

Tamara - (palm tree) - - Yashimi

Tatiana - (mistress) - - Joshiko

Ulyana - (righteous) - - Tadashimi

Julia - (wavy, fluffy) - - Hajouka, - Nami

Yana - (God's grace) - - Jihiri

Japanese names consist of a family name followed by a given name, and as a rule, Japanese names are written in kanji. However, parents may also occasionally use the Japanese hiragana and katakana syllabaries to write their children's names. Moreover, in 1985, the list of officially allowed characters for writing Japanese names was expanded and now you can use latin characters(romanji), hentaiganu, manyoganu (syllabary alphabets), as well as special characters and symbols like * % $ ^ and the like. But in practice, characters are almost always used to write Japanese names.

In the past, people in Japan were the property of the emperor, and the surname reflected their role in the government. For example, Otomo (大友 "great friend, comrade"). Names were also given to let people know that the person had made some great achievement, contribution, etc.

Before the Meiji Restoration, the common people did not have surnames, and if necessary used the name of the place of birth. For example, a person named Ichiro: could introduce himself as: "Ichiro: from the village of Asahi, Musashi Province. Merchants used the names of their stores or brands. For example, Denbei, the owner of Sagamiya - could introduce himself as "Sagamiya Denbei." Peasants could call themselves after their father (for example, Isuke, whose father was called Genbei, could say: "Iseke, son of Genbei").

After the Meiji Restoration, the government ordered all commoners to come up with a last name as part of a plan to modernize and westernize. Some people chose historical names, others simply invented, for example, fortune-telling, or turned to priests to choose a surname. This explains the fact that there are a lot of different surnames in Japan, both in pronunciation and spelling, and makes it difficult to read.

Japanese surnames are extremely diverse, with an estimated over 100,000 different surnames. Typical, most common Japanese surnames include: Satō (佐藤), Suzuki (铃木) and Takahashi (高桥).

However, Japanese surnames are distributed differently in different regions Japan. For example, the surnames Chinen (知念), Higa (比嘉), and Shimabukuro (岛袋) are common in Okinawa but not in other parts of Japan. This is due mainly to differences between the language and culture of the Yamato people and Okinawa.

Many Japanese surnames come from characteristic features rural landscape, for example: Ishikawa (石川) means "stone river", Yamamoto (山本) - "base of the mountain", Inoue (井上) - "above the well".

In general, surnames usually have some patterns and their reading does not cause any particular difficulties, but Japanese names are very diverse both in pronunciation and spelling.

While many typical Japanese names can be easily spelled and read, many parents choose names with unusual characters or pronunciations. Such names do not have an unambiguous reading or spelling.

Especially the tendency to give such names appeared since 1990. For example, the popular name 大翔 for boys is traditionally read as Hiroto, but alternative readings of this name have also appeared: Haruto, Yamato, Daito, Taiga, Sora, Taito, Masato, and all of them have come into use.

Male names often end in –ro: (郎 "son", but also 朗 "clear, light", e.g. Ichiro), -ta (太 "big, fat", e.g. Kenta), contain ichi (一 "first [ son]), ji (二 - second [son]", or 次 "next", eg "Jiro"), or dai (大 "great, big", eg "Daiichi").

In addition, in male names with two hieroglyphs, hieroglyphs-indicators are often used. male name: 夫 (o) - "husband", 男 (o) - "man", 雄 (o) - "hero", 朗 (ro:) - "fun", 樹 (ki) - "tree", 助 (suke ) "assistant" and many others.

Japanese female names

Most Japanese female names have an abstract meaning. Usually such characters are used in such names as 美 mi "beauty", 愛 ai "love", 安 en "calm", 知 ti "mind", 優 yu: "tenderness", 真 ma "truth" and others. As a rule, names with similar hieroglyphs are given to girls as a wish to possess these qualities in the future.

There is another type of female names - names with hieroglyphs of animals or plants. Animal names with the characters 虎　 "tiger" or 鹿 "deer" were thought to be healthful, but these names are now considered old-fashioned and almost never used, with the exception of the character 鶴 "crane". Names containing hieroglyphs associated with flora, are still often used, for example, 花 hana - "flower", 稲 ine - "rice", 菊 kiku - "chrysanthemum", 竹 take - "bamboo", 桃 momo - "peach", 柳 yanagi - "willow", and others.

