Are you here: Fairy tale scenarios

Japanese name(Japanese 人名 jinmei?) these days, as a rule, consists of a family name (surname) followed by a personal name. This is a very common practice in Eastern and South-East Asia, including for Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and some other cultures.

Names are usually written using kanji, which can have many different pronunciations in different cases.
Modern Japanese names can be compared to names in many other cultures. All Japanese have a single surname and a single given name without a patronymic, with the exception of the Japanese imperial family, whose members do not have a surname.
In Japan, the surname comes first, and then the given name. At the same time, in Western languages (often in Russian) Japanese names are written in the reverse order first name - last name - according to European tradition.
Names in Japan are often created independently from existing characters, so the country has a huge number of unique names. Surnames are more traditional and most often go back to place names. There are significantly more first names in Japanese than surnames. Male and female names differ due to their characteristic components and structure. Reading Japanese proper names is one of the most difficult elements of the Japanese language.

Popular names for boys

Popular names for girls

Popular names in 2009

meaning of names
(most of it has something in common with the previous post (I’ll clean up the repetitions later))
Ai - F - Love
Aiko - F - Favorite child
Akako - F - Red
Akane - F - Sparkling Red
Akemi - F - Dazzlingly beautiful
Akeno - M - Clear morning
Aki - F - Born in autumn
Akiko - F - Autumn child
Akina - F - Spring flower
Akio - M - Handsome
Akira - M - Smart, quick-witted
Akiyama - M - Autumn, mountain
Amaya - F - Night Rain
Ami - F - Friend
Amida - M - Name of Buddha
Anda - F - Met in the field
Aneko - F - Older sister
Anzu - F - Apricot
Arata - M - Inexperienced
Arisu - F - Japanese. form of the name Alice
Asuka - F - Scent of Tomorrow
Ayame - F - Iris
Azarni - F - Thistle flower

Botan - M - Peony

Chika - F - Wisdom
Chikako - F - Child of Wisdom
Chinatsu - F - Thousand Years
Chiyo - F - Eternity
Chizu - F - Thousand storks (implies longevity)
Cho - F - Butterfly

Dai - M/F - Great
Daichi - M - Great First Son
Daiki - M - Great Tree
Daisuke - M - Great Help

Etsuko - F - Delightful child

Fujita - M/F - Field, meadow

Gin - F - Silver
Goro - M - Fifth Son

Hana - F - Flower
Hanako - F - Flower Child
Haru - M - Born in Spring
Haruka - F - Distant
Haruko - F - Spring
Hachiro - M - Eighth Son
Hideaki - M - Brilliant, excellent
Hikaru - M/F - Light, shining
Hide - F - Fertile
Hiroko - F - Generous
Hiroshi - M - Generous
Hitomi - F - Doubly beautiful
Hoshi - F - Star
Hotaka - M - Name of a mountain in Japan
Hotaru - F - Firefly

Ichiro - M - First Son

Ima - F - Gift
Isami - M - Courage
Ishi - F - Stone
Izanami - F - Attractive
Izumi - F - Fountain

Jiro - M - Second Son
Joben - M - Loving cleanliness
Jomei - M - Bringing Light
Junko - F - Pure child
Juro - M - Tenth Son

Kado - M - Gate
Kaede - F - Maple leaf
Kagami - F - Mirror
Kameko - F - Turtle Child (symbol of longevity)
Kanaye - M - Diligent
Kano - M - God of Water
Kasumi - F - Fog
Katashi - M - Hardness
Katsu - M - Victory
Katsuo - M - Victorious Child
Katsuro - M - Victorious Son
Kazuki - M - Joyful World
Kazuko - F - Cheerful child
Kazuo - M - Dear Son
Kei - F - Respectful
Keiko - F - Adored
Keitaro - M - Blessed One
Ken - M - Big Man
Ken`ichi - M - Strong first son
Kenji - M - Strong second son
Kenshin - M - Heart of the Sword
Kenta - M - Healthy and brave
Kichi - F - Lucky
Kichiro - M - Lucky Son
Kiku - F - Chrysanthemum
Kimiko - F - Child of noble blood
Kin - M - Golden
Kioko - F - Happy child
Kisho - M - Having a head on his shoulders
Kita - F - North
Kiyoko - F - Clean
Kiyoshi - M - Quiet
Kohaku - M/F - Amber
Kohana - F - Small flower
Koko - F - Stork
Koto - F - Japanese. musical instrument "koto"
Kotone - F - Sound of koto
Kumiko - F - Forever beautiful
Kuri - F - Chestnut
Kuro - M - Ninth Son
Kyo - M - Agreement (or redhead)
Kyoko - F - Mirror

Leiko - F - Arrogant

Machi - F - Ten thousand years
Machiko - F - Lucky Child
Maeko - F - Honest child
Maemi - F - Sincere smile
Mai - F - Bright
Makoto - M - Sincere
Mamiko - F - Child Mami
Mamoru - M - Earth
Manami - F - The beauty of love
Mariko - F - Child of Truth
Marise - M/F - Infinite
Masa - M/F - Straightforward (person)
Masakazu - M - First son of Masa
Mashiro - M - Wide
Matsu - F - Pine
Mayako - F - Child Maya
Mayoko - F - Child Mayo
Mayuko - F - Child Mayu
Michi - F - Fair
Michie - F - Gracefully hanging flower
Michiko - F - Beautiful and wise
Michio - M - A man with the strength of three thousand
Midori - F - Green
Mihoko - F - Child Miho
Mika - F - New Moon
Miki - M/F - Stalk
Mikio - M - Three woven trees
Mina - F - South
Minako - F - Beautiful child

Mine - F - Brave Defender
Minoru - M - Seed
Misaki - F - The Bloom of Beauty
Mitsuko - F - Child of Light
Miya - F - Three arrows
Miyako - F - Beautiful child of March
Mizuki - F - Beautiful Moon
Momoko - F - Child Peach
Montaro - M - Big Guy
Moriko - F - Child of the Forest
Morio - M - Forest Boy
Mura - F - Country
Mutsuko - F - Child Mutsu

Japanese names and their meanings

Oki - F - Middle of the Ocean
Orino - F - Peasant meadow
Osamu - M - Firmness of the Law

Rafu - M - Network
Rai - F - Truth
Raidon - M - God of Thunder
Ran - F - Water lily
Rei - F - Gratitude
Reiko - F - Gratitude
Ren - F - Water lily
Renjiro - M - Honest
Renzo - M - Third Son
Riko - F - Child of Jasmine
Rin - F - Unfriendly
Rinji - M - Peaceful Forest
Rini - F - Little bunny
Risako - F - Child Risa
Ritsuko - F - Child Ritsu
Roka - M - White wave crest
Rokuro - M - Sixth Son
Ronin - M - Samurai without a master
Rumiko - F - Child Rumi
Ruri - F - Emerald
Ryo - M - Excellent
Ryoichi - M - First son of Ryo
Ryoko - F - Child Ryo
Ryota - M - Strong (fat)
Ryozo - M - Third son of Ryo
Ryuichi - M - First son of Ryu
Ryuu - M - Dragon

Saburo - M - Third Son
Sachi - F - Happiness
Sachiko - F - Child of Happiness
Sachio - M - Fortunately Born
Saeko - F - Child Sae
Saki - F - Cape (geographical)
Sakiko - F - Child Saki
Sakuko - F - Child Saku
Sakura - F - Cherry blossoms
Sanako - F - Child Sana
Sango - F - Coral
Saniiro - M - Wonderful
Satu - F - Sugar
Sayuri - F - Little lily
Seiichi - M - Sei's first son
Sen - M - Spirit of the Tree
Shichiro - M - Seventh Son
Shika - F - Deer
Shima - M - Islander
Shina - F - Decent
Shinichi - M - First son of Shin
Shiro - M - Fourth Son
Shizuka - F - Quiet
Sho - M - Prosperity
Sora - F - Sky
Sorano - F - Heavenly
Suki - F - Favorite
Suma - F - Asking
Sumi - F - Purified (religious)
Susumi - M - Moving forward (successful)
Suzu - F - Bell (bell)
Suzume - F - Sparrow

Tadao - M - Helpful
Taka - F - Noble
Takako - F - Tall child
Takara - F - Treasure
Takashi - M - Famous
Takehiko - M - Bamboo Prince
Takeo - M - Bamboo-like
Takeshi - M - Bamboo tree or brave
Takumi - M - Craftsman
Tama - M/F - Gemstone
Tamiko - F - Child of Abundance
Tani - F - From the Valley (child)
Taro - M - Firstborn
Taura - F - Many lakes; many rivers
Teijo - M - Fair
Tomeo - M - Cautious person
Tomiko - F - Child of Wealth
Tora - F - Tigress
Torio - M - Bird tail
Toru - M - Sea
Toshi - F - Mirror image
Toshiro - M - Talented
Toya - M/F - House door
Tsukiko - F - Moon Child
Tsuyu - F - Morning Dew

Udo - M - Ginseng
Ume - F - Plum blossom
Umeko - F - Plum Blossom Child
Usagi - F - Rabbit
Uyeda - M - From the rice field (child)

Yachi - F - Eight thousand
Yasu - F - Calm
Yasuo - M - Mirny
Yayoi - F - March
Yogi - M - Yoga practitioner
Yoko - F - Child of the Sun
Yori - F - Trustworthy
Yoshi - F - Perfection
Yoshiko - F - Perfect Child
Yoshiro - M - Perfect Son
Yuki - M - Snow
Yukiko - F - Snow Child
Yukio - M - Cherished by God
Yuko - F - Kind child
Yumako - F - Child Yuma
Yumi - F - Bow-like (weapon)
Yumiko - F - Child of the Arrow
Yuri - F - Lily
Yuriko - F - Lily's Child
Yuu - M - Noble Blood
Yuudai - M - Great Hero

Nagisa - "coast"
Kaworu - "to smell"
Ritsuko - "science", "attitude"
Akagi - "mahogany"
Shinji - "death"
Misato - "beautiful city"
Katsuragi - "fortress with walls entwined with grass"
Asuka - lit. "love-love"
Soryu - "central current"
Ayanami - "strip of fabric", "wave pattern"
Rei - “zero”, “example”, “soul”
KENSHIN name means "Heart of the Sword".

Japanese names and their meanings

Akito - Sparkling Man
Kuramori Reika - "Treasure Protector" and "Cold Summer" Rurouni - Wandering Wanderer
Himura - "Burning Village"
Shishio Makoto - True Hero
Takani Megumi - "Sublime Love"
Shinomori Aoshi - "Green Bamboo Forest"
Makimachi Misao - "Run the City"
Saito Hajime - "The Beginning of Human Life"
Hiko Seijuro - "Justice Prevailed"
Seta Sojiro - “Comprehensive Forgiveness”
Mirai - the future
Hajime - boss
Mamoru - protector
Jibo - earth
Hikari – light
Atarashiki – transformations
Namida - tears
Sora - sky
Ginga - the universe
Eva is alive
Izya is a doctor
Usagi - hare
Tsukino – Lunar
Rey - soul
Hino – fire
Ami - rain
Mitsuno - merman
Kori – ice, icy
Makoto is true
Cinema – aerial, forest
Minako – Venus
Aino – loving
Setsuna - guard
Mayo – castle, palace
Haruka – 1) distant, 2) heavenly
Teno - heavenly
Michiru - the way
Kayo - sea
Hotaru – light
Tomo is a friend.
Kaori - soft, affectionate
Yumi - "Fragrant Beauty"

Hakufu - Noble Sign

Nominal suffixes
In Japanese, there is a whole set of so-called nominal suffixes, that is, suffixes added to colloquial speech to first names, last names, nicknames and other words designating an interlocutor or a third party. They are used to indicate the social relationship between the speaker and the one being spoken about. The choice of suffix is determined by the character of the speaker (normal, rude, very polite), their attitude towards the listener (common politeness, respect, ingratiation, rudeness, arrogance), their position in society and the situation in which the conversation takes place (one-on-one, in a circle of loved ones friends, between colleagues, between strangers, in public). What follows is a list of some of these suffixes (in order of increasing "respectfulness") and their common meanings.

Tti (cchi) - Children's version of "-chan" (cf. "Tamagotti").

Japanese names
Modern Japanese names consist of two parts - the surname, which comes first, and the given name, which comes second. True, the Japanese often write their names in " European order"(first name - surname), if they are written romaji. For convenience, the Japanese sometimes write their last name in CAPITAL letters so that it is not confused with their first name (due to the inconsistency described above).
The exception is the emperor and members of his family. They don't have a last name. Girls who marry princes also lose their surnames.

Ancient names and surnames
Before the Meiji Restoration, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames. The rest of the Japanese population was content with personal names and nicknames.
Women of aristocratic and samurai families also usually did not have surnames, since they did not have the right of inheritance. In those cases where women did have surnames, they did not change them upon marriage.

Surnames were divided into two groups - the surnames of aristocrats and the surnames of samurai.
Unlike the number of samurai surnames, the number of aristocratic surnames has practically not increased since ancient times. Many of them went back to the priestly past of the Japanese aristocracy.

The most respected and respected clans of aristocrats were: Konoe, Takashi, Kujo, Ichijo and Gojo. All of them belonged to the Fujiwara clan and had a common name - “Gosetsuke”. From among the men of this family, regents (sessho) and chancellors (kampaku) of Japan were appointed, and from among the women, wives for the emperors were chosen.
The next most important clans were the Hirohata, Daigo, Kuga, Oimikado, Saionji, Sanjo, Imaidegawa, Tokudaji and Kaoin clans. From among them, the highest state dignitaries were appointed.

Thus, representatives of the Saionji clan served as imperial grooms (meryo no gogen). Next came all the other aristocratic clans.
The hierarchy of nobility of aristocratic families began to take shape in the 6th century and lasted until the end of the 11th century, when power in the country passed to the samurai. Among them, the clans Genji (Minamoto), Heike (Taira), Hojo, Ashikaga, Tokugawa, Matsudaira, Hosokawa, Shimazu, Oda enjoyed special respect. A number of their representatives at different times were shoguns (military rulers) of Japan.

Upon entering the period of adolescence, the samurai chose a different name for himself than the one given to him at birth. Sometimes samurai changed their names throughout adult life, for example, to emphasize the onset of a new period (promotion or moving to another duty station). The master had the right to rename his vassal. In cases of serious illness, the name was sometimes changed to that of Amida Buddha to appeal to his mercy.
According to the rules of samurai duels, before the fight the samurai had to name his full name, so that the opponent can decide whether he is worthy of such an opponent. Of course, in life this rule was observed much less often than in novels and chronicles.

The suffix "-hime" was added to the end of the names of girls from noble families. It is often translated as "princess", but in fact it was used to refer to all noble ladies.
The suffix “-gozen” was used for the names of samurai wives. They were often called simply by their husband's surname and rank. Personal names of married women were practically used only by their close relatives.

Modern names and surnames
During the Meiji Restoration, all Japanese people were given surnames. Naturally, most of them were associated with various signs of peasant life, especially with rice and its processing. These surnames, like the surnames of the upper class, were also usually made up of two kanji.

The most common Japanese surnames now are Suzuki, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Saito, Sato, Sasaki, Kudo, Takahashi, Kobayashi, Kato, Ito, Murakami, Oonishi, Yamaguchi, Nakamura, Kuroki, Higa.

Men's names have changed less. They also often depend on the “serial number” of the son in the family. The suffixes "-ichi" and "-kazu" meaning "first son" are often used, as are the suffixes "-ji" ("second son") and "-zō" ("third son").
Names containing "shin" are usually considered unlucky and unlucky because "shin" means "death" in Japanese.

Most Japanese girl names end in "-ko" ("child") or "-mi" ("beauty"). Girls, as a rule, are given names associated in meaning with everything beautiful, pleasant and feminine. Unlike male names, female names are usually written in hiragana rather than kanji.

According to a law passed during the time of Emperor Meiji, after marriage, husband and wife are legally required to adopt the same surname. In 98% of cases this is the husband's last name. For several years now, parliament has been discussing an amendment to the Civil Code allowing spouses to keep premarital surnames. However, so far she cannot get the required number of votes.
After death, a Japanese person receives a new, posthumous name (kaimyo), which is written on a special wooden tablet (ihai). This tablet is considered to be the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased and is used in funeral rites. Kaimyo and ihai are purchased from Buddhist monks - sometimes even before the person's death.

The surname in Japanese is called "myoji" (苗字 or 名字), "uji" (氏) or "sei" (姓).

The vocabulary of the Japanese language has long been divided into two types: wago (Japanese 和語?) - native Japanese words and kango (Japanese 漢語?) - borrowed from China. Names are also divided into these types, although a new type is now actively expanding - gairaigo (Japanese 外来語?) - words borrowed from other languages, but components of this type are rarely used in names.

kunnye (consisting of vago)
onny (consisting of kango)
mixed

Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 Sato:?)
Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木?)
Takahashi (Japanese: 高橋?)
Tanaka (Japanese: 田中?)
Watanabe (Japanese: 渡辺?)
Ito (Japanese: 伊藤 Ito:?)
Yamamoto (Japanese: 山本?)
Nakamura (Japanese: 中村?)
Ohayashi (Japanese: 小林?)
Kobayashi (Japanese: 小林?) (different surnames, but spelled the same and have approximately the same distribution)
Kato (Japanese: 加藤 Kato:?)

