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Japanese Boy Names

Pamela Redmond
By Pamela Redmond
Updated Tue Jul 09 2024
Japanese Boy Names

Japanese boy names have a great energy to them, thanks to those bright, bold, bouncy vowel endings. The appetite in the West for all things Japanese has exploded in recent years, and that’s just starting to extend to stylish Japanese baby names, too.

The Japanese names for boys that chart in the US tend to be those with cultural crossover, like Asa and Kane, which also have Hebrew and Celtic roots, respectively.

Along with Asa and Kane, other popular Japanese boy names include Kai, Raiden, Ren, and Koda. Baby boy names popular in Japan include Haruki — known to Americans as the first name of author Murakami — Riku, Toma, and Haruto.

Japanese baby names for boys also include several super-cool K options which feel bang on-trend in the US right now — we’re loving Kazuo, Kenzo, Koda and Kenji as exotic alternatives to the Kayden family of names.

Find more fantastic Japanese boy names in our full tally, below, ranked according to their current popularity on Nameberry.

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Japanese Names

Search Boy Names by Origin

  1. Ren

    • Origin:

      Japanese, Latin

    • Meaning:

      "water lily, lotus, romantic love, move forward; reborn"

    • Description:

      A very popular unisex name in Japan, Ren is a concise and versatile choice that could work across multiple languages. A rising star in England and Wales where it ranks in the Top 1000, it is also on the rise in the US where it was give to nearly 90 girls and 200 boys in a recent year.
  2. Asa

    • Origin:

      Hebrew; Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "healer; born in the morning"

    • Description:

      A short but strong biblical name with multicultural appeal, Asa is enjoying new visibility thanks to hot young actor Asa Butterfield of Hugo fame.
  3. Kane

    • Origin:

      Celtic

    • Meaning:

      "warrior"

    • Description:

      A name of multiple identities: a somewhat soap-operatic single-syllable surname, a homonym for the biblical bad boy Cain, and, when found in Japan and Hawaii, it transforms into the two syllable KA-neh. Kane also has multiple meanings: in Welsh, it's "beautiful"; in Japanese, "golden"; and in Hawaiian, "man of the Eastern sky."
  4. Koda

    • Origin:

      Japanese, Sioux

    • Meaning:

      "friend"

    • Description:

      A word in the Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee dialects of the Lakota Sioux language, meaning "friend" or "ally", used for one of the main characters in the movie Brother Bear. Also a common Japanese surname or a respelling of the musical name Coda.
  5. Kenzo

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "strong and healthy"

    • Description:

      Kenzo is a common Japanese name with several creative bearers: the single-named fashion designer, prizewinning architect Kenzo Takada, and painter Kenzo Okada, which makes it internationally recognizable.
  6. Raiden

    • Origin:

      Japanese, English invented name

    • Description:

      The name of the Japanese god of thunder makes an assertive choice, very much at home in the Western world. Because of the name's similarity to popular baby names Aiden and Jayden, most people will pronounce it RAY-den, but it's more properly RYE-den.
  7. Zen

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "meditation"

    • Description:

      A spiritual word name used by actor Zoe Saldana for her son as well as more recently Nick Cannon and Alyssa Scott for their late son. Zen has been trending in recent years along with other spiritual names such as Bodhi and Zion, and recently entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2022.
  8. Ichiro

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "firstborn son"

    • Description:

      Ichiro is a good classic choice for the first boy in a Japanese family.
  9. Kenji

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "second son; healthy + second; wise + second; modest second"

    • Description:

      A international feeling name of Japanese origin that could be used to refer to a child's place in the family, Kenji has attracted notice in the US as the name of The Food Lab chef, James Kenji López-Alt, know simply as Kenji. It appeared in the latter end of the US Top 1000 in 2023.
  10. Maro

    • Origin:

      Latin, Hebrew, or Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "from Mars; bitter; or, myself"

    • Description:

      Maro is an ancient saints' name -- he was an Italian follower of St. Flavia and was martyred -- rarely used in modern life. The name Maro may stem from the Roman Marcellus, related to Mars, the god of war, or it may be a feminine form of Maria, connected with Mario. Maro is also a Japanese name meaning "myself."
  11. Jiro

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "second son"

    • Description:

      Also written as Jirō, this is a commonly used Japanese name, sometimes as a standalone and sometimes as a suffix. Often written to mean "second son", other kanji elements may be used to create the meanings "son, reign", "second, melodious", and "next son".
  12. Kano

    • Origin:

      African place-name or Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "the god of the waters"

    • Description:

      Pleasing crossover possibility.
  13. Takeo

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "strong as bamboo"

    • Description:

      Well used in Japan, appreciated for its powerful meaning.
  14. Hiro

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "broad, widespread"

    • Description:

      Hiro is an apt name for a hero of the show Heroes -- and for our times. Widely used in Japan, sometimes also for girls. Hiroshi is a long form.
  15. Akiro

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "bright boy; man of autumn"

    • Description:

      Akiro is well used in Japan, the first name of famed director Kurosawa. Also transliterated as Akirou, it can mean "bright boy" or "man of autumn", depending on which Kanji elements are used.
  16. Akira

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "bright, intelligent"

    • Description:

      Akira is a popular Japanese name for both sexes that's migrated to the West because of its appearance in manga and video games. Akiro is a related name popular for boys.
  17. Kazuo

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "first son; harmonious man"

    • Description:

      A familiar choice in Japan, Kazuo is known more globally due to award winning writer, Kazuo Ishiguro, whose works include Never Let Me Go, The Remains of the Day, and Klara and the Sun. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017.
  18. Manzo

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "third son"

    • Description:

      Strong and vital Asian birth order name.
  19. Yoshi

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "good, respectful"

    • Description:

      A classic Japanese name known to kids around the world as a Nintendo video-game character.
  20. Issey

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "first-born"

    • Description:

      Japanese-born fashion designer Issey Miyake, known for his techno-clothes, could provide baby naming inspiration.