There are still names with numerals, but they are very few in number and are quite rare. These names probably come from old tradition name the girls of noble families in order of birth. Currently, the commonly used characters for numerals are 千 ti "thousand", 三 mi "three", 五 go "five", and 七 nana "seven".

Quite often there are also names with the meanings of the seasons, natural phenomena, time of day and many others. For example: 雪 yuki "snow", 夏 natsu "summer", 朝 asa "morning", 雲 kumo "cloud".

It happens that syllabic alphabets are used instead of hieroglyphs. At the same time, the record of such a name is constant, unlike words that can be written in different ways (alphabet, hieroglyphs, mixed). For example, if woman's name is written in hiragana, then it will always be written in this way, although in terms of its meaning it can be written in a hieroglyph.

By the way, it is very fashionable and exotic instead of classic female names, use foreign names: あんな Anna, まりあ Maria, えみり Emiri, れな Rena, りな Rina and others.

An indicator of Japanese female names.

A typical Japanese female name ends with the character -子 (child) - ko. (Maiko, Haruko, Hanako, Takako, Yoshiko, Asako, Naoko, Yumiko, etc.). And currently, about a quarter of Japanese female names end in -ko. Until 1868, this name was used only by members of the imperial family, but after the revolution, this name became quite popular, especially in the middle of the 20th century. However, after 2006, this indicator of a female name ceased to be fashionable due to the emergence of a new fashion for names, and many girls searched for it from the name, and began to call them simply Yumi, Hana, Haru, etc.

The second most used character is 美 mi "beauty" (up to 12%), unlike many other indicators of the gender of the name, it can occur anywhere in the name (Fumiko, Mie, Kazumi, Miyuki).

Also, about 5% of Japanese female names contain the component 江 e "bay" (Mizue, 廣江 Hiroe).

Many other characters are used to indicate that this is a female name, each of which occurs in less than 4% of female names: 代 yo "era", 香 ka "smell", 花 ka "flower", 里 ri "measure of the length of ri" ( often used phonetically), 奈 na is used phonetically, 織 ori "cloth" and others.

However, there are female names consisting of several hieroglyphs that do not have indications that this is a female name. Examples: 皐月 Satsuki, 小巻 Komaki.

Popular Japanese names and their meanings

Since 2005, the Japanese company Benesse Corporation has annually published a ranking of popular Japanese names among newborns. In 2011, from January 1 to May 31, 34,500 people were born, of which 17,959 were boys and 16,541 were girls.

Popular Japanese names for men

Popular Japanese female names

Japanese nicknames/nicknames/nicknames

From each name, one or more diminutive names can be formed by adding the nominal suffix -chan or -kun to the base. There are two types of name stems. One consists of a full name, for example Taro: -chan (Taro:), Kimiko-chan (Kimiko) and Yasunari-chan (Yasunari).

Another type of stem is an abbreviation for the full name. Ta:-chan (Taro:), Kii-chan (Kimiko), Ya:-chan (Yasunari), Ko:-kun, Ma:-kun, Sho:-chan, etc. Second type nickname wears more intimate nature relationships (for example, between friends).

There are other ways of forming short names, for example, a girl with the name Megumi can be called Kei-chan, since the character that begins the name Megumi (恵) can also be read as Kei.

The common Japanese practice of creating abbreviations, which is to combine the first two syllables of two words, is sometimes applied to names (usually celebrities).

For example, Kimura Takuya (木村 拓哉), a famous Japanese actor and singer, becomes Kimutaku (キムタク). This is sometimes applied to foreign celebrities as well: Brad Pitt, whose full name in Japanese it sounds like Buraddo Pitto (ブラッド ピット) is rather known as Burapi (ブラピ), while Jimi Hendrix is ​​shortened to Jimihen (ジミヘン). Another slightly less common method is to double one or two syllables in a person's name. For example, Mamiko Noto, may be called MamiMami.

Japanese names in Chinese

As a rule, Japanese names are written in hieroglyphs. And the hieroglyphs, like many other things, the Japanese borrowed from the Chinese. Those. Japanese and Chinese will read the same hieroglyph differently. For example, 山田太郎 (Yamada Taro:) the Chinese will read something like "Shantien Tailang", and 鳩山由紀夫 (Hatoyama Yukio) - "Jiushan Youjifu". That's why the Japanese don't understand their names when they read them in Chinese."

