Japanese Surnames
Japanese names are used in Japan and in Japanese communities throughout the world. Note that depending on the Japanese characters used these names can have many other meanings besides those listed here. See also about Japanese names.
205 surnames in our directory
Japanese
205Nakamura (中村) is a common Japanese surname meaning "middle village," derived from the elements naka (中) meaning "middle" and mura (村) meaning "town, village." The name likely originated as a locational surname for fa...
Nakano is a Japanese surname derived from the elements naka (中) meaning "middle" and no (野) meaning "field" or "wilderness." The name likely originated as a toponymic surname, referring to someone who lived by or owned...
Nakashima is a Japanese surname, a variant of Nakajima, sharing the same etymology. The surname is composed of the elements naka (中) meaning "middle" and shima (島) meaning "island," thus signifying "middle island." It...
Etymology and OriginNishikawa is a Japanese surname composed of two elements: 西 (nishi) meaning "west" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream." Thus, the name literally translates to "west river" or "western stream." This...
EtymologyNishimura is a Japanese surname, typically written as 西村 in kanji. The name is composed of the element nishi meaning "west" and mura meaning "town, village," hence a toponymic name indicating someone who lived...
Nishitani is a Japanese surname composed of two elements: nishi, meaning "west," and tani, meaning "valley." The name thus literally translates to "western valley." It is a topographic surname, indicating ancestral origi...
Nishiyama is a Japanese surname composed of two elements: 西 meaning "west" and 山 meaning "mountain, hill". The name thus translates to "western mountain" or "west mountain".Etymology and EtymologyThe first character, n...
EtymologyNoguchi is a Japanese surname formed by combining the kanji 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness" and 口 (kuchi) meaning "mouth, entrance". The literal meaning is "field entrance" or "wilderness mouth". This sort...
Nozawa (written: 野沢 or 野澤) is a Japanese surname. Its etymology comes from the Japanese elements no (野) meaning "field, wilderness" and sawa (沢 or 澤) meaning "marsh". Thus, Nozawa may be interpreted as "marsh in t...
Ogawa is a Japanese surname written primarily as 小川, meaning "small river" (from o meaning "small" and kawa meaning "river"). It is one of the most common surnames in Japan, ranked 30th in frequency. Less common varian...
Okabe is a Japanese surname with a clear topographic origin. It is composed of two kanji characters: oka (岡) meaning "hill" or "ridge", and be (部) meaning "part" or "section". The name likely originally referred to som...
Okamoto is a Japanese surname written with the characters 岡本, meaning "hill base" or "base of the hill." The first character, 岡 (oka), refers to a hill or ridge, while 本 (moto) signifies a base, root, or origin. This...
Okamura (written: 岡村) is a Japanese surname. It derives from the words 岡 (oka) meaning "hill, ridge" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village", thus literally "hill village". Like many Japanese surnames, it originated fro...
Origin and EtymologyOkazaki is a Japanese surname meaning "hill cape" or "hill peninsula", composed of the kanji elements oka (hill, ridge) and saki (cape, peninsula). It is a toponymic surname, indicating that the origi...
Okumura (written in Japanese as 奥村) is a Japanese surname. Derived from the elements 奥 (oku)) meaning "inside" or "inner" and 村 (mura)) meaning "town" or "village", the name literally translates to “inner village,” o...
Ono is a Japanese surname. The most common interpretations derive from the Japanese elements o (small) and no (field, wilderness), or from ō (big) and no (field), resulting in different kanji renderings: 小野 (small fiel...
Ōshiro is a Japanese surname composed of two elements: ō meaning "big, great" and shiro meaning "castle", thus "big castle". It is especially common on the island of Okinawa. The name is transliterated as Ōshiro, Oshiro,...
Saito is a common Japanese surname, representing an alternate transcription of the kanji 斎藤 (Saitō). It ranks among the 20th and 21st most frequent surnames in Japan, with numerous notable bearers across various fields...
Saitō is a common Japanese surname, ranking among the 20th and 21st most common surnames in Japan. Its primary writing forms are 斉藤 and 斎藤, with less common variants including 齋藤, 齊藤, 才藤, and 齎藤. The name is...
Saitou is an alternate transcription of the Japanese surname Saitō, written with the kanji 斉藤 or 斎藤. The name ranks among the 20th and 21st most common surnames in Japan, according to surname frequency lists. The mea...
Sakamoto (坂本) is a Japanese surname ranking as the 40th most common in Japan. Its etymology derives from the Japanese elements 坂 or 阪 (saka) meaning "slope" and 本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin", thus translatin...
