These cute names sound great in both Japanese and English
Are you thinking of naming your baby something which could easily be Japanese or English? This article is for you. We will introduce some baby names for boys and girls which sound good in both Japanese and English, rank them from most to least common in Japan, and list the Japanese-English names with appropriate kanji to help you pick the best kanji for your baby.
Why you should give your baby a Japanese-English name
Before jumping into the topic, I’m Japanese and my fiancé is American. We’d like to have a baby in the future and they would be half Japanese and half American, so we’re not sure what name we should give them. The big question is should we give them a Japanese or English name? Will they like their Japanese names if we live in the US? Should we give them American names? But what if we live in Japan in the future? We think we will give a name to our baby which is common in both Japan and the US. This article will help people who are seeking ideas for Japanese-English names too, so your child would be happy no matter where you end up living. Please keep reading up and find your favorite names!
Names that work in both Japanese and English are better for Japanese nationals
Half (ハーフ) is what Japanese people call someone who has one ethnically Japanese parent and one of another ethnicity. The lack of racial diversity in Japan results, sadly there’s a lot of racism towards foreigners in Japan even though Japanese people don’t realize it. Oftentimes half-Japanese individuals experience this racism too when their name sounds foreign or has a non-Japanese appearance. For example, renting an apartment for foreigners in Japan is very difficult. A lot of landlords don’t trust to rent an apartment to foreigners because they believe that the foreigners might leave at any time. As a result usually foreigners have to pay more money than Japanese people pay, which is absolutely not fair at all.
If your baby has Japanese nationality, you should consider giving them a Japanese name with kanji to make their life in Japan a lot easier in the future. So the question is how to decide the name in Japanese? We will walk you step by step and explain how to determine the most fitting baby name for boys and girls. In Japan, the meaning of the name is determined by the accompanying kanji and the combination of these kanji are very important. Here are 4 things to think about as you pick a Japanese name. Please take a look at them!
1) Meaning
The most important part of giving a name to your baby is the meaning of their kanji. Each Japanese name can have many different meanings depending on the kanji chosen. You can pick something that you hope will be true of your baby like, kindness, bravery, or health. Many kanji for names represent things in nature to express these characteristics; i.e. flowers for beauty, mountains for strength, etc.
When you give a name with kanji to your baby in Japan, you must pick a kanji for a name from a list on the website of the Ministry of Justice, which includes about 1000 kanji. Japanese people usually use familiar kanji, so you want to check their website if you want to use uncommon kanji for Japanese names.
2) Balance
Many Japanese parents think about the balance of family and first names. For example, if your family name is just one kanji then, people tend to give more than two kanji for given names to create balance. The maximum total kanji for a full name is 4 or 5 so don’t go over this.
3) Rhythm
The pronunciation of your family and first name is very important. For example, if your name starts with “Ko” then you probably want to avoid giving a name which starts with “Ko.” Same with repetition of the last syllable of the family name in the beginning of the first name. It can be challenging to pronounce and many people dislike the rhythm it creates. Although this is just one opinion, there’s always exceptions.
4) Stroke of kanji
The number of strokes in the kanji is very important when choosing a name. You don’t want to give a kanji with many strokes because it will be hard to write the name. Although it can’t be helped if your family name includes difficult kanji. If that’s the case, consider choosing simple kanji for their first name to make it easier to write.
Use Japanese name database
There are Japanese name databases online so you should definitely check them out if you’re not sure if the balance, rhythm, and the number of strokes are good for the name you’ve selected. You just need to type your family name in a search bar and then you select further options such as gender, rhythm or a kanji you definitely want included. Ryouun Meimei is the most popular name database website in Japan. Please note that their website is written in Japanese.
Use Japanese name generator
If you want to use a Japanese name generator website written in English. Please go check these websites.
Now you know how you can give your baby a Japanese name. So what are Japanese names that sound like English names too? Here are 21 Japanese-English baby name ideas for boys and girls and some kanji which fit the Japanese names. You should check them all and find your favorite ones.
Japanese boy names that sound good in English
| English name | Japanese name | Kanji | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ken | ケン | 健, 兼, 賢, 謙, 建, 剣, 柑, 堅, 拳, 絢 |
| 2 | Ray | レイ | 光, 麗, 玲, 澪, 怜, 鈴 |
| 3 | Jo | ジョー | 丈, 誠, 昇, 忠, 成, 澄 |
| 4 | Rick | リク | 隆, 陸, 颯, 大地, 涼, 睦, 利久, 璃久 |
| 5 | Leo | レオ | 玲音, 玲愛, 玲央, 怜雄, 怜王, 礼央 |
| 6 | Kai | カイ | 海, 介, 佳, 快, 凱 |
Japanese girl names that sound good in English
| English name | Japanese name | Kanji | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hannah | ハナ | 花, 華, 花菜, 花奈, 葉奈, 晴奈, 巴那 |
| 2 | Sarah | サラ | 沙羅, 紗良, 紗来, 紗羅, 紗蘭, 紗花 |
| 3 | Erika | エリカ | 絵里香, 恵里香, 絵里花, 江莉花 |
| 4 | Marie | マリエ | 真理恵, 万里江, 麻里衣, 真理衣 |
| 5 | Naomi | ナオミ | 直美, 奈緒美, 有美, 真実, 尚美, 奈穂美 |
| 6 | Lisa | リサ | 理沙, 理紗, 里沙, 梨紗, 梨沙, 理彩, 莉紗 |
| 7 | Karen | カレン | 香蓮, 華怜, 夏鈴, 華鈴, 花蓮, 花玲, 楓鈴 |
| 8 | Emily | エミリ | 咲凜, 恵美里, 笑里, 絵美里, 恵美梨 |
| 9 | Ellie | エリ | 絵里, 愛莉, 恵里, 恵理, 絵理, 愛里 |
| 10 | Amy | エミ | 咲, 愛美, 恵美, 絵美, 愛実, 英美 |
| 11 | Ann | アン | 杏 |
| 12 | Rae | レイ | 光, 麗, 玲, 澪, 怜, 鈴, 礼, 玲音, 令恵, 玲音 |
| 13 | Alyssa | アリサ | 有沙, 有紗, 亜里沙, 有彩, 亜梨紗, 愛里紗 |
| 14 | Anna | アンナ | 杏菜, 安那, 愛奈, 蒼那, 明奈, 杏奈 |
| 15 | Reina | レイナ | 玲奈, 麗奈, 莉奈, 莉菜, 玲菜, 玲那, 怜奈 |
Please also check this article about 10 kokuhaku aka confession phrases you should know. This post will give you some ideas of what and how Japanese people express their love.
Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com.