Reading Japanese names and surnames

Reading names in Japanese is very difficult. Hieroglyphs of one name can be read different ways and at the same time, the pronunciation of one name can also be written in various ways ... More about the features of reading Japanese names can be

Japanese nominal suffixes

In Japan, when referring to a person, it is customary to use a surname or a given name (usually the Japanese refer to each other by their surname) to use nominal suffixes, more about them in brief written

Names and Surnames of Japanese Emperors

Japanese emperors do not have surnames, and their lifetime Japanese names are tabooed and not used in official Japanese documents, and instead the emperor is addressed by a title without a name. When an emperor dies, he receives a posthumous name, which consists of two parts: the name of the virtue that glorifies him and the tenno title: "emperor". For example:

During the life of the emperor, it is also not customary to address him by name, since in general it is not polite to address him by name, and even more so to the emperor, and various titles are used instead. For example, as a child, Akihito had a title - Tsugu-no-miya (Prince Tsugu). Such titles are mostly used as long as the person is an heir or has not received a special name.

The nominal Japanese form consists of the family name and personal name. Moreover, Japanese surname meaning prevails over the meaning of the name - the surname is written and pronounced first. Nowadays, the Japanese often write their names in Latin or Cyrillic in the order familiar to Europeans - first the first name, then the surname. And so that there is no confusion, write the last name capital letters. In russian language Japanese surname declension often raises questions. More recently, there have been conflicting opinions of linguists on this issue. However, now all reference books indicate that Japanese surnames ending in “a” change by case, and an indeclinable variant, for example, “visiting Kurosawa”, is considered a gross violation of the norm. Surnames ending in other vowels are not declined.

Meaning of Japanese surnames

Meaning of Japanese surnames, their appearance and distribution, evolved in accordance with national traditions. Until the second half of XIX only aristocrats and samurai had hereditary names, the rest of the population was content only with personal names or nicknames. Moreover, the number of aristocratic families was strictly limited and had ancient roots. "Newbies" did not appear here. Each clan had its own surnames, which were inherited. The emperor of Japan and members of his family never had a surname.

During the era of "Enlightened Government" in the second half of the 19th century, Emperor Mutsuhito ordered that all peasants, artisans and merchants choose their own surnames. Some Japanese, without further ado, wrote down the name as a surname locality, others - the name of the store or company in which they worked. People with imagination came up with sonorous, bright surnames. Interpretation majority Japanese surnames associated with peasant life, rice cultivation and processing. For example, the familiar surname Khakamada consists of two hieroglyphs, one of which "hakama" means the lower part of the traditional Japanese outfit, men's pants or a women's skirt. And the second “yes” is a rice field. It can be assumed that the ancestors of Irina Khakamada worked in the rice fields.

Family affiliation of surnames in Japan

Another feature of Japanese surnames is that they do not have a generic affiliation. The same surname is suitable for both men and women. According to Japanese law, spouses must have the same last name. In overwhelming cases, ancient tradition it becomes the husband's surname, although the constitution of 1946 allows the adoption of the wife's surname as well.

If you view alphabetical list of japanese surnames, then you can see that Japanese surnames often have interesting, unusual meaning and musical sound - Igarashi ("50 storms"), Kikuchi ("chrysanthemum"), Katayama ("wild well"). BUT top popular Japanese surnames will provide an opportunity to find out which of them are most liked by the Japanese themselves.