In three-component surnames, Japanese roots are often found, written phonetically. Examples: 久保田 "Kubota (probably the word 窪 kubo "hole" is written phonetically as 久保), 阿久津 Akutsu (probably the word 明く aku "to open" is written phonetically as 阿久). However, ordinary three-component surnames consisting of three kun readings are also common. Examples: 矢田部 Yatabe, 小野木 Onoki.There are also three-component surnames with Chinese reading.

Four or more component surnames are very rare.

There are surnames with very unusual readings, which look like puzzles. Examples: 十八女 Wakairo - written in hieroglyphs for “eighteen-year-old girl”, and read as 若色 “young + color”; The surname denoted by the hieroglyph 一 “one” is read as Ninomae, which can be translated as 二の前 ni no mae “before two”; and the surname 穂積 Hozue, which can be interpreted as “gathering ears of grain,” is sometimes written as 八月一日 “the first day of the eighth lunar month” - apparently on this day in ancient times the harvest began.

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Japanese surnames

Japanese surnames

Japanese full name, as a rule, consists of a family name (surname), followed by a personal name. According to tradition in Japan, the surname comes first, and then the given name. This is a common practice in East and Southeast Asia, including Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and several other cultures.

Modern Japanese often write their names in European order (personal name, and then surname of the clan), if they write in Latin or Cyrillic.

All Japanese people have a single surname and a single given name. no middle name, except for the Japanese imperial family, whose members do not have a surname.

The first law on Japanese names and surnames appeared at the beginning of the Meiji era - in 1870. According to this law, every Japanese was required to choose a surname for himself. Most of the surnames created at that time come from the names of the area of residence. And many Japanese surnames represent various rural landscapes.

Japanese surnames (list)

Akiyama

Asano

Asayama

Arai

Araki

Vada

Watanabe

Yoshimura

Ikeda

Imai

Inoe

Isis

Ishikawa

Katsura

Kido

Kimura

Kita

Kitano

Kobayashi

Kojima

Condo

Kubo

Kubota

Kuroki

Maruyama

Machida

Matsuda

Matsui

Maeda

Minami

Miura

Morimoto

Morita

Murakami

Murata

Nagai

Nakai

Nakagawa

Nakada

Nakamura

Nakano

Nakahara

Nakayama

Narazaki

Ogawa

Ozawa

Okada

Oonisi

Oono

Oyama

Sawada

Sakai

Sakamoto

Sano

Shibata

Suzuki

Taguchi

Takano

Tamura

Tanaka

Tanigawa

Takahashi

Tachibana

Takeda

Uchida

Ueda

Uematsu

Fujita

Fuji

Fujimoto

Fukushima

Hara

Hattori

Hayashi

Hirano

Honda

Hoshino

Tsubaki

Enomoto

Yamada

Yamaki

Yamanaka

Yamasaki

Yamamoto

Yamamura

Yamashita

Yamauchi

Yasuda

The most common Japanese surnames

Suzuki (Wooden bell)

Watanabe (Walk around the neighborhood)

Tanaka (Centre)

Yamamoto (Foot of the Mountain)

Takahashi (High Bridge)

Kobayashi (Little Forest)

Murakami (Village Head)

Nakamura (Village Center)

Oonisi (Greater West)

Hashimoto (bridge)

Miura (three bays)

Takano (plain)

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Japanese surnames

For the Japanese, a beautiful combination of first and last name is the main thing. They consider it a complex science. It is known that when choosing a name for a child, they trust only people who specialize in this. Because of such a serious attitude to the choice of names, in the same village you can never hear the same names of boys and girls. In Japan there is no such thing as a “namesake,” and all because the Japanese prefer to use their surnames rather than their given names, of which, by the way, there are many.

First name after last name

Japanese names consist of two adjectives: family name and personal name. In Japan, in turn, the surname is the main one; it is written and spoken first everywhere. Modern Japanese are accustomed to writing their first and last names like Europeans, but in order to designate their last name as the main one, they write it in capital letters. Europeans do not attach importance to this strange and serious attitude of the Japanese towards their surnames, which is why misunderstandings arise regarding the reading, translation and transcription of Japanese names and surnames.

Until the second half of the 19th century, only aristocrats and samurai had surnames in Japan; even their wives did not have the honor of bearing a surname. The rest of the population had only nicknames and personal names. The most notable were the clans of aristocrats - Fuji, which had the general name "Gosetsuke". Today, in the dictionary of Japanese surnames, there are 100,000 family names, of which approximately 70,000 appeared 135 years ago (for comparison: in Europe 50,000, in China a couple of hundred, in Korea about 160, in Russia approximately 85,000, in the USA more than 1 million names). During the Eminence Reign (1868–1911), the reigning Emperor Mutsuhito ordered all Japanese peasants to choose any surname for their family. The Japanese were shocked by this idea; many did not know what to come up with. Some wrote the name of their locality, others the name of their store, and creative people themselves came up with an unusual surname that was consonant with the name.

A surname is a hereditary clan name, which in Japan is passed down from father to children; wives almost always take their husband's surname.

The first legislation on Japanese surnames appeared in 1870, it stated that every Japanese must take a surname. By this time, already 35 million of the population (descendants of aristocrats and samurai) had surnames.

70% of Japanese surnames consist of two characters. It is very rare to find a surname consisting of 3 or more hieroglyphs.

Types of surnames

The first type includes surnames indicating place of residence. The Dictionary of Japanese Surnames considers this type to be the leading one. Often it uses not only the names of settlements, but also the names of trees, rivers, terrain, settlements, reservoirs, etc.

Very often, Japanese surnames are associated with peasant life, rice growing and harvesting (almost 60%), it is rare to find an interesting or simply beautiful (from the point of view of a Russian-speaking person) surname.

The second type includes surnames formed as a result of simple professions. For example, “Inukai” - translated this word means nothing more than “dog breeder”.

The third type includes individual nicknames.

Rare but apt beautiful surnames

Here is a small list of popular, beautiful and unusual surnames:

Akiyama - autumn;
Araki - tree;
Baba is a horse;
Wada - rice field;
Yoshida - happiness;
Yoshikawa - river;
Kaneko - gold;
Mizuno - water;
Suzuki - bell;
Takagi is a tall tree;
Fukui - happiness;
Homma - good luck;
Yano is an arrow.

Common surname

In Japan, surnames have no ancestral affiliation. One surname suits both men and women.

Previously, Japanese law stipulated that husband and wife must have the same surname. Until 1946, only the husband's surname could be family, but the constitution written in the post-war period abolished this inequality. Modern Japanese can choose a surname if they wish, whether for a husband or a wife, but according to the traditions of the old days, spouses settle on the man’s surname.

Interesting Japanese surnames

For Russian people, all Japanese names and surnames seem interesting and unusual. But there are those whose translation sounds like real music.

This is, for example:

Igarashi - 50 storms;
Katayama - wild well;
Kikuchi - chrysanthemum.

Common surnames in Japan

The most popular Japanese surnames in alphabetical order are, of course, offered by the Japanese surname dictionary. Among the surnames:

A- Ando, Arai, Araki, Asano, Akiyama, Asayama.
AND- Imai, Ito, Iwasaki, Iwata, Igarasti, Iida, Inoe, Isis (despite the similarity in sound, she is in no way connected with the ancient Egyptian goddess), Ishihara, Ichikawa.
TO- Kawaguchi, Kawasaki, Kaneko, Kitano.
M- Maruyama, Masuda, Morimoto, Matila.
N- Nakahara, Narita, Nakanishi.
ABOUT- Oyama, Okazaki, Okumura, Ogiva, Ootsuoka.
WITH- Saida, Sato, Sano, Sakurai, Shibada, Shima.
T- Tachibana, Takaki, Takeguchi.
U- Ueda, Uematsu, Ueno, Uchida.
F- Fujii, Fukushima, Fujimomo, Fujiwra
X- Hattori, Hattoti, Hirai, Hirata, Hirosa, Homma, Hori.
C- Tsubaki, Tsuji, Tsuchiya
I- Yamamura, Yano, Yamanaka, Yamamoto, Yamashita, Yamauchi, Yasuda, Yamashita.

And also Enomoto, Yumake are also on the list of popular and widespread ones, according to the data offered by the dictionary of Japanese surnames.

GACKT and a little Yaoi...

Japanese names and their meanings

Japanese names (Japanese: 人名 jinmei?) these days usually consist of a family name (surname) followed by a personal name. This is a very common practice in East and Southeast Asia, including Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and some other cultures.

Using the tables below you can see how preferences have changed when choosing names over the past almost 100 years:

Japanese names

Ai - F - Love
Aiko - F - Favorite child
Akako - F - Red
Akane - F - Sparkling Red
Akemi - F - Dazzlingly beautiful
Akeno - M - Clear morning
Aki - F - Born in autumn
Akiko - F - Autumn child
Akina - F - Spring flower
Akio - M - Handsome
Akira - M - Smart, quick-witted
Akiyama - M - Autumn, mountain
Amaya - F - Night Rain
Ami - F - Friend
Amida - M - Name of Buddha
Anda - F - Met in the field
Aneko - F - Older sister
Anzu - F - Apricot
Arata - M - Inexperienced
Arisu - F - Japanese. form of the name Alice
Asuka - F - Scent of Tomorrow
Ayame - F - Iris
Azarni - F - Thistle flower
Benjiro - M - Enjoying the World
Botan - M - Peony
Chika - F - Wisdom
Chikako - F - Child of Wisdom
Chinatsu - F - Thousand Years
Chiyo - F - Eternity
Chizu - F - Thousand storks (implies longevity)
Cho - F - Butterfly
Dai - M/F - Great
Daichi - M - Great First Son
Daiki - M - Great Tree
Daisuke - M - Great Help
Etsu - F - Delightful, charming
Etsuko - F - Delightful child
Fudo - M - God of fire and wisdom
Fujita - M/F - Field, meadow
Gin - F - Silver
Goro - M - Fifth Son
Hana - F - Flower
Hanako - F - Flower Child
Haru - M - Born in Spring
Haruka - F - Distant
Haruko - F - Spring
Hachiro - M - Eighth Son
Hideaki - M - Brilliant, excellent
Hikaru - M/F - Light, shining
Hide - F - Fertile
Hiroko - F - Generous
Hiroshi - M - Generous
Hitomi - F - Doubly beautiful
Hoshi - F - Star
Hotaka - M - Name of a mountain in Japan
Hotaru - F - Firefly
Ichiro - M - First Son
Ima - F - Gift
Isami - M - Courage
Ishi - F - Stone
Izanami - F - Attractive
Izumi - F - Fountain
Jiro - M - Second Son
Joben - M - Loving cleanliness
Jomei - M - Bringing Light
Junko - F - Pure child
Juro - M - Tenth Son
Kado - M - Gate
Kaede - F - Maple leaf
Kagami - F - Mirror
Kameko - F - Turtle Child (symbol of longevity)
Kanaye - M - Diligent
Kano - M - God of Water
Kasumi - F - Fog
Katashi - M - Hardness
Katsu - M - Victory
Katsuo - M - Victorious Child
Katsuro - M - Victorious Son
Kazuki - M - Joyful World
Kazuko - F - Cheerful child
Kazuo - M - Dear Son
Kei - F - Respectful
Keiko - F - Adored
Keitaro - M - Blessed One
Ken - M - Big Man
Ken`ichi - M - Strong first son
Kenji - M - Strong second son
Kenshin - M - Heart of the Sword
Kenta - M - Healthy and brave
Kichi - F - Lucky
Kichiro - M - Lucky Son
Kiku - F - Chrysanthemum
Kimiko - F - Child of noble blood
Kin - M - Golden
Kioko - F - Happy child
Kisho - M - Having a head on his shoulders
Kita - F - North
Kiyoko - F - Clean
Kiyoshi - M - Quiet
Kohaku - M/F - Amber
Kohana - F - Small flower
Koko - F - Stork
Koto - F - Japanese. musical instrument "koto"
Kotone - F - Sound of koto
Kumiko - F - Forever beautiful
Kuri - F - Chestnut
Kuro - M - Ninth Son
Kyo - M - Agreement (or redhead)
Kyoko - F - Mirror
Leiko - F - Arrogant
Machi - F - Ten thousand years
Machiko - F - Lucky Child
Maeko - F - Honest child
Maemi - F - Sincere smile
Mai - F - Bright
Makoto - M - Sincere
Mamiko - F - Child Mami
Mamoru - M - Earth
Manami - F - The beauty of love
Mariko - F - Child of Truth
Marise - M/F - Infinite
Masa - M/F - Straightforward (person)
Masakazu - M - First son of Masa
Mashiro - M - Wide
Matsu - F - Pine
Mayako - F - Child Maya
Mayoko - F - Child Mayo
Mayuko - F - Child Mayu
Michi - F - Fair
Michie - F - Gracefully hanging flower
Michiko - F - Beautiful and wise
Michio - M - A man with the strength of three thousand
Midori - F - Green
Mihoko - F - Child Miho
Mika - F - New Moon
Miki - M/F - Stalk
Mikio - M - Three woven trees
Mina - F - South
Minako - F - Beautiful child
Mine - F - Brave Defender
Minoru - M - Seed
Misaki - F - The Bloom of Beauty
Mitsuko - F - Child of Light
Miya - F - Three arrows
Miyako - F - Beautiful child of March
Mizuki - F - Beautiful Moon
Momoko - F - Child Peach
Montaro - M - Big Guy
Moriko - F - Child of the Forest
Morio - M - Forest Boy
Mura - F - Country
Mutsuko - F - Child Mutsu

Japanese names and their meanings

Nahoko - F - Child Naho
Nami - F - Wave
Namiko - F - Child of the Waves
Nana - F - Apple
Naoko - F - Obedient child
Naomi - F - “First of all, beauty”
Nara - F - Oak
Nariko - F - Sissy
Natsuko - F - Summer child
Natsumi - F - Wonderful Summer
Nayoko - F - Baby Nayo
Nibori - M - Famous
Nikki - M/F - Two trees
Nikko - M - Daylight
Nori - F - Law
Noriko - F - Child of the Law
Nozomi - F - Nadezhda
Nyoko - F - Gemstone
Oki - F - Middle of the Ocean
Orino - F - Peasant meadow
Osamu - M - Firmness of the Law
Rafu - M - Network
Rai - F - Truth
Raidon - M - God of Thunder
Ran - F - Water lily
Rei - F - Gratitude
Reiko - F - Gratitude
Ren - F - Water lily
Renjiro - M - Honest
Renzo - M - Third Son
Riko - F - Child of Jasmine
Rin - F - Unfriendly
Rinji - M - Peaceful Forest
Rini - F - Little bunny
Risako - F - Child Risa
Ritsuko - F - Child Ritsu
Roka - M - White wave crest
Rokuro - M - Sixth Son
Ronin - M - Samurai without a master
Rumiko - F - Child Rumi
Ruri - F - Emerald
Ryo - M - Excellent
Ryoichi - M - First son of Ryo
Ryoko - F - Child Ryo
Ryota - M - Strong (fat)
Ryozo - M - Third son of Ryo
Ryuichi - M - First son of Ryu
Ryuu - M - Dragon
Saburo - M - Third Son
Sachi - F - Happiness
Sachiko - F - Child of Happiness
Sachio - M - Fortunately Born
Saeko - F - Child Sae
Saki - F - Cape (geographical)
Sakiko - F - Child Saki
Sakuko - F - Child Saku
Sakura - F - Cherry blossoms
Sanako - F - Child Sana
Sango - F - Coral
Saniiro - M - Wonderful
Satu - F - Sugar
Sayuri - F - Little lily
Seiichi - M - Sei's first son
Sen - M - Spirit of the Tree
Shichiro - M - Seventh Son
Shika - F - Deer
Shima - M - Islander
Shina - F - Decent
Shinichi - M - First son of Shin
Shiro - M - Fourth Son
Shizuka - F - Quiet
Sho - M - Prosperity
Sora - F - Sky
Sorano - F - Heavenly
Suki - F - Favorite
Suma - F - Asking
Sumi - F - Purified (religious)
Susumi - M - Moving forward (successful)
Suzu - F - Bell (bell)
Suzume - F - Sparrow
Tadao - M - Helpful
Taka - F - Noble
Takako - F - Tall child
Takara - F - Treasure
Takashi - M - Famous
Takehiko - M - Bamboo Prince
Takeo - M - Bamboo-like
Takeshi - M - Bamboo tree or brave
Takumi - M - Craftsman
Tama - M/F - Gemstone
Tamiko - F - Child of Abundance
Tani - F - From the Valley (child)
Taro - M - Firstborn
Taura - F - Many lakes; many rivers
Teijo - M - Fair
Tomeo - M - Cautious person
Tomiko - F - Child of Wealth
Tora - F - Tigress
Torio - M - Bird tail
Toru - M - Sea
Toshi - F - Mirror image
Toshiro - M - Talented
Toya - M/F - House door
Tsukiko - F - Moon Child
Tsuyu - F - Morning Dew
Udo - M - Ginseng
Ume - F - Plum blossom
Umeko - F - Plum Blossom Child
Usagi - F - Rabbit
Uyeda - M - From the rice field (child)
Yachi - F - Eight thousand
Yasu - F - Calm
Yasuo - M - Mirny
Yayoi - F - March
Yogi - M - Yoga practitioner
Yoko - F - Child of the Sun
Yori - F - Trustworthy
Yoshi - F - Perfection
Yoshiko - F - Perfect Child
Yoshiro - M - Perfect Son
Yuki - M - Snow
Yukiko - F - Snow Child
Yukio - M - Cherished by God
Yuko - F - Kind child
Yumako - F - Child Yuma
Yumi - F - Bow-like (weapon)
Yumiko - F - Child of the Arrow
Yuri - F - Lily
Yuriko - F - Lily's Child
Yuu - M - Noble Blood
Yuudai - M - Great Hero
Nagisa - "coast"
Kaworu - "to smell"
Ritsuko - "science", "attitude"
Akagi - "mahogany"
Shinji - "death"
Misato - "beautiful city"
Katsuragi - "fortress with walls entwined with grass"
Asuka - lit. "love-love"
Soryu - "central current"
Ayanami - "strip of fabric", "wave pattern"
Rei - “zero”, “example”, “soul”
KENSHIN name means "Heart of the Sword".

