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Japanese Names for Boys

Japanese names for boys 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 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 Japanese boys’ names in the US Top 1000 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 boys’ names in our full tally, below. The top names below rank among the current US Top 1000 Baby Names and are ordered by popularity. Unique names rank below the Top 1000 and are listed alphabetically.

Kenji

Meaning: second son

Origin:Japanese
920
Kenzo

Meaning: strong and healthy

Origin:Japanese
292
Asa

Meaning: healer; born in the morning

Origin:Hebrew; Japanese
204
Aki

Meaning: born in the autumn, ancestor

Origin:Japanese, Finnish; "born in the autumn, ancestor"
1961
Kane

Meaning: warrior

Origin:Celtic
223
Goku

Meaning: aware of emptiness

Origin:Japanese
435
Hiro

Meaning: broad, widespread

Origin:Japanese
515
Ren

Meaning: water lily; lotus

Origin:Diminutive of Rene or Japanese
250
Koda

Meaning: friend

Origin:Japanese, Sioux
328
Zen

Meaning: meditation

Origin:Japanese
647
Raiden

Meaning: thunder and lightning

Origin:Japanese
1394
Nori

Meaning: doctrine or seaweed; north or small person

Origin:Japanese, Norse
3108
Seiji

Meaning: lawful and just

Origin:Japanese
1946
Hiroshi

Meaning: generous

Origin:Japanese
2215
Hiroto

Meaning: great flying

Origin:Japanese
2270
Fuji

Meaning: dweller near the river where wisteria grows

Origin:Japanese
1738
Sanjiro

Meaning: admired, praised

Origin:Japanese
2755
Yoshi

Meaning: good, respectful

Origin:Japanese
1631
Akira

Meaning: bright, intelligent

Origin:Japanese
1451
Jiro

Meaning: second son

Origin:Japanese
1927