Japanese Names that Start With H

Many things to many peoples: a flower name, also spelled Hanae, to the Japanese; a Czech and Polish short form of Johana; and an alternate form of the biblical name Hannah in the US. It also means "craft, work" in Hawaiian and "glow" in Maori.

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.

This name with a beautiful meaning can be used for girls as well as boys.

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, well known in the U. S. , might inspire some namesakes.

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

Short and catchy form of traditional Asian name.

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

A very popular Japanese boys' name whose characters refer to the constellation Ursa Major. Short form Hiro might work better in the West, as may another popular Japanese boys' name, Ren.

Hanako has a delicate sound and quaint meaning -- but there's a catch. According to widespread urban legend in Japan, Hanako is the name of the ghost of a little girl who haunts school bathrooms, who sometimes answers if you call her name.

A traditional possibility for a Japanese or Japanese-American child born in April or May.

Commonly used in Japanese families.