Japanese names and their meanings

Japanese names, last names and their meanings
What to name the child?

For future parents in Japan, special collections of names are published - just like here in general - so that they can choose the most suitable one for their child. In general, the process of choosing (or coming up with) a name comes down to one of the following ways:
1. a keyword can be used in the name - a seasonal phenomenon, a shade of color, a precious stone, etc.
2. the name may contain the parents’ wish to become strong, wise or brave, for which the hieroglyphs of strength, wisdom and courage are used, respectively.
3. You can also go from choosing the hieroglyphs you like most (in different spellings) and combining them with each other.
4. It has recently become popular to name a child based on hearing, i.e. depending on how pleasant the desired name is to the ear. Having chosen the desired pronunciation, they determine the hieroglyphs with which this name will be written.
5. It has always been popular to name a child after celebrities - heroes of historical chronicles, politicians, pop stars, TV series characters, etc.
6. Some parents rely on various fortune telling, believing that the number of traits in the hieroglyphs of the first and last names should be combined with each other.
The most common endings for Japanese names are:

Male names: ~aki, ~fumi, ~go, ~haru, ~hei, ~hiko, ~hisa, ~hide, ~hiro, ~ji, ~kazu, ~ki, ~ma, ~masa, ~michi, ~mitsu , ~nari, ~nobu, ~nori, ~o, ~rou, ~shi, ~shige, ~suke, ~ta, ~taka, ~to, ~toshi, ~tomo, ~ya, ~zou

Female names: ~a, ~chi, ~e, ~ho, ~i, ~ka, ~ki, ~ko, ~mi, ~na, ~no, ~o, ~ri, ~sa, ~ya, ~yo
Nominal suffixes

In the Japanese language, there is a whole set of so-called nominal suffixes, that is, suffixes added in colloquial speech to first names, surnames, nicknames and other words denoting an interlocutor or a third party. They are used to indicate the social relationship between the speaker and the one being spoken about. The choice of suffix is determined by the character of the speaker (normal, rude, very polite), their attitude towards the listener (common politeness, respect, ingratiation, rudeness, arrogance), their position in society and the situation in which the conversation takes place (one-on-one, in a circle of loved ones friends, between colleagues, between strangers, in public). The following is a list of some of these suffixes (in order of increasing "respectfulness" Japanese names and their meanings Japanese first name Japan surnames green yaponiya live names and their common meanings.

Tian (chan) - A close analogue of the “diminutive” suffixes of the Russian language. Usually used in relation to junior or inferior in social sense with whom a close relationship develops. There is an element of baby talk in the use of this suffix. Typically used when adults address children, boys address their girlfriends, girlfriends address each other, and small children address each other. The use of this suffix in relation to people who are not very close and equal to the speaker in position is impolite. Let's say, if a guy addresses a girl his age in this way, with whom he is not “having an affair,” then he is being inappropriate. A girl who addresses a guy of her own age in this way, with whom she is not “having an affair,” is, in essence, being rude.

Kun (kun) - An analogue of the address “comrade”. Most often used between men or in relation to guys. Indicates, rather, a certain “officiality” of, nevertheless, close relationships. Let's say, between classmates, partners or friends. It can also be used in relation to juniors or inferior in a social sense, when there is no need to focus on this circumstance.

Yang (yan) - Kansai analogue of "-chan" and "-kun".

Pyon (pyon) - Children's version of "-kun".

Tti (cchi) - Children's version of "-chan" (cf. "Tamagotti" Japanese names and their meanings Japanese name Japan surnames names green yaponiya live.

Without a suffix - Close relationships, but without “lisping.” The usual address of adults to teenage children, friends to each other, etc. If a person does not use suffixes at all, then this is a clear indicator of rudeness. Calling by last name without a suffix is a sign of familiar, but “detached” relationships (a typical example is the relationship of schoolchildren or students).

San (san) - An analogue of the Russian “Mr./Madam”. A general indication of respect. Often used to communicate with strangers, or when all other suffixes are inappropriate. Used in relation to elders, including older relatives (brothers, sisters, parents).

Han (han) - Kansai equivalent of "-san".

Si (shi) - “Master”, used exclusively in official documents after the surname.

Fujin - “Lady”, used exclusively in official documents after the surname.

Kouhai - Appeal to the younger. Especially often - at school in relation to those who are younger than the speaker.

Senpai (senpai) - Appeal to an elder. Especially often - at school in relation to those who are older than the speaker.

Dono (dono) - Rare suffix. Respectful address to an equal or superior, but slightly different in position. Currently considered obsolete and practically not found in communication. In ancient times, it was actively used when samurai addressed each other.

Sensei - “Teacher”. Used to refer to teachers and lecturers themselves, as well as doctors and politicians.

Senshu - “Sportsman”. Used to refer to famous athletes.

Zeki - “Sumo wrestler”. Used to refer to famous sumo wrestlers.

Ue (ue) - “Elder”. A rare and outdated respectful suffix used for older family members. Not used with names - only with designations of position in the family (“father”, “mother”, “brother”) Japanese names and their meanings Japanese name Japan surnames names green yaponiya live.

Sama - The highest degree of respect. Appeal to gods and spirits, to spiritual authorities, girls to lovers, servants to noble masters, etc. Roughly translated into Russian as “respected, dear, venerable.”

Jin (jin) - “One of.” "Saya-jin" - "one of Saya."

Tachi (tachi) - “And friends.” "Goku-tachi" - "Goku and his friends."

Gumi (gumi) - “Team, group, party.” "Kenshin-gumi" - "Team Kenshin".

Japanese names and their meanings
Personal pronouns

In addition to nominal suffixes, Japan also uses many different ways to address each other and refer to themselves using personal pronouns. The choice of pronoun is determined by the social laws already mentioned above. The following is a list of some of these pronouns.

Group with the meaning "I"
Watashi - Polite option. Recommended for use by foreigners. Typically used by men. Infrequently used in colloquial speech, as it carries a connotation of "high style".
Atashi - Polite option. Recommended for use by foreigners. Typically used by women. Or gays. ^_^ Not used when communicating with high-ranking individuals.
Watakushi - A very polite female version.
Washi - An outdated polite option. Doesn't depend on gender.
Wai - Kansai equivalent of washi.
Boku (Boku) - Familiar youth male version. Rarely used by women, in this case “unfemininity” is emphasized. Used in poetry.
Ore - Not a very polite option. Purely masculine. Like, cool. ^_^
Ore-sama - "Great Self". A rare form, an extreme degree of boasting.
Daiko or Naiko (Daikou/Naikou) - Analogous to “ore-sama”, but somewhat less boastful.
Sessha - Very polite form. Typically used by samurai when addressing their masters.
Hishou - “Insignificant.” A very polite form, now practically not used.
Gusei - Similar to hisho, but somewhat less derogatory.
Oira - Polite form. Typically used by monks.
Chin - A special form that only the emperor has the right to use.
Ware - Polite (formal) form, translated as [I/you/he] “himself.” Used when the importance of “I” needs to be particularly expressed. Say, in spells (“I conjure” Japanese names and their meanings Japanese name Japan surnames names green yaponiya live. In modern Japanese it is rarely used in the meaning of “I”. It is more often used to form a reflexive form, for example, “forgetting about yourself” - "ware wo wasurete." [Speaker's name or position] - Used by children or when communicating with them, usually in the family. Say, a girl named Atsuko might say "Atsuko is thirsty." Or her older brother, when addressing her, might say “Brother will bring you some juice.” There is an element of “lisping” in this, but such an address is quite acceptable.

Group meaning “We”
Watashi-tachi - Polite option.
Ware-ware - Very polite, formal option.
Bokura - Impolite option.
Touhou - Regular option.

Group with the meaning “You/You”:
Anata - General polite option. Also a common way for a wife to address her husband (“dear” Japanese names and their meanings Japanese name Japan surnames names green yaponiya live.
Anta - Less polite option. Typically used by young people. A slight hint of disrespect.
Otaku - Literally translated as “Your home.” A very polite and rare form. Due to the ironic use by Japanese informals in relation to each other, the second meaning was fixed - “feng, crazy.”
Kimi - Polite option, often between friends. Used in poetry.
Kijo (Kijou) - “Mistress”. A very polite form of addressing a lady.
Onushi - “Insignificant.” An outdated form of polite speech.
Omae - Familiar (when addressing an enemy - offensive) option. Usually used by men in relation to a socially younger person (father to daughter, say).
Temae/Temee - Offensive male version. Usually in relation to the enemy. Something like “bastard” or “bastard.”
Honore (Onore) - Insulting option.
Kisama - A very offensive option. Translated with dots. ^_^ Oddly enough, it literally translates as “noble master.”

Japanese names

Modern Japanese names consist of two parts - the surname, which comes first, and the given name, which comes second. True, the Japanese often write their names in “European order” (first name - surname) if they write them in romaji. For convenience, the Japanese sometimes write their last name in CAPITAL letters so that it is not confused with their first name (due to the inconsistency described above).

The exception is the emperor and members of his family. They don't have a last name. Girls who marry princes also lose their surnames.
Ancient names and surnames

Before the Meiji Restoration, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames. The rest of the Japanese population was content with personal names and nicknames. Women of aristocratic and samurai families also usually did not have surnames, since they did not have the right of inheritance. In those cases where women did have surnames, they did not change them upon marriage.

Surnames were divided into two groups - the surnames of aristocrats and the surnames of samurai. Unlike the number of samurai surnames, the number of aristocratic surnames has practically not increased since ancient times. Many of them went back to the priestly past of the Japanese aristocracy.

The most respected and respected clans of aristocrats were: Konoe, Takashi, Kujo, Ichijo and Gojo. All of them belonged to the Fujiwara clan and had a common name - “Gosetsuke”. From among the men of this family, regents (sessho) and chancellors (kampaku) of Japan were appointed, and from among the women, wives for the emperors were chosen. The next most important clans were the Hirohata, Daigo, Kuga, Oimikado, Saionji, Sanjo, Imaidegawa, Tokudaji and Kaoin clans. From among them, the highest state dignitaries were appointed.

Thus, representatives of the Saionji clan served as imperial grooms (meryo no gogen). Next came all the other aristocratic clans. The hierarchy of nobility of aristocratic families began to take shape in the 6th century and lasted until the end of the 11th century, when power in the country passed to the samurai. Among them, the clans Genji (Minamoto), Heike (Taira), Hojo, Ashikaga, Tokugawa, Matsudaira, Hosokawa, Shimazu, Oda enjoyed special respect. A number of their representatives in different time were the shoguns (military rulers) of Japan.

The personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai were formed from two kanji (hieroglyphs) with a “noble” meaning.

Personal names of samurai servants and peasants were often given according to the principle of "numbering". The first son is Ichiro, the second is Jiro, the third is Saburo, the fourth is Shiro, the fifth is Goro, etc. Also, in addition to “-ro”, the suffixes “-emon”, “-ji”, “-zo”, “-suke”, “-be” were used for this purpose.

Upon entering the period of adolescence, the samurai chose a different name for himself than the one given to him at birth. Sometimes samurai changed their names throughout adult life, for example, to emphasize the onset of a new period (promotion or moving to another duty station). The master had the right to rename his vassal.
In cases of serious illness, the name was sometimes changed to that of Amida Buddha to appeal to his mercy. According to the rules of samurai duels, before the fight, the samurai had to say his full name so that the opponent could decide whether he was worthy of such an opponent. Of course, in life this rule was observed much less often than in novels and chronicles.

The suffix "-hime" was added to the end of the names of girls from noble families. It is often translated as "princess", but in fact it was used to refer to all noble ladies. The suffix “-gozen” was used for the names of samurai wives. They were often called simply by their husband's surname and rank. Personal names of married women were practically used only by their close relatives.
For the names of monks and nuns from the noble classes, the suffix “-in” was used.
Modern Japanese names and surnames

During the Meiji Restoration, all Japanese people were given surnames. Naturally, most of them were associated with various signs of peasant life, especially with rice and its processing. These surnames, like the surnames of the upper class, were also usually made up of two kanji.
The most common Japanese surnames today

Suzuki, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Saito, Sato, Sasaki, Kudo, Takahashi, Kobayashi, Kato, Ito, Murakami, Oonishi, Yamaguchi, Nakamura, Kuroki, Higa.

The same hieroglyphs are often found in names as in surnames, and the same phonetic and word-formation patterns apply to names. However, there are much more components included in names than in surnames, although there are certain patterns here too. Names include established components or combinations of components. Names often use hieroglyph readings and nanori readings that are rarely used in modern languages, and often there is no pattern in this.
There is a group of hieroglyphs that in names are consistently read as one ono or kun (among them, the most common are those that have only one reading):
準 jun 準吉 Junkichi
謙 ken 謙蔵 Kenzo:
鉄 tetsu 鉄山 Tetsuzan
鋼 ko: 鋼治 Ko:ji
諸 Moro 諸平 Morohira
Another, more numerous group of hieroglyphs in names uses two or three reading options (1-2 according to kun and 1 according to on), and the pattern of reading choice often depends on the position of the component in the name. For example, the characters 政、光、盛、信、宣 in the position of the second component are usually read according to kun, and the characters 一、七、十、六、吉、作、三郎、太郎 in combination with them are also read according to kun. In combination with hieroglyphs, these signs can be read using it.
Let us now consider the structure and types of Japanese male names
There are many fairly typical one-component names related to vago. They come from the old written final form of the predicative adjective (which ended in si), or from the third (dictionary) stem of the verb, or from the noun. In this case, variable endings are not written in names, only the root-hieroglyph is written.

For example:
博 Hiroshi, 実 Minoru,
正 Tadashi, 薫 Kaoru,
武 Takeshi, 東 Azuma,
雅 Masashi, 登 Noboru.
均 Hitoshi,

Simple names related to kango with readings for on are few.

For example:

竜 Ryu, 順 Jun.

Complex names of two components often include as second (third) elements the characters 郎, 夫, 男, 志, 人, 士, 彦, 司 meaning “man”, “husband”, “warrior”, “ outstanding man", as well as many other second elements.

Second stable components of two-component names
a) Japanese origin
…雄 o “strong, brave, superiority, male” (from osu), ….男o from otoko “man”, …夫 o from otto “husband”. Read according to kun
正男 Masao
和夫 Kazuo
信夫 Nobuo
…哉ya This hieroglyph is found only in male names and previously denoted an exclamation of delight “ah!” Names with this component are read according to kun
澄哉 Sumiya
只哉 Tadaya
…彦 hiko. In ancient times it had the meaning of “prince” and could only be included in the names of noble people. Names with this component feel old-fashioned and lack popularity. Names with this component have a kun reading
紀彦 Norihiko
勝彦 Katsuhiko
…助,…介, …輔 suke. In ancient times, all the hieroglyphs that denote this component meant “assistant” and served as a designation for the position. Names with this component are read according to kun
直助, 直介 Naosuke
…之, …行, …幸 yuki. Names with these components are read according to kun and are considered euphonious, although in everyday communication the yuki component is omitted. The first two hieroglyphs are read non-standardly by Yuki: the first hieroglyph means indicator genitive case in Chineseisms, the second is the benevolent meaning of “happiness”, and the third is “going through life”
直之 Naoyuki
…人, …仁 hito. They mean “man” (the second hieroglyph is read non-standardly, but usually has a different meaning and reading – “philanthropy, humanity”). Names with this ending have a noble connotation, as they are worn by emperors. All names with this component have a kun reading.
康人 Yasuhito
…樹 ki “tree” second component of names with kun reading
直樹 Naoki
茂樹 Shigeki b) of Chinese origin (read by on)
…器 ki “ability”,…機 ki “loom”, …毅 ki “courage, courage, fortitude”, …記 ki “chronicle”, …騎 ki “rider”. All components and, accordingly, names with them are read according to it.
光記 Ko:ki
春機 Shunki
誠器 Seiki
明毅 Meiki
…朗, …郎 ro: “young man.” Basically follows the hieroglyphs-numerals, which reflect the order of birth of sons in the family. Names are mostly read by on.
太郎 Tarot,
二郎 Jiro

...也 this is the reading of the hieroglyph, which in the old written language also meant the connective nari “to be.” Names with this component are read by on.
心也 Xingya

...吾 go-on reading of the hieroglyph with the meaning “I”, “our”, names with it are read according to it
健吾 Kengo

...平, …兵 hey. the second character was included in the names of military positions in the Nara period, but now names with this ending look archaic. Names with this component are read by on.
隼兵 Junpei

…太 ta “fat, big.” Names with this component are read by on and were often used in the classical works of Japanese writers, belonging to the characters of servants, peasants and conveying the image of a good-natured fat man.
権太Gonta

...志 si ("will, desire"), ...史 si "history", ...士 si "samurai", ...司 si "to manage". Names with these components are read by on, but there are also names with kun readings of the first components, and have very “masculine” meanings.
強志 Tsuyoshi
仁志 Hitoshi
雄司 Yuji

...一 iti "unit". Being in the second position in the name, this hieroglyph means “first (in something).” All names with this component are read by it
英一Eiichi
雄一 Juichi

...二 ji "second", "next", 治 ji "manage", 次 ji "next", 児 ji "child". All these components are probably related to the order in which sons appear in the family, some of them are matched by sound to ona ji - the next one. Names with these components have an onal reading
研次 Kenji
...蔵,..., 造, ...三 dzo: This ending is common among two-syllable names. It is more often used in names read by on, but can also appear in names of Japanese root.