Popular Japanese surnames and their meanings

The list of Japanese surnames contains the most popular beautiful Japanese surnames that are most common in Japan.
Abe- 阿部 - angular, shady; sector
Akiyama- 秋山 - autumn + mountain
Ando: - 安藤 - calm + wisteria
Aoki- 青木 - green, young + tree
Arai- 新井 - new well
Arai- 荒井 - wild well
Araki- 荒木 - wild + tree
asano- 浅野／淺野 - small + [uncultivated] field; plain
Baba - 馬場 - horse + seat
Wada- 和田 - harmony + rice field
Watanabe- 渡辺／渡邊 - to cross + neighborhood
Watanabe- 渡部 - to cross + part; sector;
goto: - 後藤 - behind, future + wisteria
Yokota- 横田 - side + rice field
Yokoyama- 横山 - side, side of the mountain
Yoshida- 吉田 - happiness + rice field
Yoshikawa- 吉川 - happiness + river
Yoshimura- 吉村 - happiness + village
Yoshioka- 吉岡 - happiness + hill
Iwamoto- 岩本 - rock + base
Iwasaki- 岩崎 - rock + cape
Iwata- 岩田 - rock + rice field
Igarashi- 五十嵐 - 50 storms
Iendo: - 遠藤 - distant + wisteria
Iida- 飯田 - boiled rice, food + rice field
Ikeda- 池田 - pond + rice field
Imai- 今井 - now + well
inoe- 井上 - well + top
Ishibashi- 石橋 - stone + bridge
Isis- 石田 - stone + rice field
Isius- 石井 - stone + well
Ishikawa- 石川 - stone + river
Ishihara- 石原 - stone + plain, field; steppe
Ichikawa- 市川 - city + river
Ito- 伊東 - that, he + east
Ito: - 伊藤 - I + wisteria
Kawaguchi- 川口 - river + mouth, entrance
Kawakami- 川上 - river + top
Kawamura- 川村 - river + village
kawasaki- 川崎 - river + cape
Kamata- 鎌田 - sickle, scythe + rice field
Kaneko- 金子 - gold + child
Katayama- 片山 - piece + mountain
Kato: - 加藤 - add + wisteria
Kikuchi- 菊地 - chrysanthemum + earth
Kikuchi- 菊池 - chrysanthemum + pond
Kimura- 木村 - tree + village
Kinoshita- 木下 - tree + under, bottom
kitamura- 北村 - north + village
Ko:but- 河野 - river + [uncultivated] field; plain
Kobayashi- 小林 - small forest
Kojima- 小島 - small + island
Koike- 小池 - small + pond
Komatsu- 小松 - small pine
Condo- 近藤 - close + wisteria
Konishi- 小西 - small + west
Koyama- 小山 - small mountain
Kubo- 久保 - long + maintain
Kubota- 久保田 - long + maintain + rice field
Kudo:- 工藤 - worker + wisteria
Kumagai- 熊谷 - bear + valley
Kurihara- 栗原 - chestnut + plain, field; steppe
Kuroda- 黒田 - black rice field
Maruyama- 丸山 - round + mountain
Masuda- 増田 - increase + rice field
Matsubara- 松原 - pine + plain, field; steppe
Matsuda- 松田 - pine + rice field
Matsui- 松井 - pine + well
Matsumoto- 松本 - pine + base
Matsumura- 松村 - pine + village
Matsuo- 松尾 - pine + tail
Matsuoka- 松岡 - pine + hill
Matsushita- 松下 - pine + under, bottom
Matsuura- 松浦 - pine + bay
Maeda- 前田 - behind + rice field
Mizuno- 水野 - water + [uncultivated] field; plain
Minami- 南 - south
Miura- 三浦 - three bays
Miyazaki- 宮崎 - temple, palace + cape
Miyake- 三宅 - three houses
Miyamoto- 宮本 - temple, palace + base
Miyata- 宮田 - temple, palace + rice field
Maury- 森 - forest
Morimoto- 森本 - forest + base
Morita- 森田 - forest + rice field
Mochizuki- 望月 - full moon
Murakami- 村上 - village + top
Murata- 村田 - village + rice field
Nagai- 永井 - eternal well
Nagata- 永田 - eternal rice field
Naito- 内藤 - inside + wisteria
Nakagawa- 中川 - middle + river
Nakajima／Nakashima- 中島 - middle + island
Nakamura- 中村 - middle + village
Nakanishi- 中西 - west + middle
Nakano- 中野 - middle + [uncultivated] field; plain
Nakata／ Nakada- 中田 - middle + rice field
H akayama- 中山 - middle + mountain
Narita- 成田 - to form + rice field
Nishida- 西田 - west + rice field
Nishikawa- 西川 - west + river
Nishimura- 西村 - west + village
