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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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Boy Names

Japanese Names

Search Boy Names by Origin

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  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. 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.
  6. 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.
  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. 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.
  9. 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.
  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. 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.
  12. Yukio

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "snow boy"

    • Description:

      In the Japanese culture, this name suggests a sense of independence and is one of the popular names for December babies.
  13. Hiroshi

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "generous"

    • Description:

      Several artistic Hiroshis make this one of the more plausible Japanese imports.
  14. Ichiro

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "firstborn son"

    • Description:

      Ichiro is a good classic choice for the first boy in a Japanese family.
  15. Issey

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "first-born"

    • Description:

      Japanese-born fashion designer Issey Miyake, known for his techno-clothes, could provide baby naming inspiration.
  16. 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".
  17. Hideki

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "bright tree"

    • Description:

      As well as Japanese physicist Hideki Yukawa, two Yankees ballplayers, Hideki Irabu and Hideki Matsui, made this name familiar to Americans.
  18. 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.
  19. Takeo

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "strong as bamboo"

    • Description:

      Well used in Japan, appreciated for its powerful meaning.
  20. Aki

    • Origin:

      Japanese; Finnish

    • Meaning:

      "born in the autumn; ancestor"

    • Description:

      A name known in several cultures, also through animated book character Tiger Aki. Finnish author Aki Ollikainen is another notable bearer.

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