A significant portion of male names with two components do not belong to any of the categories listed above. Among them there are names of Japanese and Chinese origin. Japanese root names are formed by adding noun stems, nouns with an adjective or verb, adjectives with verbs. The components themselves often have benevolent meanings.
貫之 Tsurayuki
広重 Hiroshige
正則 Masanori
There are significantly fewer Chinese root names of this type, and they are combinations of hieroglyphs read in ons. Moreover, the hieroglyphs used in such names and in male names in general have a benevolent meaning
勇吉 Yukichi
啓治 Keiji

There are few three-component names, and most of them are names with stable combinations of two components

Stable components of three-component names
…一郎 ichiro: “first son”
憲一郎 Kenichiro

….太郎 tarot: “eldest son”
竜太郎 Ryu:taro:

…次郎、….二郎 jiro: “second son”
正二郎 Sho:jiro:

…司郎、…志郎、…士郎 shiro:
恵司郎 Keishiro:

…之助, …之輔, …之介、….nosuke (see suke component)
準之助 Junnosuke

Another category of three-component names are names with one stable component 雄, 郎, 彦, 志, etc. from those listed when mentioning two-component names, but forming a complex of two components written in ateji - hieroglyphs by sound (i.e. the Japanese word is written in hieroglyphs that read according to him)
亜紀雄 Akio
伊智郎 Ichiro:
賀津彦 Katsuhiko
左登志 Satoshi

There are few names with four components, mostly these are names with stable final combinations …左衛門 zaemon, …右衛門 emon

Most Japanese female names end in "-ko" ("child") Japanese names and their meanings Japanese name Japan surnames names green yaponiya live or "-mi" ("beauty" Japanese names and their meanings Japanese name Japan surnames names green yaponiya live. Girls, as a rule, are given names that are associated in meaning with everything beautiful, pleasant and feminine.Unlike male names, female names are usually written not in kanji, but in hiragana.

Some modern girls do not like the ending “-ko” in their names and prefer to omit it. For example, a girl named "Yuriko" might call herself "Yuri".

According to a law passed during the time of Emperor Meiji, after marriage, husband and wife are legally required to adopt the same surname. In 98% of cases this is the husband's last name. For several years now, parliament has been discussing an amendment to the Civil Code allowing spouses to keep premarital surnames. However, so far she cannot get the required number of votes. After death, a Japanese person receives a new, posthumous name (kaimyo), which is written on a special wooden tablet (ihai). This tablet is considered to be the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased and is used in funeral rites. Kaimyo and ihai are purchased from Buddhist monks - sometimes even before the person's death.

The surname in Japanese is called "myoji" (苗字 or 名字, "uji" (氏 or "sei" (姓.

The vocabulary of the Japanese language has long been divided into two types: wago (Japanese 和語?) - native Japanese words and kango (Japanese 漢語?) - borrowed from China. Names are also divided into these types, although they are now actively expanding new type- gairaigo (Japanese 外来語?) - words borrowed from other languages, but components of this type are rarely used in names.

Modern Japanese names are divided into the following groups:

Cunnae (consisting of vago)
onny (consisting of kango)
mixed

The ratio of kun and on surnames is approximately 80% to 20%.

The most common surnames in Japan:

Many surnames, although read according to the onon (Chinese) reading, go back to ancient Japanese words and are written phonetically, and not by meaning.

Examples of such surnames: Kubo (Japanese: 久保?) - from Japanese. kubo (Japanese 窪?) - hole; Sasaki (Japanese 佐々木?) - from the ancient Japanese sasa - small; Abe (Japanese: 阿部?) - from ancient word ape - connect, mix. If we take into account such surnames, then the number of native Japanese surnames reaches 90%.

For example, the character 木 (“tree”) is read in kun as ki, but in names it can also be read as ko; The character 上 (“up”) can be read in kun as either ue or kami. There are two different surnames, Uemura and Kamimura, which are written the same - 上村. In addition, there are dropouts and fusions of sounds at the junction of components, for example, in the surname Atsumi (Japanese 渥美?), the components individually are read as atsui and umi; and the surname 金成 (kana + nari) is often read simply as Kanari.

When combining hieroglyphs, it is typical to alternate the endings of the first component A/E and O/A - for example, 金 kane - Kanagawa (Japanese 金川?), 白 shiro - Shiraoka (Japanese 白岡?). In addition, the initial syllables of the second component often become voiced, for example 山田 Yamada (yama + ta), 宮崎 Miyazaki (miya + saki). Also, surnames often contain the remainder of the case indicator but or ha (in ancient times it was customary to place them between the first and last names). Usually this indicator is not written, but is read - for example, 一宮 Ichinomiya (ichi + miya); 榎本 Enomoto (e + moto). But sometimes the case indicator is displayed in writing in hiragana, katakana or hieroglyph - for example, 井之上 Inoue (and + but + ue); 木ノ下 Kinoshita (ki + katakana no + shita).

The vast majority of surnames in Japanese consist of two characters; surnames with one or three characters are less common, and surnames with four or more characters are very rare.

One-component surnames are mainly of Japanese origin and are formed from nouns or medial forms of verbs. For example, Watari (Japanese 渡?) - from watari (Japanese 渡り crossing?), 　Hata (Japanese 畑?) - the word hata means “plantation, vegetable garden.” Significantly less common are surnames consisting of one hieroglyph. For example, Cho (Japanese 兆 Cho:?) means “trillion”, In (Japanese 因?) means “reason”.

The majority of Japanese surnames consisting of two components are reported as 60-70%. Of these, the majority are surnames from Japanese roots - it is believed that such surnames are the easiest to read, since most of them are read according to the usual kuns used in the language. Examples - Matsumoto (Japanese 松本?) - consists of the nouns matsu “pine” and moto “root” used in the language; Kiyomizu (Japanese 清水?) - consists of the adjective stem 清い kiyoi - “pure” and the noun 水 mizu - “water”. Chinese two-part surnames are less numerous and usually have one single reading. Often Chinese surnames contain numbers from one to six (excluding four 四, since this number is read in the same way as “death” 死 si and they try not to use it). Examples: Ichijo: (Japanese: 一条?), Saito: (Japanese: 斉藤?). There are also mixed surnames, where one component is read as on, and the other as kun. Examples: Honda (Japanese 本田?), hon - “base” (on reading) + ta - “rice field” (kun reading); Betsumiya (Japanese 別宮?), betsu - “special, different” (on reading) + miya - “temple” (kun reading). Also, a very small part of surnames can be read both in onam and kun: 坂西 Banzai and Sakanishi, 宮内 Kunai and Miyauchi.

In three-component surnames, Japanese roots are often found, written phonetically. Examples: 久保田 "Kubota (probably the word 窪 kubo "hole" is written phonetically as 久保, 阿久津 Akutsu (probably the word 明く aku "to open" is written phonetically as 阿久. However, ordinary three-component surnames consisting of three kun readings are also common. Examples: 矢田部 Yatabe , 小野木 Onoki There are also three-component surnames with Chinese reading.

Four or more component surnames are very rare.

There are surnames with very unusual readings that look like puzzles. Examples: 十八女 Wakairo - written in hieroglyphs for “eighteen-year-old girl”, and read as 若色 “young + color”; The surname denoted by the hieroglyph 一 “one” is read as Ninomae, which can be translated as 二の前 ni no mae “before two”; and the surname 穂積 Hozue, which can be interpreted as “gathering ears of grain,” is sometimes written as 八月一日 “the first day of the eighth lunar month” - apparently the harvest began on this day in ancient times.
Russian female names in 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
Valentina – (strong) – Tsuyoi
Barbara – (cruel) – Zankokumi
Vasilisa – (royal) – Joteiko
Faith – (faith) – Shinkori
Victoria – (winner) – Shori
Galina – (clarity) – Tomei
Daria – (great fire) – Ohiko
Evgeniya – (noble) – Yoiidenko
Catherine – (purity, spotlessness) – Koheiri
Elena – (light) – Hikari
Elizabeth – (worshipper of God) – Keikenna
Zinaida – (born of God) – Kamigauma
Zoya – (life) – Sei, – Inoti
Inna – (stormy stream) – Hayakawa
Irina – (peace or anger) – Sekai, – Ikari
Karina – (darling) – Kawaimi
Kira – (Mistress) – Fujinka
Claudia – (limping) – Ramejo
Ksenia – (wanderer, stranger) – Horomi
Larisa – (seagull) – Kamome
Lydia – (sad song) – Nageki
Love - (love) - Ay, - Ayumi
Lyudmila – (dear to people) – Tanomi
Margarita – (pearl) – Shinjuka, – Tamae
Marina – (sea) – Maritaimi
Maria – (bitter, stubborn) – Nigai
Hope – (hope) – Nozomi
Natalya – (born, native) – Umari
Nina – (queen) – Queenmi
Oksana – (inhospitable) – Aisonaku
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
Sophia – (wise) – Kasikomi
Tamara – (palm) – Yashimi
Tatyana – (mistress) – Joshiko
Ulyana – (righteous) – Tadashimi
Julia - (wavy, fluffy) - Hajoka, - Nami
Yana - (God's grace) - Dzihiri

Feminine endings for names: -i, -mi, -ko, -ri, -yo, -e, -ki, -ra, -ka, -na.
An article about this list of names, with another list of Russian names in Japanese.

Russian male names in Japanese:

Alexander - (defender) 守る - Mamoru
Alexey – (assistant) 　―助け - Taske
Anatoly – (sunrise) 東 - Higashi
Andrey – (courageous, brave) – 勇気オYukio
Anton – (competing) –力士– Rikishi
Arkady - (happy country) – 幸国 - Shiavakuni
Artem – (unharmed, impeccable health) 安全– Anzen
Arthur – (big bear) 大熊 - Okuma
Boris – (fighting) – 等式 - Toshiki
Vadim – (proving)　―　証明 - Shomei
Valentine – (strong, healthy) - 強し - Tsuyoshi
Valery – (vigorous, healthy) – 元気等 - Genkito
Vasily – (royal) – 王部 - Obu
Victor – (winner) – 勝利者 - Serisha
Vitaly (life) – 生きる - Ikiru
Vladimir (ruler of the world) – 平和主 - Heiwanushi
Vyacheslav (illustrious) –　輝かし - Kagayakashi
Gennady – (noble, well-born) – 膏血- Koketsu
George (farmer) – 農夫 - Nofu
Gleb (block, pole) -ブロック- Burokku
Gregory (awake) - 目を覚まし　―Meosamashi
Daniel (God's judgment) - 神コート- Kamikoto
Demyan – (conqueror, pacifier) – 征服者 - Seifuku
Denis – ( vitality nature) – 自然力 - Shizenryoku
Dmitry (earthly fruit) – 果実 - Kajitsu
Eugene (noble) - 良遺伝子 - Ryoidenshi
Egor (patron of agriculture) – 地主 - Jinushi
Emelyan – (flattering, pleasant in words) - 甘言 - Kangen
Efim (blessed) - 恵まろ-Megumaro
Ivan - (God's grace) - 神の恩寵 - Kaminooncho
Igor – (militancy, courage) – 有事路Yujiro
Ilya - (the fortress of the Lord) - 要塞主 - Yosaishu
Cyril – (lord of the sun) - 太陽の領主 - Taiyonoryoshyu
Constantine (regular) - 永続 - Eizoku
Leo (lion) – 獅子オ - Shishio
Leonidas (son of the lion) – 獅子急 - Shishikyu
Maxim (great) - 全くし - Mattakushi
Michael (god-like) - 神図 - Kamizu
Mark (hammer) - Tsuchiro
Nikita (victorious) - 勝利と - Shorito
Nicholas (victory of the people) - 人の勝利 - Hitonosori
Oleg (light) - 光ろ - Hikaro
Pavel (small) - 小子 - Shoshi
Peter (stone) - 石 - Ishi
Roman (Roman) -ローマン - Roman
Ruslan (solid lion) - 獅子ハード - Shishihado
Stanislav (to become famous) - 有名なる - Yumeinaru
Stepan (crown, wreath, crown) - 花輪ろ - Hanawaro
Yuri (creator) -やり手 - Yarite
Yaroslav (bright glory) - 明る名 - Akarumei

Male endings of names: -o, -go, -hiko, -ro, -ru, -si, -ki, -ke, -zu, -ya, -ti, -iti, -mu, -to, -hey, - boo, -n, -ta, -sa, -give.

How to Determine Your Japanese Hipster Name

Today I saw a funny version of how you can determine your Japanese name. True, there is a certain point, this is not just a name, but a hipster name. And if you consider yourself a hipster deep down, or a hipster on the outside, you'll be interested in knowing your name.

Open the picture in full size, find your birth month and date. Add up the resulting words and this is your Japanese name.

Composing a harmonious combination of surname and given name for the Japanese is a complex science with long traditions. In Japan, there is a special set of names consisting of more than two thousand hieroglyphs. Until now, parents turn to specialists - compilers of Japanese names. Usually the names of boys and girls living in the same village are never repeated.

There is no concept of “namesake” in Japan. The Japanese did not even have the concept of “ fashionable names", with the exception of "ordinal" male names. This may be due to the fact that the Japanese use their surnames much more often than their personal names.

First Last Name, then First Name

Japanese names consist of two parts: the family name, which is written and pronounced first, and the personal name, which, according to Eastern tradition, comes second. Modern Japanese often write their names in “European order” (personal name and then clan surname) if they write them in Romaji (Latin) or Kiriji (Cyrillic). For convenience, the Japanese sometimes write their surname in capital letters so that it is not confused with the name.

How did the surnames come about?

Until the second half of the 19th century, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames in Japan. The rest of the Japanese population went by personal names and nicknames. The number of aristocratic families in Japan is limited and has remained unchanged since antiquity. The most notable clans of Japanese aristocrats are the Fujiwara clan, collectively called “Gosetsuke”: Konoe, Takashi, Kujo, Ichijo and Gojo. IN modern Japan There are about one hundred thousand surnames, of which more than seventy thousand appeared only 130 years ago.

During the Meiji era ("Enlightened Reign") from 1868-1911. Emperor Mutsuhito ordered all Japanese peasants, artisans and merchants to choose any surname. Some Japanese, instead of their surname, wrote down the name of the city or village in which they lived, others “for the surname” took the name of the store or workshop in which they worked. Creative people came up with sonorous surnames for themselves.

In Japan, you can meet people with the common surname Ito and exactly the same name Ito (translated as “dandy, dandy, Italy”). But such coincidences are very rare.
The only exception is Emperor Akihito ("Showing Mercy") and his family members. The “symbol of the nation” of Japan never had a surname.

Samurai names

In the 12th century, the first military usurper in the history of Japan was the shogun-samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo, or Yoritomo of the Minamoto clan (translated as “source”), who marked the beginning of the formation of a privileged class of samurai.

The samurai chose their personal names depending on their life circumstances: promotion, relocation due to service, etc. The fall of the last Tokugawa ("River of Virtue") shogunate and the transfer of power to Emperor Mutsuhito secured the exclusive privileges of the military for many years.

Until the 19th century, in addition to complete impunity and the possibility of easy money, samurai had the right to give names to their vassals. The names of samurai servants and peasants were often given “in order”: Ichiro - first son, Jiro - second, Saburo - third, Shiro - fourth, Goro - fifth, etc. In addition to “-ro”, the suffixes “-emon”, “-ji”, “-zo”, “-suke”, “-be” were used.

It is not customary for the emperors of Japan to be called the same and distinguished by serial number, like commoners. By old tradition, the names of Japanese emperors are composed with the second character "compassion, mercy, sympathy." Emperor Mutsuhito's name is a combination of two characters for "friendly, warm" and "compassionate". Emperor Hirohito, who ruled Japan from 1926 to 1989, was raised by samurai, veterans of the Russo-Japanese War.

Since the 19th and 20th centuries, rich and influential samurai have retained the highest positions in civil and military administration. Others became the founders of Japanese entrepreneurship. Part of the creative intelligentsia was formed from the samurai environment. All personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai consisted of two hieroglyphs with a “noble” meaning.

Most Japanese girl names end in "-ko" ("child") or "-mi" ("beauty"). Japanese women are often given names associated with everything beautiful, pleasant and feminine, graceful.
Unlike male names, female names are usually written not in “solemn” characters, but simply in hiragana (the Japanese alphabet used to write Chinese and Japanese words).