Nishiyama- 西山 - west + mountain
Noguchi- 野口 - [uncultivated] field; plain + mouth, entrance
But yes- 野田 - [uncultivated] field; plain + rice field
Nomura- 野村 - [uncultivated] field; plain + village
Ogawa- 小川 - small river
Oh yeah- 小田 - small rice field
Ozawa- 小沢／小澤 - small swamp
Ozaki- 尾崎 - tail + cape
Oka- 岡 - hill
Okada- 岡田 - hill + rice field
Okazaki- 岡崎 - hill + cape
Okamoto- 岡本 - hill + base
Okumura- 奥村 - deep (hidden) + village
It- 小野 - small + [uncultivated] field; plain
Ooisi- 大石 - big stone
Ookubo- 大久保 - big + long + support
Oomori- 大森 - big forest
Oonisi- 大西 - big west
Uno- 大野 - large + [uncultivated] field; plain
Oosawa- 大沢／大澤 - big swamp
Ooshima- 大島 - big island
Oota- 太田 - large + rice field
Ootani- 大谷 - big valley
Oohashi- 大橋 - big bridge
Ootsuka- 大塚 - big + hill
Sawada- 沢田／澤田 - swamp + rice field
Saito: - 斉藤／齊藤 - equal + wisteria
Saito: - 斎藤／齋藤 - purification (religious) + wisteria
Sakai- 酒井 - alcohol + well
Sakamoto- 坂本 - slope + base
sakurai- 桜井／櫻井 - sakura + well
Sano- 佐野 - assistant + [uncultivated] field; plain
Sasaki- 佐々木 - helpers + tree
Sato: - 佐藤 - helper + wisteria
Sibata- 柴田 - brushwood + rice field
Shimada- 島田 - island + rice field
Shimizu- 清水 - pure water
shinohara- 篠原 - undersized bamboo + plain, field; steppe
sugawara- 菅原 - sedge + plain, field; steppe
Sugimoto- 杉本 - Japanese cedar + roots
sugiyama- 杉山 - Japanese cedar + mountain
Suzuki- 鈴木 - bell (bell) + tree
Suto/Sudo- 須藤 - by all means + wisteria
seki- 関／關 - Outpost; barrier
Taguchi- 田口 - rice floor + mouth
Takagi- 高木 - tall tree
Takada／Takata- 高田 - high + rice field
Takano- 高野 - high + [uncultivated] field; plain
Takahashi- 高橋 - high + bridge
Takayama- 高山 - high mountain
Takeda- 武田 - military + rice field
Takeuchi- 竹内 - bamboo + inside
Tamura- 田村 - rice field + village
Tanabe- 田辺／田邊 - rice field + neighborhood
Tanaka- 田中 - rice field + middle
Taniguchi- 谷口 - valley + mouth, entrance
Chiba- 千葉 - a thousand leaves
Uchida- 内田 - inside + rice field
Uchiyama- 内山 - inside + mountain
Ueda/Ueta- 上田 - top + rice field
Ueno- 上野 - top + [uncultivated] field; plain
Fujiwara- 藤原 - wisteria + plain, field; steppe
Fujii- 藤井 - wisteria + well
Fujimoto- 藤本 - wisteria + base
Fujita- 藤田 - wisteria + rice field
Fukuda- 福田 - happiness, prosperity + rice field
Fukui- 福井 - happiness, well-being + well
Fukushima- 福島 - happiness, prosperity + island
Furukawa- 古川 - old river
Hagiwara- 萩原 - bicolor lespedeza + plain, field; steppe
Hamada- 浜田／濱田 - shore + rice field
Hara- 原 - plain, field; steppe
Harada- 原田 - plain, field; steppe + rice field
Hashimoto- 橋本 - bridge + base
Hasegawa- 長谷川 - long + valley + river
Hattori- 服部 - clothes, subordinate + part; sector;
Hayakawa- 早川 - early + river
Hayashi- 林 - forest
Higuchi- 樋口 - gutter; drain + mouth, input
Hirai- 平井 - level well
Hirano- 平野 - flat + [uncultivated] field; plain
Hirata- 平田 - flat + rice field
Hirose- 広瀬／廣瀬 - wide fast current
Homma- 本間 - base + gap, room, luck
Honda- 本田 - base + rice field
hori- 堀 - channel
Hoshino- 星野 - star + [uncultivated] field; plain
Tsuji- 辻 - street
Tsuchiya- 土屋 - land + house
Yamaguchi- 山口 - mountain + mouth, entrance
Yamada- 山田 - mountain + rice field
Yamazaki／ Yamasaki- 山崎 - mountain + cape
Yamamoto- 山本 - mountain + base
Yamanaka- 山中 - mountain + middle
Yamashita- 山下 - mountain + under, bottom
Yamauchi- 山内 - mountain + inside
I but- 矢野 - arrow + [uncultivated] field; plain
Yasuda- 安田 - calm + rice field

