White-haired hero of the manga and anime series Bleach.

Historically common Japanese name associated with animator Osamu Tezuka, considered "The Godfather of Manga."

A shimmering day name, with a bit of hippie residue.

Common name among Japanese men that can be written with a variety of kanji, giving it different meanings.

Also written as Eijirō or Eijirou, this name was traditionally borne by second-born sons.

As a masculine name, Madara has roots in Japanese. It's not used as a given name, rather it was chosen for the character Madara Uchiha in the Naruto series.

Common Japanese name associated with contemporary artist Takashi Murakami.

Notably used for characters in Spirited Away and Naruto.

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

With Bear and Fox becoming hot baby names, why not Panda? Why not indeed. Both the name and its animal namesake are adorable. And Pan is a nickname right in line with the mythological name trend. The word panda comes from the Nepali word ponya, meaning "bamboo eater" for the panda's favorite food.

Modern way to honor an ancestral Hugh.

Famously the name of Izuku Midoriya, the protagonist of the popular anime series My Hero Academia. It is not a common name among Japanese boys.

Take your pick of pleasant meanings, depending on the character used.

As a given name, Franky peaked for boys in 2007 when it was used 94 times.

Although he goes by the alias Pain in Naruto, Nagato's name actually means "long-lasting gate." It is speculated that his name comes from famed 16th-century ninja Fujibayashi Nagato.

Zankoku has two ties to anime: as a character in Naruto and in the song Zankoku na tenshi no tēze (A Cruel Angel's Thesis), which was used as the theme song for the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Kouki is an uncommon choice in Japan today, but it's been used for several anime characters.

Koji, also written as Kōji, is a common name among men in Japan. It is also featured as a character name in many anime series.

Class representative in the popular anime series My Hero Academia.

Many emotional, virtuous word names are coming back into style, but Happy feels unlikely to be revived. This could be because it doesn't have a solid history of being popularly used (in comparison to Joy) and because it's such a familiarly used word in day to day life (unlike Valor).