So, a new list of names

New generations of educated Japanese parents have long sought to expand the old list of nominal characters in order to create completely new, interesting and original names to my children. In September 2004, the Japanese received an additional list - more than 500 hieroglyphs to compile the official name of little Japanese.

The child-loving Japanese were seriously indignant. Then the Ministry of Justice of Japan urgently announced that several strange hieroglyphs were excluded from the new list of names: “cancerous tumor”, “prostitute”, “buttock”, “hemorrhoids”, “curse”, “debauchery”, “malice”, etc. Some citizens The countries of the rising sun reacted to the “name scandal” with complete indifference.

In modern Japan, every adult Japanese can take a pseudonym, and after death, almost all Japanese receive new, posthumous names (kaimyo), which are written on a special wooden tablet (ihai) - the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased. Most Japanese believe in reincarnation and try not to worry about the fleeting little things in life, even something as important as a personal name. Perhaps this is why the Japanese rarely give their children the names of their venerable ancestors.

Common Japanese surnames and their meanings

The following table provides a list of the most common Japanese surnames along with characters, readings and their meanings in Russian as of April 2010.

As already written in the article about Japanese names, you may notice that most Japanese surnames mean various rural landscapes.

Last name position	Japanese surnames in Russian	Japanese surnames in hieroglyphs	Meanings of the characters of Japanese surnames
１	Sato:	佐藤	assistant+wisteria
２	Suzuki	鈴木	bell (bell) + tree
３	Takahashi	高橋	high+bridge
４	Tanaka	田中	rice field+middle
５	Watanabe	渡辺／渡邊	cross over + surroundings
６	Ito:	伊藤	I+wisteria
７	Yamamoto	山本	mountain+base
８	Nakamura	中村	middle+village
9	Kobayashi	小林	small forest
10	Kato:	加藤	add+wisteria
11	Yoshida	吉田	happiness+rice field
12	Yamada	山田	mountain+rice field
13	Sasaki	佐々木	helpers+tree
14	Yamaguchi	山口	mountain+mouth, entrance
15	Saito:	斎藤／齋藤	purification (religious) + wisteria
16	Matsumoto	松本	pine+base
17	Inoe	井上	well+top
18	Kimura	木村	tree+village
19	Hayashi	林	forest
20	Shimizu	清水	pure water
21	Yamazaki／ Yamasaki	山崎	mountain+cape
22	Mori	森	forest
23	Abe	阿部	corner, shadow; sector;
24	Ikeda	池田	pond+rice field
25	Hashimoto	橋本	bridge+base
26	Yamashita	山下	mountain+under, bottom
27	Ishikawa	石川	stone+river
28	Nakajima／Nakashima	中島	middle+island
29	Maeda	前田	behind + rice field
30	Fujita	藤田	wisteria+rice field
31	Ogawa	小川	small river
32	Goto:	後藤	behind, future+wisteria
33	Okada	岡田	hill+rice field
34	Hasegawa	長谷川	long+valley+river
35	Murakami	村上	village+top
36	Condo	近藤	close+wisteria
37	Ishii	石井	stone+well
38	Saito:	斉藤／齊藤	equal+wisteria
39	Sakamoto	坂本	slope+base
40	Iendo:	遠藤	distant+wisteria
41	Aoki	青木	green, young+tree
42	Fuji	藤井	wisteria+well
43	Nishimura	西村	west+village
44	Fukuda	福田	happiness, prosperity + rice field
45	Oota	太田	large+rice field
46	Miura	三浦	three bays
47	Okamoto	岡本	hill+base
48	Matsuda	松田	pine+rice field
49	Nakagawa	中川	middle+river
50	Nakano	中野	middle+[uncultivated] field; plain
51	Harada	原田	plain, field; steppe+rice field
52	Fujiwara	藤原	wisteria + plain, field; steppe
53	It	小野	small+[uncultivated] field; plain
54	Tamura	田村	rice field+village
55	Takeuchi	竹内	bamboo+inside
56	Kaneko	金子	gold+child
57	Vada	和田	harmony+rice field
58	Nakayama	中山	middle+mountain
59	Isis	石田	stone+rice field
60	Ueda/Ueta	上田	top+rice field
61	Morita	森田	forest+rice field
62	Hara	原	plain, field; steppe
63	Shibata	柴田	brushwood+rice field
64	Sakai	酒井	alcohol+well
65	Kudo:	工藤	worker+wisteria
66	Yokoyama	横山	side, side of the mountain
67	Miyazaki	宮崎	temple, palace + cape
68	Miyamoto	宮本	temple, palace+base
69	Uchida	内田	inside+rice field
70	Takagi	高木	tall tree
71	Ando:	安藤	calm+wisteria
72	Taniguchi	谷口	valley+mouth, entrance
73	Oono	大野	large+[uncultivated] field; plain
74	Maruyama	丸山	round+mountain
75	Imai	今井	now+well
76	Takada／ Takata	高田	high+rice field
77	Fujimoto	藤本	wisteria+base
78	Takeda	武田	military+rice field
79	Murata	村田	village+rice field
80	Ueno	上野	top+[uncultivated] field; plain
81	Sugiyama	杉山	Japanese cedar+mountain
82	Masuda	増田	increase+rice field
83	Sugawara	菅原	sedge+plain, field; steppe
84	Hirano	平野	flat+[uncultivated] field; plain
85	Ootsuka	大塚	big+hill
86	Kojima	小島	small+island
87	Chiba	千葉	thousand sheets
88	Kubo	久保	long+maintain
89	Matsui	松井	pine+well
90	Iwasaki	岩崎	rock+cape
91	Sakurai	桜井／櫻井	sakura+well
92	Kinoshita	木下	tree+under, bottom
93	Noguchi	野口	[uncultivated] field; plain+mouth, entrance
94	Matsuo	松尾	pine+tail
95	Nomura	野村	[uncultivated] field; plain+village
96	Kikuchi	菊地	chrysanthemum+earth
97	Sano	佐野	assistant+[uncultivated] field; plain
98	Oonisi	大西	big west
99	Sugimoto	杉本	Japanese cedar+roots
100	Arai	新井	new well
101	Hamada	浜田／濱田	shore+rice field
102	Ichikawa	市川	city+river
103	Furukawa	古川	old river
104	Mizuno	水野	water+[uncultivated] field; plain
105	Komatsu	小松	small pine
106	Shimada	島田	island+rice field
107	Koyama	小山	small mountain
108	Takano	高野	high+[uncultivated] field; plain
109	Yamauchi	山内	mountain+inside
110	Nishida	西田	west+rice field
111	Kikuchi	菊池	chrysanthemum+pond
112	Nishikawa	西川	west+river
113	Igarashi	五十嵐	50 storms
114	Kitamura	北村	north+village
115	Yasuda	安田	calm+rice field
116	Nakata／ Nakada	中田	middle+rice field
117	Kawaguchi	川口	river+mouth, entrance
118	Hirata	平田	flat+rice field
119	Kawasaki	川崎	river+cape
120	Iida	飯田	boiled rice, food+rice field
121	Yoshikawa	吉川	happiness+river
122	Honda	本田	base+rice field
123	Kubota	久保田	long+maintain+rice field
124	Sawada	沢田／澤田	swamp+rice field
125	Tsuji	辻	Street
126	Seki	関／關	Outpost; barrier
127	Yoshimura	吉村	happiness+village
128	Watanabe	渡部	cross over + part; sector;
129	Iwata	岩田	rock+rice field
130	Nakanishi	中西	west+middle
131	Hattori	服部	clothing, subordinate+ part; sector;
132	Higuchi	樋口	gutter; drain+mouth, entrance
133	Fukushima	福島	happiness, well-being + island
134	Kawakami	川上	river+top
135	Nagai	永井	eternal well
136	Matsuoka	松岡	pine+hill
137	Taguchi	田口	rice floor+mouth
138	Yamanaka	山中	mountain+middle
139	Morimoto	森本	wood+base
140	Tsuchiya	土屋	land+house
141	I but	矢野	arrow+[uncultivated] field; plain
142	Hirose	広瀬／廣瀬	wide fast current
143	Ozawa	小沢／小澤	small swamp
144	Akiyama	秋山	autumn+mountain
145	Ishihara	石原	stone + plain, field; steppe
146	Matsushita	松下	pine+under, bottom
147	Woman	馬場	horse+place
148	Oohashi	大橋	big bridge
149	Matsuura	松浦	pine+bay
150	Yoshioka	吉岡	happiness+hill
151	Koike	小池	small+pond
152	Asano	浅野／淺野	small+[uncultivated] field; plain
153	Araki	荒木	wild+tree
154	Ookubo	大久保	big+long+support
155	Kumagai	熊谷	bear+valley
156	But yes	野田	[uncultivated] field; plain+rice field
157	Tanabe	田辺／田邊	rice field+surroundings
158	Kawamura	川村	river+village
159	Hoshino	星野	star+[uncultivated] field; plain
160	Ootani	大谷	big valley
161	Kuroda	黒田	black rice field
162	Hori	堀	channel
163	Ozaki	尾崎	tail + cape
164	Mochizuki	望月	full moon
165	Nagata	永田	eternal rice field
166	Naito	内藤	inside+wisteria
167	Matsumura	松村	pine+village
168	Nishiyama	西山	west+mountain
169	Hirai	平井	level well
170	Ooshima	大島	big Island
171	Iwamoto	岩本	rock+base
172	Katayama	片山	piece+mountain
173	Homma	本間	base+space, room, luck
174	Hayakawa	早川	early+river
175	Yokota	横田	side+rice field
176	Okazaki	岡崎	hill+cape
177	Arai	荒井	wild well
178	Ooisi	大石	big Stone
179	Kamata	鎌田	sickle, scythe + rice field
180	Narita	成田	form + rice field
181	Miyata	宮田	temple, palace+rice field
182	Oh yeah	小田	small rice field
183	Ishibashi	石橋	stone+bridge
184	Ko:but	河野	river+[uncultivated] field; plain
185	Shinohara	篠原	low-growing bamboo + plain, field; steppe
186	Suto/Sudo	須藤	definitely+wisteria
187	Hagiwara	萩原	bicolor lespedeza + plain, field; steppe
188	Takayama	高山	high mountain
189	Oosawa	大沢／大澤	big swamp
190	Konishi	小西	small+west
191	Minami	南	south
192	Kurihara	栗原	chestnut + plain, field; steppe
193	Ito	伊東	that, he+east
194	Matsubara	松原	pine+plain, field; steppe
195	Miyake	三宅	three houses
196	Fukui	福井	happiness, well-being + well
197	Oomori	大森	big forest
198	Okumura	奥村	deep (hidden)+village
199	Oka	岡	Hill
200	Uchiyama	内山	inside+mountain

Before the Meiji Restoration, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames. The rest of the Japanese population was content with personal names and nicknames.

Women of aristocratic and samurai families also usually did not have surnames, since they did not have the right of inheritance. In those cases where women did have surnames, they did not change them upon marriage.

Surnames were divided into two groups - the surnames of aristocrats and the surnames of samurai.

Unlike the number of samurai surnames, the number of aristocratic surnames has practically not increased since ancient times. Many of them went back to the priestly past of the Japanese aristocracy.

The most respected and respected clans of aristocrats were: Konoe, Takashi, Kujo, Ichijo and Gojo. All of them belonged to the Fujiwara clan and had a common name - "Gosetsuke". From among the men of this family, regents (sessho) and chancellors (kampaku) of Japan were appointed, and from among the women, wives for the emperors were chosen.

The next most important clans were the Hirohata, Daigo, Kuga, Oimikado, Saionji, Sanjo, Imaidegawa, Tokudaji and Kaoin clans. From among them, the highest state dignitaries were appointed. Thus, representatives of the Saionji clan served as imperial grooms (meryo no gogen). Next came all the other aristocratic clans.

The hierarchy of nobility of aristocratic families began to take shape in the 6th century and lasted until the end of the 11th century, when power in the country passed to the samurai. Among them, the clans Genji (Minamoto), Heike (Taira), Hojo, Ashikaga, Tokugawa, Matsudaira, Hosokawa, Shimazu, Oda enjoyed special respect. A number of their representatives at different times were shoguns (military rulers) of Japan.

The personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai were formed from two kanji (hieroglyphs) with a “noble” meaning.

According to the rules of samurai duels, before the fight, the samurai had to say his full name so that the opponent could decide whether he was worthy of such an opponent. Of course, in life this rule was observed much less often than in novels and chronicles.

The suffix "-hime" was added to the end of the names of girls from noble families. It is often translated as "princess", but in fact it was used in relation to all noble young ladies.

The suffix "-gozen" was used for the names of samurai wives. They were often called simply by their husband's surname and rank. Personal names of married women were practically used only by their close relatives.

For the names of monks and nuns from the noble classes, the suffix "-in" was used.

A Japanese name (人名 jinmei) these days usually consists of a family name (surname) followed by a personal name.

Names are usually written using kanji, which can have many different pronunciations in different cases.

Modern Japanese names can be compared to names in many other cultures. All Japanese have a single surname and a single given name without a patronymic, with the exception of the Japanese imperial family, whose members do not have a surname. Girls who marry princes also lose their surnames.

In Japan, the surname comes first, and then the given name. At the same time, in Western languages (often in Russian) Japanese names are written in the reverse order first name - last name - according to European tradition. For convenience, the Japanese sometimes write their last name in CAPITAL letters so that it is not confused with their given name.

Names in Japan are often created independently from existing characters, so the country has a huge number of unique names. Surnames are more traditional and most often go back to place names. There are significantly more first names in Japanese than surnames. Male and female names differ due to their characteristic components and structure. Reading Japanese proper names is one of the most difficult elements of the Japanese language.

The surname in Japanese is called "myoji" (苗字 or 名字), "uji" (氏) or "sei" (姓).

The vocabulary of the Japanese language has long been divided into two types: wago (Japanese 和語 “Japanese language”) - native Japanese words and kango (Japanese 漢語 Chineseism) - borrowed from China. Names are also divided into these types, although a new type is now actively expanding - gairaigo (Japanese 外来語) - words borrowed from other languages, but components of this type are rarely used in names.

Modern Japanese names are divided into the following groups:
kunnye (consisting of vago),
onny (consisting of kango),
mixed.
The ratio of kun and on surnames is approximately 80% to 20%.

The vast majority of surnames in Japanese consist of two characters; surnames with one or three characters are less common, and surnames with four or more characters are very rare.

Male names are the most difficult part of Japanese proper names to read; it is in male names that non-standard readings of nanori and rare readings, strange changes in some components are very common, although names that are easy to read are also found. For example, the names Kaoru (Japanese 薫), Shigekazu (Japanese 薫) and Kungoro: (Japanese 薫五郎) use the same character 薫 (“aroma”), but in each name it is read differently; and the common main component of names Yoshi can be written with 104 different characters and their combinations. Sometimes reading is not at all connected with written hieroglyphs, so it happens that only the bearer himself can read a name correctly.

Japanese female names, unlike male ones, in most cases have a simple kun reading and a clear and understandable meaning. Most female names are composed according to the “main component + indicator” scheme, but there are names without an indicator component. Sometimes female names may be written entirely in hiragana or katakana. Also, sometimes there are names with an onic reading, and also only in female names there are new non-Chinese borrowings (gairaigo).

Ancient names and surnames

Before the Meiji Restoration, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames. The rest of the Japanese population was content with personal names and nicknames.

Surnames were divided into two groups - the surnames of aristocrats and the surnames of samurai.

Unlike the number of samurai surnames, the number of aristocratic surnames has practically not increased since ancient times. Many of them went back to the priestly past of the Japanese aristocracy.

The personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai were formed from two kanji (hieroglyphs) with a “noble” meaning.

The suffix “-hime” was added to the end of the names of girls from noble families. It is often translated as "princess", but in fact it was used to refer to all noble ladies.

For the names of monks and nuns from the noble classes, the suffix “-in” was used.

Modern names and surnames

The most common Japanese surnames now are Suzuki, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Saito, Sato, Sasaki, Kudo, Takahashi, Kobayashi, Kato, Ito, Murakami, Oonishi, Yamaguchi, Nakamura, Kuroki, Higa.

Men's names have changed less. They also often depend on the “serial number” of the son in the family. The suffixes "-ichi" and "-kazu" are often used, meaning "first son", as well as the suffixes "-ji" ("second son") and "-zō" ("third son").

Some modern girls do not like the ending “-ko” in their names and prefer to omit it. For example, a girl named "Yuriko" might call herself "Yuri".

According to a law passed during the time of Emperor Meiji, after marriage, husband and wife are legally required to adopt the same surname. In 98% of cases this is the husband's last name.

After death, a Japanese person receives a new, posthumous name (kaimyo), which is written on a special wooden tablet (ihai). This tablet is considered to be the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased and is used in funeral rites. Kaimyo and ihai are purchased from Buddhist monks - sometimes even before the person's death.

