Japanese Girl Names

Japanese names are written with kanji, characters that each carry a meaning, so a single spoken name can have many written forms and many meanings. Hana is most often written with the character for flower, but other characters give it different senses. Sora usually means sky, Emi is commonly written with characters for blessing and beauty, and Yuri is the Japanese word for lily. When you see a meaning attached to a Japanese name, it reflects one common choice of characters rather than the only one.

Many of these names are short, with two open syllables such as Aya, Emi, Mika, Sana and Yuna, which makes them easy to say in English. Some are used for both boys and girls in Japan: Akira, Ren and Sora appear on either side, so they suit parents who like a name that is not strongly gendered. Yuri is worth a second look, since it is a girls' name in Japan but a boys' name in Russia.

A few names on this list, such as Kaya, Kairi and Kami, have roots or uses in several languages, and families choose them for different reasons. If a Japanese meaning is important to you, it is worth asking a native speaker which characters best match the sense you want before you settle on a spelling.