Japanese Baby names

My friend is having a baby and wants a traditional Japanese name for a baby girl.

She doesn't want something that is too common, but very pretty and cute.

Thanks.

Well my daughter's name is Yukiji (α˜H)

it is quite uncommon in Japan and oldfashioned but i love it. it means "snowy road"

Japanese girls names that have been popular over the last 6 years:

Hina
Yui
Miyu
Haruka
Sakura
Nanami
Ayaka
Momoka
Aoi
Airi
Haruna
Yuka
Misaki
Rin
Yuna
Saki
Mao
Runa
Ria

Im not Japanese, so take this with a grain of salt, but Ive always been fond of the name Midori (dont know if its too common). Then again I tend to pick names from literature...

Is your friend Japanese?! If so, wouldn't she already know some ''traditional Japanese'' baby names? If not (and I suspect she isn't), why does she want to give her child a Japanese name? I could understand if she had a particular name in mind, but for others to SUGGEST names and then just pick one at random . . . frankly, it's a little weird. (And I don't know too many Japanese women who ask around for ''traditional Western names'' to give their babies. It's culturally inconsistent.) Tell your friend to pick a name that has significance to her, not just a name that sounds cool because it's different.

Unagi, some people have an interest in a particular culture so wish to give their child a name from that culture, there's nothing weird about that. Some of my friends have travelled in India a lot and so have given their children India- related names- one little girl is actually called India. I doubt the mother is Japanese, if so, she wouldn't ask about Japanese names, I agree.

To the person who asked the question originally, the list someone provided is really good, those are the popular names for little girls now. Yui is one I often hear, it's a really nice name. I know a few teenage girls called Yui. One of my Japanese friends called his daughter Hina- she was born in January this year.

Thanks for your reply, Sira. I understand what you're saying, and I agree with you--if a person has a particular interest in a culture, perhaps they want to give their child a name from that culture. No problem with that. My confusion stems from the fact that, if a person is interested enough in a culture to GIVE THEIR CHILD A NAME FROM THAT CULTURE, they usually know a little about that culture, and are not enlisting the help of people on message boards to find names from that culture to give the child! If the woman were interested enough in Japan to go so far as to give her child a Japanese name, surely she would have, um, I don't know, maybe read some books on Japan? Or maybe taken a gander at some manga? Or maybe talked with some Japanese people . . . HERSELF, not via a friend! There's nothing weird about giving a baby a name from another culture--unless you're just choosing it to be "different". And, sorry, but I think that's the case here. And, frankly, appropriating names from other cultures can not only be confusing, but also just a wee bit insulting.

I have 2 good friends
their names are
Saho and Kaori. I like both.
and one more peculiarity is they write their names in Hiragana and Not in Kanji.

I like Hitomi(“΅) as pupil of an eye as well.I don't know whether it's old or common.

My friend is actually Japanese. The thing is she has lived in America her whole life. So has her relatives.The person who originally came here was her Great-Great-Grandmother. she doesn't really celebrate the Japanese culture and she doesn't even have a Japanese name. Her name is Jenny. It's just the way they did it. You shouldn't criticize them for it. She wants a traditional Japanese name because she she wants her child to grow up being proud of her, now faint, roots. I don't see a problem with that. And she is doing it via me because she doesnt have a computer. It's just easy for me to log on and ask then for her to go through thousands of books. How is it bad if she wants someones opinion of her name.

You shouldn't assume that she is just a random american who wants a cool name to T0TalLie PWn all the other stay at home moms.
It's rude.

I am very sorry if you're not having a girl, but my mum had a baby recently and bought a name book, and some of the japanese names are very unique and nice.

here are some of the ones I found and there meanings in Japanese:

Hoshi - meaning 'star'

Hisa - meaning 'long-lasting' or 'longevity'

Anzu - meaning 'apricot' which can be analysed as 'timid love'

Aki - meaning ' autumn'

Akako - meaning 'red' which can be analysed as 'to have curing powers'

Yoko - meaning 'positive female'

Yoi - meaning 'born in the evening'

Yoshi - meaning 'good or respectable'. This can also be given to boys.

Yasu - meaning 'peaceful'

Reiko - meaning 'gratitude. ( Rei is a variable.)

I know this is not very much help, especially seeing as these are all girls names but I hope they give you some kind of guidance... :D

Happy days !

Akako is uncomon.
Yoi doesn't sound as name.
Yasu is a name for boy, but very old fasion.

I used to live in Japan, and still go there frequently. I love being there and it is the permanent home of many of my friends.

Neither I nor my lover are Japanese, however, and we didn't seriously consider giving our new baby a Japanese name. But when we recently became parents we decided on a name that we like, which is "logical" also in Japanese. In Chinese, too, since we have empathy in that direction, too.

Obvious such names are Lee, Leo, Miki, Riki, Ken, Ara etc. in all their pleasant combinations.

We chose Lena, which transliterates in Japan as Riina. We also chose kanji applicable for both Japan and China.

As it happens, the 'na' ending has been fashionable for about 20 years in both cultures (for different reasons). But fashionability was not a factor. We have deeper reasons for liking her name.

And all our Japanese and Chinese friends responded warmly to it, offering kanji suggestions, name stamps etc.

The good thing about name kanji is that you cannot go wrong. For any chain of syllables there are characters that have a attractive meanings.

May I suggest a few?

Kikuko
Takiko
Nobuko
Atsuko
Takako
Sayako
Noriko
Fujiko
Motoko
Yue
Honami
Mariko
Suzuko

Please do tell us later on what will be the child's name!

try reading some japanese books. you could try some that are trans. to Eng. Manga might also work. you never know...

----------My friend is having a baby and wants a traditional Japanese name for a baby girl.
She doesn't want something that is too common, but very pretty and cute.
Thanks.-----------

When will baby be born?

Ž‡D@iShiorij@
the sounds nice, the kanjis nice, and its not too common!

too bad it belongs to my daughter.
so you cant have it!! (joking, but it does though)

I want to tell you some Japanese names which I also like.
For a girl:
Emi
Mio
Mai
Manami
Miki

For a boy:
Kenya

cute names are :

Aya
Kyoko
Takako
Nikki
Asuka
Sakurako
Yumi

what do you think of Sayuri? it is an uncommon, but cute name! ^.^

Shizuka, Kumiko, Shoko, Mitsuki, Kana, Ren, Makoto, Mai, Tomo, Kaori, Shinobu, Shiori, Yuki, Saki, Nayuki