Japanese surnames and their meanings

Abe - 阿部 - corner, shadow; 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 + place
Wada - 和田 - harmony + rice field
Watanabe - 渡辺／渡邊 - cross + surroundings
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
Ishii - 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 - And + 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:no - 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
Kondo - 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
Mori - 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
Nakayama - 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
Noda - 野田 - [uncultivated] field; plain + rice field
Nomura - 野村 - [uncultivated] field; plain + village
Ogawa - 小川 - small river
Oda - 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
Ono - 小野 - small + [uncultivated] field; plain
Ooishi - 大石 - large stone
Ookubo - 大久保 - big + long + support
Oomori - 大森 - large forest
Oonishi - 大西 - big west
Oono - 大野 - large + [uncultivated] field; plain
Oosawa - 大沢／大澤 - large swamp
Ooshima - 大島 - large island
Oota - 太田 - big + 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 - assistants + tree
Sato: - 佐藤 - helper + wisteria
Shibata - 柴田 - brushwood + rice field
Shimada - 島田 - island + rice field
Shimizu - 清水 - clear water
Shinohara - 篠原 - low-growing 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) + wood
Suto/Sudo - 須藤 - certainly + wisteria
Seki - 関／關 - Outpost; barrier
Taguchi - 田口 - rice floor + mouth
Takagi - 高木 - tall tree
Takada／Takata - 高田 - tall + 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 + surroundings
Tanaka - 田中 - rice field + middle
Taniguchi - 谷口 - valley + mouth, entrance
Chiba - 千葉 - 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
Fuji - 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, prosperity + 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
Khara - 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, entrance
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 + space, 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
Yano - 矢野 - arrow + [uncultivated] field; plain
Yasuda - 安田 - calm + rice field.

First name after last name

Japanese names consist of two adjectives: the family surname and the personal name. In Japan, in turn, the surname is the main one; it is written and spoken first everywhere. Modern Japanese are accustomed to writing their first and last names like Europeans, but in order to designate their last name as the main one, they write it in capital letters. Europeans do not attach importance to this strange and serious attitude of the Japanese towards their surnames, which is why misunderstandings arise regarding the reading, translation and transcription of Japanese names and surnames.

A surname is a hereditary clan name, which in Japan is passed down from father to children; wives almost always take their husband's surname.

70% of Japanese surnames consist of two characters. It is very rare to find a surname consisting of 3 or more hieroglyphs.

Types of surnames

The second type includes surnames formed as a result of simple professions. For example, “Inukai” - translated this word means nothing more than “dog breeder”.

The third type includes individual nicknames.

Rare but apt beautiful surnames

Here is a small list of popular, beautiful and unusual surnames:

Akiyama - autumn;
Araki - tree;
Baba is a horse;
Wada - rice field;
Yoshida - happiness;
Yoshikawa - river;
Kaneko - gold;
Mizuno - water;
Suzuki - bell;
Takagi is a tall tree;
Fukui - happiness;
Homma - good luck;
Yano is an arrow.

Common surname

In Japan, surnames have no ancestral affiliation. One surname suits both men and women.

Interesting Japanese surnames

For Russian people, all Japanese names and surnames seem interesting and unusual. But there are those whose translation sounds like real music.

This is, for example:

Igarashi - 50 storms;
Katayama - wild well;
Kikuchi - chrysanthemum.

Common surnames in Japan

The most popular Japanese surnames in alphabetical order are, of course, offered by the Japanese surname dictionary. Among the surnames:

A- Ando, Arai, Araki, Asano, Akiyama, Asayama.
AND- Imai, Ito, Iwasaki, Iwata, Igarasti, Iida, Inoe, Isis (despite the similarity in sound, she is in no way connected with the ancient Egyptian goddess), Ishihara, Ichikawa.
TO- Kawaguchi, Kawasaki, Kaneko, Kitano.
M- Maruyama, Masuda, Morimoto, Matila.
N- Nakahara, Narita, Nakanishi.
ABOUT- Oyama, Okazaki, Okumura, Ogiva, Ootsuoka.
WITH- Saida, Sato, Sano, Sakurai, Shibada, Shima.
T- Tachibana, Takaki, Takeguchi.
U- Ueda, Uematsu, Ueno, Uchida.
F- Fujii, Fukushima, Fujimomo, Fujiwra
X- Hattori, Hattoti, Hirai, Hirata, Hirosa, Homma, Hori.
C- Tsubaki, Tsuji, Tsuchiya
I- Yamamura, Yano, Yamanaka, Yamamoto, Yamashita, Yamauchi, Yasuda, Yamashita.

And also Enomoto, Yumake are also on the list of popular and widespread ones, according to the data offered by the dictionary of Japanese surnames.

Types of surnames by origin

American
English
Jewish

Italian
German
Polish

Russians
French
Japanese

Japanese names and their meanings. Male and female Japanese names: list

Do you know Japanese names and their meanings? What names are popular in Japan today? We will answer these and other questions in the article. Japanese names these days typically include a family name (family name) followed by a personal name. This practice is common in East and Southeast Asia, including Korean, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese and other cultures.

Name comparison

Few people know Japanese names and their meanings. The Japanese usually write names using kanji, which in different cases have completely different pronunciations. The current names of Japan can be compared with names present in other cultures. Every Japanese has one surname and one given name without a patronymic, minus the Japanese royal family - its members do not have a surname.

Many people say that the Japanese name meaning "fire" sounds amazing. In Japan, the surname comes first, and then the given name. Meanwhile, in Western languages (sometimes in Russian), Japanese names are written the other way around - first name and last name. This nuance corresponds to the European tradition.

Creating names

Are you interested in Japanese names and their meanings? The Japanese often create names from the characters they have on hand, which is why there are a huge number of unformatted names in the country. Surnames are more ingrained and often rise to place names. In the Japanese language there are significantly more first names than surnames. Female and male names differ due to their typical elements and scheme. Reading Japanese proper names is one of the most intricate parts of the Japanese language.

A little history

So, what are Japanese names and their meanings? As stated above, Japanese names are usually written in kanji. However, parents can sometimes use the Japanese syllabary alphabet katakana and hiragana to write the names of their babies. In addition, in 1985, the list of formally permitted characters for writing Japanese names was expanded, and now people in this country can use Latin characters (Romanji), hentaiganu, syllabaries (man'yōganu), as well as special letters, symbols like % * ^ $ and so on. But in reality, people usually use hieroglyphs.

Previously, in Japan, people were the property of the autocrat, and their surname reflected their role in the directory. For example, Otomo (comrade, great friend). Names were also given so that everyone would know that the person had made a contribution, some great achievement, and so on.

Before the Meiji Restoration, the common people did not have surnames: if necessary, people used the name of their place of birth. At that time, the Japanese name meaning "Angel" had not yet been invented. After the Meiji reconstruction, the authorities ordered all plebeians to create a surname for themselves. Some people preferred historical names, others came up with fortune telling or turned to priests. This explains the fact that in Japan there are many different surnames, both in spelling and pronunciation, which creates difficulties in reading.

Japanese male names

Many experts study Japanese male names and their meaning. What features do they have? Many of Japan's classic names can be easily read and written, but despite this, most parents choose names with unusual pronunciation and characters. Such names have no unique spelling or reading.

This trend began in 1990. For example, many boys are named after Hiroto. Multivariate readings of this name also emerged: Yamato, Haruto, Taiga, Daito, Taito, Sora, Masato, and all of them began to be used.

Men's names often end in -ro (Ichiro - "son", but also "light", "clear"), -ta (Kenta - "big, fat"), contain "ichi" or "ji" (Jiro - " next"), dai (Daiiti - “big, great”).

Also, in the names of men with a pair of hieroglyphs, their indicator signs are often used.

Japanese female names

Let's look at Japanese female names and their meaning. Most Japanese names have an abstract meaning. As a rule, they use such hieroglyphs as “ma” (truth), “ai” (love), “mi” (beauty), “ti” (mind), “an” (calmness), “yu” (tenderness) ) and others. For the most part, names with such inclusions are given to girls, wanting them to have these qualities in the future.

There are other types of names, including hieroglyphs of plants and animals. Names with the hieroglyphs "deer" or "tiger" were considered to promote health. However, today they are considered outdated and are almost never used. The exception is the hieroglyph “crane”.

Those names that contain hieroglyphs related to vegetation are still often used. For example, “ine” (rice), “take” (bamboo), “hana” (flower), “kiku” (chrysanthemum), “yanagi” (willow), “momo” (peach) and others. There are also names with numerals, but they are few and far between. They most likely originated from ancient custom name girls from noble families in order of birth. Today, among the numerals, the hieroglyphs “nana” (seven), “ti” (thousand), “go” (five), “mi” (three) are usually used.

In Japan, there are also names with connotations of seasons, time of day, natural phenomena and many others. For example, “kumo” (cloud), “yuki” (snow), “asa” (morning), “natsu” (summer).

Sometimes syllabic alphabet are used instead of hieroglyphs. Along with this, the recording of such a name is permanent, unlike words that are written differently (mixed, alphabet, hieroglyphs). So, if a woman’s name is written in hiragana, then it will always be written that way, although according to its meaning it can be written in hieroglyphs. Many Japanese people like the name Megumi - blessed one.

By the way, the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun can, unusually, use foreign names instead of typical ladies' names: Maria, Anna, Rena, Emiri, Rina and others.

Popular names of Japan

The following male names are popular in Japan:

Hiroto (big, flying);
Ren (lotus);
Yuma (calm, honest);
Sora (blue sky);
Yamato (big, peaceful, fat);
Riku (earth, dry land);
Haruto (positive, flying, sunny).

The following female names are considered the most popular in Japan:

Yui (clothing, tie);
Aoi (mallow, geranium, marshmallow);
Yua (love, connect);
Rin (impressive, majestic);
Hina (positive, sunny, vegetable, greens);
Yuina (form, greens, vegetable);
Sakura (sakura);
Mana (greens, vegetable, love);
Saki (bloom, desire).

Japanese nicknames

To form one or a pair of diminutives from each name, you just need to add the nominal suffix -kun or -chan to the stem. There are two types of name stems. The first consists of the full name, for example, Yasunari-chan (Yasunari) or Kimiko-chan (Kimiko).

The second type of stem is an abbreviation of the full name: Ya:-chan (Yasunari), Kii-chan (Kimiko), and so on. This species conveys more close nature relationships (for example, between friends).

There are other ways to create diminutive names, for example, a girl named Megumi can be called Kei-chan. In this case, the character that is written first in Megumi's name can be read as Kei.

The Japanese are known to be able to create abbreviations by combining the first pair of syllables of two words. This practice is commonly used when composing the names of celebrities.

So, Kimura Takuya (famous Japanese singer and actor) becomes Kimutaku. Thus, the names of foreign luminaries are sometimes modified: Brad Pitt (pronounced Buraddo Pitto in Japanese) is known as Burapi. Another, less recognized method is to double one or a couple of syllables in a person's name. For example, Mamiko Noto is often called MamiMami.

It is known that in Japan it is customary to address each other by last name. And when addressing a person, the Japanese use nominal suffixes to name or surname.

Japanese emperors

Japanese emperors do not have surnames, and their vital names are taboo and not used in official documents in Japan. Instead, the autocrat is addressed only by his title. When a ruler dies, he is given a posthumous name, which consists of two parts: the name of the righteousness praising him and the tenno title: “lord.” So, if during his lifetime the ruler had the name Mutsuhito, then he will receive a posthumous name - Meiji-tenno (Monarch of Highly Developed Rule).

During the life of the ruler, it is also not customary to address him by name, as this is impolite. Instead, different titles apply. For example, Akihito had a title as a child - Tsugu-no-miya (Infant Tsugu). Similar titles are mostly used when a person has not received a specific name or is an heir.

If a member of the ruler's family turned into an ordinary person, then the emperor gave him a surname. The surname Minamoto was very popular in the Middle Ages. And on the contrary, if an outsider joined the family of the autocrat, his surname was lost. For example, the crowned princess Michiko, before she became the wife of ruler Akihito, was called Michiko Shoda.

The meaning of ladies' names

So, let's study Japanese female names and their meaning in as much detail as possible. Ladies' names differ from men's names in a more understandable translation and easier pronunciation. This is due to the fact that they are mainly read according to kun, and they also have a simple structure. However, sometimes there are deviations from the rules. In Japan, there are the following lady names:

Azumi – protected house;
Azemi – thistle flower;
Ai – love;
Ayano – shades of silk;
Akiko is an autumn child;
Aoi – blue;
Asuka – aroma;
Aya – woven or colorful silk;
Banquo is a child;
Janko is a pure little thing;
June – submissive;
Zhina – silver;
Izumi – source;
Ioko is an ocean child;
Yoshi - fragrant branch;
Kay – respectful;
Kin – gold;
Kemeko – turtle (symbol of long life);
Keori – aroma;
Mizuki is a beautiful moon;
Miko is a beautiful child of blessing;
Miyuki – beautiful happiness;
Meiko - child's dance;
Nobuko is a devoted child;
Natsumi – summer splendor;
Ran – water lily;
Rey – respectful;
Rico is a child of jasmine;
Sora – heaven;
Suzu – signal;
Sengo – coral;
Tomoko – friendly;
Tamiko is a child of abundance;
Uzeji – hare;
Umeko is the child of the blossoming plum tree;
Fuji - wisteria;
Chana – flower or favorite;
Herumi - the splendor of spring;
Chi – intelligence;
Chico is a wise little thing;
Chiesa - morning;
Shizuka – quiet;
Shika – fragile;
Shinju is a pearl;
Eiko is a long-lasting child;
Eiko – beloved baby;
Eri is a blessed prize;
Yuko is a superior, helpful kid;
Yuri - lily;
Yasu – serene;
Yasuko is an honest, peaceful child.

The current names of women and their interpretation show the transformation of the Japanese attitude towards their customs. Previously, the Japanese name meaning "moon", for example, was liked by many parents. It sounded like Mizuki. In recent years, the Japanese have increasingly begun to name their babies after manga or anime characters. This phenomenon has already begun to spread throughout the world.

The meaning of male names

Why are Japanese male names and their meanings of interest to many people? Japanese names for men are one of the most difficult parts of the Japanese language, since it is in them that rare and non-standard readings, as well as surprising variations of individual components, are very popular. There are even cases when the spelling of a name is not related to its pronunciation, and only the native speaker can read it.

The names of men, as well as women, have undergone enormous changes associated with the modification of Japanese values. In Japan, there are the following meanings for male names:

Akayo is a smart man;
Aki – bright, autumn;
Akio is a charmer;
Akira – clear, brilliant;
Akihiko is a colorful prince;
Akihiro – spectacular, scientist, smart;
Aretha is the newest;
Goro is the fifth son;
Jero is the tenth son;
June – obedient;
Daysyuk is a great helper;
Izamu - daring, warrior;
Izao - merit, honor;
Iori – addiction;
Yoshieki – true glory, spectacular success;
Ichiro is the first heir;
Kayoshi – calm;
Ken – healthy and strong;
Kero – ninth son;
Kichiro is a lucky son;
Katsu – triumph;
Makoto – true;
Mitseru – full;
Memoru – protector;
Naoki is an honest tree;
Nobu – faith;
Norayo is a man of principles;
Ozemu - autocrat;
Rio is magnificent;
Raiden - thunder and lightning;
Ryuu – dragon;
Seiji – warning, second (son);
Suzumu – progressive;
Takayuki – noble, filial happiness;
Teruo – bright man;
Toshi – emergency;
Temotsu – protective, complete;
Tetsuo - dragon man;
Tetsuya is the dragon they transform into (and have his durability and wisdom);
Fumayo is an academic, literary child;
Hideo is a luxurious person;
Hizoka – preserved;
Hiroki - rich fun, strength;
Hechiro is the eighth son;
Shin – true;
Shoichi – correct;
Yukayo is a happy person;
Yuki – grace, snow;
Judei is a great hero;
Yasuhiro – rich honesty;
Yasushi – honest, peaceful.

Beautiful names for Japanese men are usually divided into two types: single-component and multi-component. Names with one element include a verb, as a result of which the name has an ending - y, for example, Mamoru (protector). Or an adjective ending in si, for example, Hiroshi (spacious).

Sometimes you can find names with one sign that have an onic reading. Names made up of a pair of hieroglyphs usually indicate masculinity. For example: son, warrior, man, husband, courageous and so on. Each of these indicators has its own ending.

The structure of such names usually contains a hieroglyph, which reveals how the name should be read. There are also names consisting of three elements. In this episode the indicator will be two-link. For example, “eldest son”, “ younger son" and so on. It is rare to meet a person with a three-part name and a one-component indicator. It is rare to find names that contain four components written in Japanese alphabet rather than in hieroglyphs.

Name Shizuka

Japanese name meaning "dragon" like local residents, and to foreigners. What does the name Shizuka represent? Interpretation of this name: quiet. The meanings of the letters in this name are as follows:

Ш – developed intuition, impulsiveness, ambition, hard work, independence.
And - intelligence, emotionality, kindness, pessimism, uncertainty, creative inclinations.
Z – independence, developed intuition, intelligence, hard work, pessimism, secrecy.
U – kindness, developed intuition, sincerity, creative inclinations, spirituality, optimism.
K – developed intuition, ambition, impulsiveness, practicality, kindness, sincerity.
A – selfishness, activity, creative inclinations, impulsiveness, ambition, sincerity.

The number of the name Shizuka is 7. It hides the ability to direct abilities into the world of philosophy or art, into religious activity, and the field of science. But the results of the activities of people with this name largely depend on a deep analysis of victories that have already been achieved and on true planning for their own future. By getting to know other people, they often develop into leaders and teachers of the highest caliber. But if they went into commercial or financial affairs, then here they themselves will need someone’s help.