E If you know Japanese people or just enjoy Japanese anime video games, there are a few surnames that you are familiar with. Sato and Suzuki are by far the most common in Japan. However, Takahashi and Tanaka are not much inferior to them in popularity.

But what about the opposite? Myoji Yurai Net, a Japanese surname database, recently published the results of a study that analyzed data from government statistics and phone books to compile a list of the 30 rarest Japanese surnames.

30. Ikari /

Value: 50 villages(about 1000 people)

Although the meaning may not be as dramatic when written with different characters, this surname can also mean "anger" or "anchor". According to a study by Myoji Yurai Net, approximately 1,300 people throughout Japan have this surname.

29. Shio /

Meaning: salt (approximately 920 people)

For reference, this is not a name that etymologically refers to the word "salt", but it is spelled and pronounced exactly like shio, the Japanese word for table salt.

28. Shikichi /

Meaning: construction site(approximately 850 people)

27. Tsukumo /

Value: 99

Why not 100? Unfortunately no answer was given.(about 700 people)

26. Ichibangase /

Meaning: first thresholds, first jambs(approximately 440 people)

25. Myoga /

Meaning: Japanese ginger(approximately 330 people)

24. Kai /

Meaning: shell, shellfish(approximately 330 people)

23. Jinja /

Meaning: Shinto shrine (approx. 270 people)

22. Akasofu /

Meaning: red grandfather(approximately 240 people)

Although many Japanese names are reflections environment, those that refer to people are much less likely to use a particular color.

21.Kon /

Meaning: root(approximately 230 people)

“Hey, wait a second,” anime fans say, “What about respected Perfect Blue and Paprika director Satoshi Kon?” In fact, the last name of the late director was written in kanjiwhich means "now". And although it is also somewhat unusual surname, it is not as rare as this, based on the rhizome of the plant.

20. Hirawa /

Meaning: the plain of harmony(about 170 people)

19. Botan /

Meaning: peony (about 130 people)

Tree references are common in Japanese surnames. For example, Matsuda means " Pinery", while Sugimoto is the "original cedar". Flowers are less common, especially when the name matches exactly the name of the flowers.

18. Taue /

Meaning: planting risai(about 130 people)

17. Keana /

Meaning: (skin) pores(about 120 people)

16. Mizoroge /

Meaning: revered body of water of the Bodhisattva(about 120 people)

15. Senju /

Meaning: teacher(approximately 110 people)

While senyu is a rather old school term used for a teaching instructor, the kanji charactersare the same ones used to write sensei, the standard way of addressing teachers and doctors in Japanese.

14. Suisha /

Meaning: water wheel, windmill(about 90 people)

13. Kyoto /

Meaning: Kyoto, the former capital of Japan(about 90 people)

Surnames that are also place names are not exactly common in Japan. In many cases, these are coincidences, born from a reference to the natural landscape serving as the inspiration for the family name and location. Chiba ("thousand leaves") and Matsumoto ("primordial pine") are very popular surnames, but they are also a prefecture and a city, respectively.

On the other hand, Kyoto means "capital", which makes this surname derived from the name of an already established place.

12. Momo /

Value: One hundred hundred(about 80 people)

Momo is also Japanese word"peach", but in the case of fruit, the kanji is used instead. Even stranger, the Japanese already have a word for a hundred hundred people, which means "ten thousand."

11. Wamuro /

Meaning: harmonious number(about 60 people)

While the original intention was probably a favorable allusion to a peaceful home and family,can also be read as a poem, a room in Japanese style with tatami flooring.

10. Tokei /

Meaning: hours (about 50 people)

9. Nosaku /

Meaning: agricultural products(about 40 people)

8. Kajiyashiki /

Meaning: Blacksmith's mansion(about 30 people)

7. Gogatsu /

Meaning: May (month)(about 30 people)

Only about 30 people in Japan have this surname. Unfortunately, there is no data on how many of them are women with the name Satsuki, which also means "May" and should be spelled the same kanji.

6. Hime /

Meaning: princess(about 30 people)

5. Higasa /

Meaning: umbrella(about 20 people)

4. Iekami /

Meaning: home god(approximately 10 people)

3. Dango /

Meaning: dumplings or Japanese mochi balls on a stick, usually served with gravy.

So far, we have only seen a couple of food names on this list. This dish, (although only about 10 people in Japan have this surname), is the first dessert.

2. Hinode /

Meaning: sunrise(approximately 10 people)

1. Mikan /

Meaning: Japanese Mandarin, Orange(less than 10 people)

We don’t know how interesting and useful this hit parade was for expanding your horizons, but we think now you can better understand the surprise or even admiration of one of the anime or game characters when he finds out that the name of his interlocutor is Wamuro or even hinode.