The planet named after Shizuka is Mercury, the element is cold dry air, the zodiac sign is Virgo and Gemini. The color of this name is changeable, variegated, mixed, day - Wednesday, metals - bismuth, mercury, semiconductors, minerals - agate, emerald, topaz, porphyry, rock crystal, glass, sardonyx, plants - parsley, basil, celery, walnut tree, valerian , animals - weasel, monkey, fox, parrot, stork, thrush, nightingale, ibis, lark, flying fish.

Tell me beautiful Japanese names and surnames (female)

Ksyusha Darova

_Yuki_nyan_ sweet

Japanese female names.
Azumi is a safe place to live
Azemi - thistle flower
Ay - love
Ayano - silk colors
Akemi - bright beauty
Aki - autumn, bright

Akane - shiny, red
Amaterezu - bright across the skies
Amaya - evening rain
Aoi - blue
Arizu - noble appearance
Asuka - fragrance
Asemi - morning beauty

Ayako is an academic child
Ayam - iris
Banquo - literary child
Janko is a pure child
June - obedient
Zhina - silver
Izumi - fountain
Izenemi - a woman who invites
Yoko is an ocean child, a confident child
Yoshi - fragrant branch, good bay
Yoshiko - fragrant, good, noble child
Yoshshi - good
Kam - turtle (symbol of long life)
Kayao - beautiful generation, increase generation
Keiko is a happy, respectful child
Kay - respectful
Kyoko is a pure child
Kiku - chrysanthemum
Kimi - short for names starting with "Kimi"
Kimiko - history's beautiful child, dear child, ruling child
Kin - gold
Kyoko - child of the capital
Kotoun - the sound of a harp
Koheku - amber
Kumiko is a beautiful, long-lasting child
Kaed - maple
Kezu - branch, blessed, harmonious
Kazuko is a harmonious child
Kazumi - harmonious beauty
Cameo - turtle (symbol of long life)
Kemeko - turtle (symbol of long life)
Keori - fragrance
Keoru - fragrance
Katsumi - victorious beauty
Marie - beloved
Megumi - blessed one
Miwa - beautiful harmony, three rings
Midori - green
Mizuki - beautiful moon
Mizeki - flower of beauty
Miyoko is a beautiful generation child, the third generation child
Mika - first sound
Miki - beautiful tree, three trees
Miko - beautiful blessing child
Minori - a beautiful harbor, a village of beautiful areas
Mineko is a beautiful child
Mitsuko - fat baby(blessings) bright child
Miho - beautiful bay
Michi - trail
Michiko - a child on the right path, a thousand beauties of a child
Miyuki - beautiful happiness
Miyako is a beautiful child in March
Mommo - peach
Momo - a hundred blessings, a hundred rivers
Momoko - baby peach
Moriko - forest child
Madoka - calm
Mezumi - increased beauty, true purity
Maseko - correct, manage the child
Mazami - correct, graceful beauty
May - dance
Meiko - child's dance
Meyumi - true bow, true absorbed beauty
Maki - true report, tree
Maine - true
Menami - the beauty of love
Mariko is the true reason baby
Masa - shortening for names starting with "Masa"
Nana - seven
Naoki - honest tree
Naomi is beauty first and foremost
Nobuko - a devoted child
Nori - short for names starting with "Nori"
Noriko is a child of principles
Neo - honest
Neoko is an honest child
Natsuko - year old child
Natsumi - summer beauty
Ran - water lily
Reiko is a beautiful, polite child
Rey is polite
Ren - water lily
Rika - rated flavor
Rico - Jasmine's child
Ryoko is a good child
Sake - cape
Setsuko is a moderate child
Sora - sky
Suzu - call
Suzumu - progressive
Suzyum - sparrow
Sumiko is a clear, thinking child, a pure child
Sayeri - small lily
Sekera - cherry blossom
Sekiko - blooming child, earlier child
Sengo - coral
Sechiko is a happy child
Teruko is a bright child
Tomiko - the child who preserved beauty
Tomoko - friendly, wise child
Toshi - emergency
Toshiko is a child of many years, a priceless child
Tsukiko - moon child
Takeko - tall, noble child
Takera - treasure
Tamiko - child of abundance
Uzeji - rabbit
Umeko - child of the plum blossom
Ume-elv - plum blossom
Fuji - wisteria
Fumiko - child, keeping

Filicia latitude

Surnames: Sato: assistant + glitz
２Suzuki 鈴木bell (bell) + tree
３Takahashi 高橋high+bridge
４Tanaka田中rice field+middle
５Watanabe渡辺／渡邊cross over+surroundings
６Ito: 伊藤I+wisteria
７Yamamoto 山本mountain+base
８Nakamura中村middle+village
9Kobayashi小林small forest
10Kato: 加藤add+wisteria
11Yoshida吉田happiness+rice field
12Yamada山田mountain+rice field
13Sasaki佐々木helpers+tree
14Yamaguchi山口mountain+mouth, entrance
15Saito: 斎藤／齋藤purification (religious) + wisteria
16Matsumoto松本pine+base
17Inoe井上well+top
18Kimura木村tree+village
19Hayashi林forest
20Shimizu清水pure water
21Yamazaki／Yamasaki山崎mountain+cape
22Mori森forest
23Abe 阿部criminal, shadow; sector;
24Ikeda池田pond+rice field
25Hashimoto橋本bridge+base
26 Yamashita 山下mountain+under, bottom
27Ishikawa石川stone+river
28Nakajima／Nakashima中島middle+island
29Maeda前田behind+rice field
30Fujita藤田wisteria+rice field
31Ogawa小川small river
32Goto: 後藤behind, future+wisteria
33Okada岡田hill+rice field
34Hasegawa 長谷川long+valley+river
35Murakami村上village+top
36Condo近藤close+wisteria
37Ishii石井stone+well
38Saito: 斉藤／齊藤equal+wisteria
39Sakamoto坂本slope+base
40Iendo: 遠藤distant+wisteria
41Aoki 青木green, young+tree
42 Fuji 藤井wisteria+well
43Nishimura西村west+village
44Fukuda福田happiness, prosperity+rice field
45Oota太田large+rice field
46Miura三浦three bays
47Okamoto岡本hill+base
48Matsuda松田pine+rice field
49Nakagawa中川middle+river
50Nakano中野middle+[uncultivated] field; plain
51Harada 原田plain, field; steppe+rice field
52Fujiwara藤原wisteria+plain, field; steppe
53It is 小野small+[uncultivated] field; plain
54 Tamura 田村rice field+village
55Takeuchi竹内bamboo+inside
56Kaneko金子gold+child
57Wada和田harmony+rice field
58Nakayama中山middle+mountain
59Isis石田stone+rice field
60Ueda/Ueta上田top+rice field
61Morita森田forest+rice field
62Hara 原plain, field; steppe
63Shibata柴田brush+rice field
64Sakai 酒井alcohol+well
65Kudo: 工藤worker+wisteria
66Yokoyama横山side, side of the mountain
67Miyazaki宮崎temple, palace+cape
68 Miyamoto 宮本 temple, palace + base
69Uchida内田inside+rice field
70Takagi 高木tall tree
71Ando: 安藤calm+wisteria
72Taniguchi 谷口valley+mouth, entrance
73Ооо 大野large+[uncultivated] field; plain
74Maruyama丸山round+mountain
75Imai今井now+well
76Takada／ Takata高田high+rice field
77Fujimoto藤本wisteria+base
78 Takeda 武田military+rice field
79Murata村田village+rice field
80Ueno 上野top+[uncultivated] field; plain
81Sugiyama杉山Japanese cedar+mountain
82Masuda増田enlarge+rice field
83Sugawara 菅原sedge+plain, field; steppe
84Hirano 平野flat+[uncultivated] field; plain
85Ootsuka大塚big+hill
86Kojima小島small+island
87Chiba 千葉thousand leaves
88Kubo久保long+maintain
89Matsui松井pine+well
90Iwasaki岩崎rock+cape
91Sakurai桜井／櫻井sakura+well
92Kinoshita木下wood+under, bottom
93Noguchi 野口[uncultivated] field; plain+mouth, entrance
94Matsuo松尾pine+tail
95Nomura 野村[uncultivated] field; plain+village
96Kikuchi菊地chrysanthemum+earth
97Sano佐野helper+[uncultivated] field; plain
98Oonishi大西big west
99Sugimoto杉本Japanese cedar+roots
100Arai新井new well
101Hamada浜田／濱田shore+rice field
102Ichikawa市川city+river
103Furukawa古川old river
104Mizuno 水野water+[uncultivated] field; plain
105Komatsu小松small pine
106Shimada島田island+rice field
107Koyama小山small mountain
108Takano 高野high+[uncultivated] field; plain
109Yamauchi山内mountain+inside
110Nishida西田west+rice field
111Kikuchi菊池chrysanthemum+pond
112Nishikawa西川west+river
113Igarashi五十嵐50 storms
114Kitamura北村north+village
115Yasuda安田calm+rice field
116Nakata／ Nakada中田middle+rice field
117Kawaguchi川

Emina kulieva

Azumi is a safe place to live
Azemi - thistle flower
Ay - love
Ayano - silk colors
Akemi - bright beauty
Aki - autumn, bright
Akiko - autumn child or a smart child
Akira - bright, clear, dawn
Akane - shiny, red
Amaterezu - bright across the skies
Amaya - evening rain
Aoi - blue
Arizu - noble appearance
Asuka - fragrance
Asemi - morning beauty
Atsuko is a hardworking, warm child
Aya - colorful or woven silk
Ayaka - colorful flower, fragrant summer
Ayako is an academic child
Ayam - iris

There is no concept of “namesake” in Japan. The concept of “fashionable names” did not exist among the Japanese, with the exception of “ordinal” male names. This may be due to the fact that the Japanese use their surnames much more often than their personal names.

First Last Name, then First Name
Japanese names consist of two parts: the family name, which is written and pronounced first, and the personal name, which, according to Eastern tradition, comes second. Modern Japanese often write their names in “European order” (personal name and then clan surname) if they write them in Romaji (Latin) or Kiriji (Cyrillic). For convenience, the Japanese sometimes write their surname in capital letters so that it is not confused with their given name.

Europeans, who rarely pay attention to the etymology of their own names, constantly face difficulties associated with reading, translating and transcribing Japanese names and surnames. Modern Japanese can tell you how to read their names, but they do not always dare to translate nominal characters into foreign languages. The Japanese are creative when it comes to the names of foreigners: Svetlana may not recognize herself in “Suetorana” or Carmen will not immediately respond to the Japanese “Karumen”.
How did the surnames come about?
Until the second half of the 19th century, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames in Japan. The rest of the Japanese population went by personal names and nicknames. The number of aristocratic families in Japan is limited and has remained unchanged since antiquity. The most notable clans of Japanese aristocrats are the Fujiwara clan, collectively called “Gosetsuke”: Konoe, Takashi, Kujo, Ichijo and Gojo. In modern Japan, there are about one hundred thousand surnames, of which more than seventy thousand appeared only 130 years ago.

During the Meiji era ("Enlightened Reign") from 1868–1911. Emperor Mutsuhito ordered all Japanese peasants, artisans and merchants to choose any surname. Some Japanese, instead of their surname, wrote down the name of the city or village in which they lived, others “for the surname” took the name of the store or workshop in which they worked. Creative people came up with sonorous surnames for themselves.

Most of the surnames of modern Japanese are associated with peasant life, rice growing and processing. For example, the surname Hakamada consists of two characters: “hakama” (the lower part of a traditional Japanese suit, men’s pants or a woman’s skirt) and “da” (“rice field”). Judging by the “peasant” meaning of the hieroglyphs, it can be assumed that Irina Khakamada’s ancestors were field workers.
In Japan, you can meet people with the common surname Ito and exactly the same name Ito (translated as “dandy, dandy, Italy”). But such coincidences are very rare.
The only exception is Emperor Akihito ("Showing Mercy") and his family members. The “symbol of the nation” of Japan never had a surname.
Samurai names
In the 12th century, the first military usurper in the history of Japan was the shogun-samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo, or Yoritomo of the Minamoto clan (translated as “source”), who marked the beginning of the formation of a privileged samurai class.
Samurai chose their personal names depending on their life circumstances: promotion, relocation due to service, etc. The fall of the last Tokugawa ("River of Virtue") shogunate and the transfer of power to Emperor Mutsuhito secured the exclusive privileges of the military for many years.
Until the 19th century, in addition to complete impunity and the possibility of easy money, samurai had the right to give names to their vassals. The names of samurai servants and peasants were often given “in order”: Ichiro - first son, Jiro - second, Saburo - third, Shiro - fourth, Goro - fifth, etc. In addition to “-ro”, the suffixes “-emon”, “-ji”, “-zo”, “-suke”, “-be” were used.

Modern Japanese male names also carry information about the “serial number” of the son in the family. The suffixes “-ichi” and “-kazu” (“first son”), “-ji” (“second son”) and “-zo” (“third son”) are still often used in Japanese male names.
It is not customary for the emperors of Japan to be called the same and distinguished by serial number, like commoners. According to the old tradition, the names of Japanese emperors are composed with the second character “compassion, mercy, sympathy.” Emperor Mutsuhito's name is a combination of two characters for "friendly, warm" and "compassionate". Emperor Hirohito, who ruled Japan from 1926 to 1989, was raised by samurai, veterans of the Russo-Japanese War.

After the collapse of the empire, the nuclear bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the complete and unconditional surrender of Hirohito (roughly - “Abundant Mercy”), in a state of “deep shock,” showed compassion for his own people, appealed to the mercy of the victors and renounced his divine origin.
Since the 19th and 20th centuries, wealthy and influential samurai have retained the highest positions in civil and military government. Others became the founders of Japanese entrepreneurship. Part of the creative intelligentsia was formed from the samurai environment. All personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai consisted of two hieroglyphs with a “noble” meaning.

For example, the name of the son of military instructor Kurosawa (“Black Swamp”) Akira (“light”, “clear”) can be roughly translated into Russian as “light in the darkness” or “illumination”. Perhaps only thanks to the aptly given name, an artist by training, Akira Kurosawa became a director, a classic of Japanese and world cinema, changing our understanding of the world (“swamp”).
Most Japanese girl names end in "-ko" ("child") or "-mi" ("beauty"). Japanese women are often given names associated with everything beautiful, pleasant and feminine, graceful.
Unlike male names, female names are usually written not in “solemn” characters, but simply in hiragana (the Japanese alphabet used to write Chinese and Japanese words).
So, a new list of names
New generations of educated Japanese parents have long sought to expand the old list of personal characters in order to create completely new, interesting and original names for their children. In September 2004, the Japanese received an additional list - more than 500 hieroglyphs to compile the official name of little Japanese.

The new list of personal characters, compiled in the offices of the Japanese Ministry of Justice, included very extravagant characters. Among the “new products” appeared hieroglyphs with strange meanings for names: “beetle”, “frog”, “spider”, “turnip”.
The child-loving Japanese were seriously indignant. Then the Ministry of Justice of Japan urgently announced that several strange hieroglyphs were excluded from the new list of names: “cancerous tumor”, “prostitute”, “buttock”, “hemorrhoids”, “curse”, “debauchery”, “malice”, etc. Some citizens The countries of the rising sun reacted to the “name scandal” with complete indifference.

Common Japanese surnames and their meanings

The following table provides a list of the most common Japanese surnames along with characters, readings and their meanings in Russian as of April 2010.

As already written in the article about Japanese names, you may notice that most Japanese surnames mean various rural landscapes.

Position of the surname Japanese surnames in Russian Japanese surnames in hieroglyphs Meanings of the hieroglyphs of Japanese surnames １ Sato: 佐藤 assistant+wisteria ２ Suzuki 鈴木 bell (bell)+tree ３ Takahashi 高橋 tall+bridge ４ Tanaka 田中 rice field+middle ５ Watanabe 渡辺／渡邊 cross+surroundings ６ Ito: 伊藤 And+wisteria ７ Yamamoto 山本 mountain+base ８ Nakamura 中村 middle+village 9 Kobayashi 小林 small forest 10 Kato: 加藤 add+wisteria 11 Yoshida 吉田 happiness+rice field 12 Yamada山田 mountain+rice field 13 Sasaki 佐々木 helpers+ tree 14 Yamaguchi 山口 mountain+mouth, entrance 15 Saito: 斎藤／齋藤 purification (religious) +wisteria 16 Matsumoto 松本 pine+base 17 Inoe 井上 well+top 18 Kimura 木村 tree+village 19 Hayashi 林 forest 20 Shimizu 清水 clear water 21 Yamazaki ／ Yamasaki 山崎 mountain+cape 22 Mori 森 forest 23 Abe 阿部 corner, shadow; sector; 24 Ikeda 池田 pond+rice field 25 Hashimoto 橋本 bridge+base 26 Yamashita 山下 mountain+under, bottom 27 Ishikawa 石川 rock+river 28 Nakajima／Nakashima 中島 middle+island 29 Maeda 前田 behind+rice field 30 Fu jita 藤田 wisteria+rice field 31 Ogawa 小川 small river 32 Goto: 後藤 behind, future+wisteria 33 Okada 岡田 hill+rice field 34 Hasegawa 長谷川 long+valley+river 35 Murakami 村上 village+top 36 Kondo 近藤 close+wisteria 37 Ishii 石井stone+well 38 Saito: 斉藤／齊藤 equal+wisteria 39 Sakamoto 坂本 slope+base 40 Iendo: 遠藤 distant+wisteria 41 Aoki 青木 green, young+tree 42 Fujii 藤井 wisteria+well 43 Nishimura 西村 west+village 44 Fu where 福田 happiness, prosperity + rice field 45 Oota 太田 large+rice field 46 Miura 三浦 three bays 47 Okamoto 岡本 hill+base 48 Matsuda 松田 pine+rice field 49 Nakagawa 中川 middle+river 50 Nakano 中野 middle+[uncultivated] field; plain 51 Harada 原田 plain, field; steppe+rice field 52 Fujiwara 藤原 wisteria+plain, field; steppe 53 It 小野 small+[uncultivated] field; plain 54 Tamura 田村 rice field+village 55 Takeuchi 竹内 bamboo+inside 56 Kaneko 金子 gold+child 57 Wada 和田 harmony+rice field 58 Nakayama 中山 middle+mountain 59 Ishida 石田 stone+rice field 60 Ueda/ Ueta 上田 top+rice field 61 Morita 森田 forest+rice field 62 Hara 原 plain, field; steppe 63 Shibata 柴田 brushwood+rice field 64 Sakai 酒井 alcohol+well 65 Kudo: 工藤 worker+wisteria 66 Yokoyama 横山 side, side of the mountain 67 Miyazaki 宮崎 temple, palace+cape 68 Miyamoto 宮本 temple, palace+foundation 69 Uchida 内田 inside+rice field 70 Takagi 高木 tall tree 71 Ando: 安藤 calm+wisteria 72 Taniguchi 谷口 valley+mouth, entrance 73 Oono 大野 large+[uncultivated] field; plain 74 Maruyama 丸山 round+mountain 75 Imai 今井 now+well 76 Takada／ Takata 高田 high+rice field 77 Fujimoto 藤本 wisteria+base 78 Takeda 武田 military+rice field 79 Murata 村田 village+rice field 80 Uen o 上野 top+[uncultivated] field; plain 81 Sugiyama 杉山 Japanese cedar+mountain 82 Masuda 増田 increase+rice field 83 Sugawara 菅原 sedge+plain, field; steppe 84 Hirano 平野 flat+[uncultivated] field; plain 85 Ootsuka 大塚 large+hill 86 Kojima 小島 small+island 87 Chiba 千葉 thousand leaves 88 Kubo 久保 long+support 89 Matsui 松井 pine+well 90 Iwasaki 岩崎 rock+cape 91 Sakurai 桜井／櫻井 sakura+well 92 Kinoshita 木下 tree+under , bottom 93 Noguchi 野口 [uncultivated] field; plain+mouth, entrance 94 Matsuo 松尾 pine+tail 95 Nomura 野村 [uncultivated] field; plain+village 96 Kikuchi 菊地 chrysanthemum+earth 97 Sano 佐野 assistant+[uncultivated] field; plain 98 Oonishi 大西 great west 99 Sugimoto 杉本 Japanese cedar+roots 100 Arai 新井 new well 101 Hamada 浜田／濱田 shore+rice field 102 Ichikawa 市川 city+river 103 Furukawa 古川 old river 104 Mizuno 水野 water+[uncultivated] field; plain 105 Komatsu 小松 small pine 106 Shimada 島田 island+rice field 107 Koyama 小山 small mountain 108 Takano 高野 high+[uncultivated] field; plain 109 Yamauchi 山内 mountain+inside 110 Nishida 西田 west+rice field 111 Kikuchi 菊池 chrysanthemum+pond 112 Nishikawa 西川 west+river 113 Igarashi 五十嵐 50 storms 114 Kitamura 北村 north +village 115 Yasuda 安田 calm+rice field 116 Nakata／ Nakada 中田 middle +rice field 117 Kawaguchi 川口 river+mouth, entrance 118 Hirata 平田 flat+rice field 119 Kawasaki 川崎 river+cape 120 Iida 飯田 boiled rice, food+rice field 121 Yoshikawa 吉川 happiness+river 122 Honda 本田 base+rice field 123 Kubota 久保田 long+maintain+rice field 124 Sawada 沢田／澤田 swamp+rice field 125 Tsuji 辻 street 126 Seki 関／關 Outpost; barrier 127 Yoshimura 吉村 happiness+village 128 Watanabe 渡部 cross over+part; sector; 129 Iwata 岩田 rock+rice field 130 Nakanishi 中西 west+middle 131 Hattori 服部 clothes, subdue+ part; sector; 132 Higuchi 樋口 gutter; drain+mouth, entrance 133 Fukushima 福島 happiness, well-being+island 134 Kawakami 川上 river+top 135 Nagai 永井 eternal well 136 Matsuoka 松岡 pine+hill 137 Taguchi 田口 rice floor+mouth 138 Yamanaka 山中 mountain+gray unity 139 Morimoto 森本 forest+base 140 Tsuchiya 土屋 land+house 141 Yano 矢野 arrow+[uncultivated] field; plain 142 Hirose 広瀬／廣瀬 wide fast current 143 Ozawa 小沢／小澤 small swamp 144 Akiyama 秋山 autumn+mountain 145 Ishihara 石原 stone+plain, field; steppe 146 Matsushita 松下 pine+under, bottom 147 Baba 馬場 horse+place 148 Oohashi 大橋 big bridge 149 Matsuura 松浦 pine+boom

http://www.kanjiname.ru/stati/67-yaponskie-familii

For the vast majority of our compatriots, Japanese names are just a set of sounds - melodic and not so melodic. However, they all have deep meaning. Let's figure out what the names and surnames of the representatives of this, perhaps, the most mysterious country in the East mean.

Features of Japanese names

The structure of a full Japanese name is extremely simple and similar to the traditional Western one, differing only in the sequence. First, in official documents or in personal communication, the surname (family name) is mentioned, and then the proper name. This pattern is typical for many Asian cultures - Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese. Names are usually written using the kanji alphabet, which can have many different pronunciations. Middle names are not used. In documents not for internal use, for example, in foreign passports or international treaties, the familiar European form is used: first name + surname. Without exception, all Japanese people have only one given name and one surname. Members of the royal imperial family do not have a surname.

There are a lot of unique names in Japan. It is much more difficult for a Japanese to meet his namesake than for a representative of any other country. Often parents make up their own names for their children. But surnames have a narrower spectrum.

It is no secret that the Japanese writing system is quite complex, and causes difficulties not only for foreigners, but also for the residents of the Land of the Rising Sun themselves. Therefore, since 1981, certain rules in the spelling of names have been in force throughout the country:

for names it is allowed to use 1945 joyo kanji characters;
166 Kanji characters;
all syllable symbols from the katakana and hiragana alphabets;
without restrictions - symbols of longitude, repetition, obsolete syllabic hieroglyphs, conventional icons, alphabet - romaji, hetaiganu

From time to time, this list is partially expanded and supplemented, including with outdated hieroglyphs.

The number of characters in a first or last name is not regulated; the length can be any. To transcribe Japanese names into Latin and Cyrillic, the Romaji or Polivanov system is used. Long vowels are sometimes dropped or marked with a long horizontal bar above the letter.

Another interesting feature of the Japanese language concerns names and communication in general. Usually interlocutors add, depending on age, gender, social status suffixes to the name:

- herself - in relation to senior, managerial employees, etc.
- san. Neutral respectful to any person, usually unfamiliar.
- kun address relatives of the same age, acquaintances, classmates, male colleagues. Recently, it has often been used in relation to female teachers.
-chan - when addressing children and girls. A kind of diminutive form. The name itself changes slightly when it is added: Sonechi - So-chan, Itoko - Ichi-chan; or even up to a single vowel: Amane - A-chan, Ebishi - E-chan. Sometimes the same thing is done with surnames to add a slight frivolity in conversation: Tokushiwa - Toku-chan, Aomori - Ao-chan. The Japanese also address their pets with “-chan”. It looks like this: Usagi - rabbit - Usa-chan; Hamusuta - hamster - Hamu-chan; Sinsira - chinchilla - Shin-chan; Neko - cat - ne-chan.

Less common suffixes:

sensei - teacher;
senpai - senior comrade;
kohai - junior comrade;
dono - equal (worthy to worthy). It went out of use several decades ago.

All names in Japan can be divided into three types:

vago - native Japanese words (kun names);
kango - borrowed from China (names);
gairaigo - borrowed from Western culture.

Japanese surnames

Surnames officially appeared in Japan in 1870, when a law was passed making them mandatory. Most citizens preferred to choose the name of the area in which they lived as their family name. Thus, residents of the same village often became namesakes. From 1898 to 1946, a woman was obliged to take her husband's surname after marriage. At the moment, the Civil Code provides for the possibility of newlyweds choosing one of their surnames if they wish. But in any case they should be the same. Although in practice, more than 90 percent of women after marriage prefer to take their husband's surname.

The most common Japanese surnames are:

Aoki;
Wada;
Matsumoto;
Taguchi;
Watanabe;
Nakamura;
Maeda;
Nakayama;
Sato;
Suzuki;
Kato;
Takahashi;
Tanaka;
Higashi;
Yamamoto;
Kobayashi;
Iida;
Takada;
Takagi;
Koyama;
Nakata;
Yamada;
Takayama;
Kawaguchi;
Yamanaka;
Ueda;
Yamashita;
Kawakami;
Okawa;
Mizuno;
Komatsu;
Yasuda;
Kinoshita;
Koike;
Kikuchi;
Matsushita;
Hirano;
Ueno;
But yes;
Takano;
Nakano;
Hattori;
Kuroda;
Yamaguchi;
Hayakawa;
Hasegawa.

Most Japanese surnames consist of two characters; one- or three-character ones are less common.

surnames containing one component - a noun or an adjective - are of Japanese origin. For example, Watari is a crossing, Zata is a vegetable garden, Sisi is a lion.
two components. They number up to 70% of the total. Matsumoto: matsu (pine) + moto (root) = pine root. Kiyomizu: mizu (pure) + kiei (water) pure water.

Male and female Japanese names. Their meaning

Male Japanese names are characterized by rare hieroglyphs and reading systems in which the same hieroglyph has different meaning, depending on neighboring components.

Female names are easier to read and have a clear, extremely precise meaning.

Types of Japanese female names:

abstract - they include such hieroglyphs as ksa - love, mi - beauty, an - calm, ti - mind, yu - tenderness, ma - truth, ka - smell, aroma;
names of animals and plants. Haga - flower, Ine - rice, Kiku - chrysanthemum, Yanagi - willow;
names with numerals. They were common among the nobility and were given according to birth order. Ni - two, go - five, nana seven.
natural phenomena, seasons. Yuki - snow, Natsu - summer, Asa - morning, Kumo - cloud.

As you can see, now you can independently compose any Japanese female name. For example, Hagayuki is a snow flower, Kikuyu is a delicate chrysanthemum, Asaku is a beautiful morning.

Now in Japan you can find many fashionable borrowed names - Anna, Rena, Marta, Emiri (a modified form of the Western Emily - the sound l is absent in Japanese).

Previously, the particle Ko (child), often used in Japanese names, is preferred by modern girls to discard. So, Yumiko turned into Yumi, Hanako into Hana, Asako into Asa.

Japanese female names

Azami - thistle flower
Azumi - refuge
Ay - love
Ayano - silk flower
Akemi - bright
Akiko - child of autumn
Akira - dawn
Akane - brilliant
Amaterezu - bright firmament
Aoimi - blue flower
Arizu - noble
Asuka - fragrant
Asemi - beautiful dawn
Atsuko - patient child
Ayaka - a beautiful flower
Ayam - rainbow
Banquo - a poetic child
Janko is a pure child
Junko is a diligent, obedient child
Zhina - silver
Izumi - fountain
Izenemi is a hospitable hostess
Yoko - child of the ocean
Yoshi - fragrant tree shoot
Yoshshi - sweetheart
Kam - turtle (long-lived)
Keiko is a respectful child
Kiku - chrysanthemum
Kimiko is a beautiful noble child
Kin - gold
Kyoko - a child originally from the capital
Kotoun - harp melody
Koheku - amber
Kazuko is a harmonious child
Kazumi - flawless beauty
Keori - fragrance
Keoru - fragrance
Katsumi - the beauty of victory
Marie - beloved
Megumi - blessed one
Midori - green
Mizuki - beautiful moon
Mizeki - an ideal, perfect flower
Miyoko is the most beautiful child in the family
Miki - a beautiful tree
Miko is a blessed child
Mitsuko - bright
Miyuki is happy
Miyako - born in March
Mommo - peach
Momo - a hundred blessings
Moriko - child of the forest
Madoka - calm
Mezumi - true beauty
Mazami - graceful beauty
May - dance
Meiko - dancing child
Maine - true
Menami - the beauty of love
Naomi - pristine beauty

Nobuko - devotee
Noriko is a fair child
Neo - honest
Neoko is an honest child
Natsuko - child of summer
Natsumi - wonderful summer
Ran - lotus
Reiko is a polite child
Rey is polite
Rico - child of jasmine
Ryoko is an obedient child
Sorako - child of the sky
Suzu - bell
Suzyum - sparrow
Sumiko - a thoughtful child
Sayeri - lily
Sekera - cherry blossom
Sekiko - bud child
Sengo - coral
Sechiko is a happy child
Teruko is a bright child
Tomiko - beauty guardian
Tomoko is a friendly child
Toshiko is a precious child
Tsukiko - moon child
Takeko - tall child
Tekera - treasures
Tamiko - the child of the rich
Ume-elv - plum blossom
Fuji - wisteria
Hana - favorite, beloved, chosen
Hideko is a gorgeous child
Hikari - shining
Hikeru - light or bright
Hiroko is a generous child
Hitomi - a girl with beautiful eyes
Hoteru - firefly
Hoshi is a star
Haruko - child of spring
Harumi - the beauty of spring
Chica - wise
Chico is a wise child
Chiesa - thousandth morning
Cho - butterfly
Choco - the butterfly's child
Shizuka - quiet, calm
Eiko is a luxurious child
Eika - love song
Eiko - child of love
Amy - smile
Emiko - smiling child
Etsuko - a joyful child
Yuki - happiness, snow
Yukiko - snow child or happy child
Yuko is an excellent child
Yuri - lily
Yuriko - Lily's Child
Yasu - submissive, peaceful, benevolent

Japanese male names

Aki - born in autumn, bright
Akio - handsome
Akira - beautiful sunrise
Akihiko - Prince Charming
Akihiro - wise
Aretha is new
Atsushi - diligent
Goro is the fifth child in the family
Jero is tenth
Giro - second
June - obedient
Junichi - purehearted
Deiki - valuable
Daichi is the firstborn
Izamu - brave warrior
Izao - noble
Izanaji - hospitable
Yoichi - heir
Yoshi - good, kind, nice
Yoshinori - worthy
Yoshiro is a good son
Yoshito is the lucky one
Yoshieki - lucky
Yoshiyuki - well-deserved happiness
Kayoshi - quiet, calm
Keiji - second respectful son
Keiichi - first respectful son
Ken - strong
Kenji - wise ruler
Kenta - strong
Kero - ninth
Kiyoshi - pure
Kyo - big
Kichiro - lucky son
Koichi - bright
Kazuki - the beginning of harmony
Kezuo is a harmonious person
Kazuhiko - the harmonious prince
Kazuhiro - harmony, widespread
Keitashi - hard
Catsero - son of victory
Katsu - victory
Makoto - true, truthful
Masashi - luxurious
Minori - habitat beautiful people
Minoru - fertile
Mitsuo is a bright man
Michayo is a man on the (right) path
Michi - trail
Madoka - calm
Mazeki - graceful tree
Mazenory - successful, correct

Mazeru - wise ruler
Mazeto is a complete person
Masaeki - perfect brightness
Meseyoshi - a fair ruler
Noboru - virtuous
Nobu - faith
Nobuo is a loyal person
Norayo - principled
Neo - honest, decent
Ozemu - manager
Rio - excellent, the best
Ryota is the strongest
Rokero - sixth son
Raiden - thunderstorm
Ryuu - dragon
Sedeo - important person
Setoru is talented
Setoshi - smart
Takashi is a worthy son
Tarot is great. This name is given only to first-born children.
Teruo is a bright person
Tetsuo - sane
Tomayo - Guardian
Tohru - wanderer
Tsuyoshi - strong
Tsutomu - hardworking
Tedashi - fair
Takeo - warrior
Takehiko - Prince of Soldiers
Takeshi - brave warrior
Takumi - artisan
Tekeo - tall
Temotsu - defender
Tetsuo - dragon man
Fumayo - literary
Hideo - luxurious
Hidiki - bright luxury
Hizeshi - durable
Hiroki - the power of joy
Hiroshi - mobile, rich
Hitoshi - balanced, harmonious
Hoteka - sedate
Hechiro is the eighth
Shin - truthful, true
Shoichi - successful
Yuichi - the brave firstborn
Yukayo is the lucky one
Yuu - excellent, best
Yuudai is a glorious hero
Yuchi - brave man (second son)
Yasuo - peace-loving
Yasushi - truthful

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