Sakurada is a Japanese surname, typically written with characters that mean “cherry blossom field”: 桜田 (sakura + ta) or the variant 櫻田, with 樱田 appearing in simplified form. The first element, sakura, references th...
Etymology and Origin Sanada is a Japanese surname composed of two sana (meaning "real" or "genuine") and ta (meaning "field" or "rice paddy"). The name thus literally translates to "real field" or "genuine rice paddy," a...
EtymologySano is a Japanese surname derived from the kanji characters 佐 (sa) meaning "help, aid" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness". The name thus conveys the imagery of a "helpful field" or an assistant in the wil...
Sasaki is a Japanese surname written with the characters 佐 (sa, meaning "help, aid"), the ki character 木 ("tree, wood"), and an iteration mark 々 that duplicate the first character. The same characters are literally me...
EtymologySatō (Japanese: さとう; 佐藤) is the most common surname in Japan, held by approximately 1.5% of the population as of 2023. The name is composed of two kanji characters: 佐 (sa) meaning "help, aid" and 藤 (tō) m...
Sato is an alternate transcription of the Japanese surname Satō, which is the most common surname in Japan.Etymology and OriginThe surname Satō is written with the kanji characters 佐 (sa, meaning "help" or "aid") and 藤...
Satou is an alternate transcription of the Japanese surname Sato, which is more commonly romanized as Satō or Sato. It is the most common surname in Japan, with approximately 2 million bearers as of 2023, representing ab...
Seki is a Japanese surname written with the kanji character 関 (seki), meaning "frontier pass" or "barrier". The name is believed to have originated from a toponym or occupational role, as border checkpoints (sekisho) we...
EtymologySerizawa is a Japanese surname written with the characters 芹沢 or 芹澤. The first character seri means "celery," and the second sawa (沢 or 澤) means "marsh." The name likely originated as a topographic surname...
Shibuya is a Japanese surname derived from the name of a prominent shibu (astringent, rough) and ya (valley). The meaning "astringent valley" likely refers to a geographic feature such as a valley with rough or bitter so...
Shimada is a Japanese surname derived from the elements shima (島), meaning "island", and ta (田), meaning "field" or "rice paddy". The name thus translates to "island field", a toponymic surname likely referring to a fi...
Shimamura is a Japanese surname meaning "island village," derived from the elements shima (島) meaning "island" and mura (村) meaning "town, village." It is written with the kanji 島村 or alternatively 嶋村, both of whic...
Shimizu is a Japanese surname, ranking as the 18th most common in Japan. Primarily written as 清水 (shimizu), it combines the characters shi (清) meaning "pure, clean" and mizu (水) meaning "water", literally translating...
Shinkawa is a Japanese surname with a clear toponymic origin, literally meaning “new river” (from the elements shin “new, fresh” and kawa “river, stream”). Surnames such as this were often adopted in reference to a famil...
Etymology and DistributionShinoda (篠田) is a Japanese surname composed of two elements: shino (篠), meaning "dwarf bamboo," and ta (田), meaning "field" or "rice paddy." The name likely originated as a topographic surna...
Shinohara is a Japanese surname composed of two elements: shino (篠), meaning "dwarf bamboo," and hara (原), meaning "field" or "plain." Together, the name translates to "bamboo-grass plain," likely referencing a geograp...
Shinozaki (written: 篠崎) is a Japanese surname. It is composed of two kanji elements: shino (篠) meaning "dwarf bamboo" and saki (崎) meaning "cape" or "peninsula". The name can be interpreted as "dwarf bamboo cape", li...
Shirai (白井 or 紫雷) is a Japanese surname. It is most commonly written with the 白 (shira) meaning 'white' and 井 (i) meaning 'well, mine shaft, pit'. The variant written 紫雷 (Shirai) uses characters meaning 'purple'...
Shiraishi is a Japanese surname written with the characters 白 meaning "white" and 石 meaning "stone" (white and stone). While most commonly associated with Japan due to its Japanese origin (Japanese notation: 白石), it...
Shirakawa is a Japanese surname that literally translates to "white river". It is composed of the elements shira meaning "white" and kawa meaning "river, stream". The name is geographically associated with several locati...
Shiratori (白鳥) is a Japanese surname that literally translates to "white bird". In Japanese, the word shiratori is also the term for swan. The name is composed of two elements: shira (白) meaning "white" and tori (鳥)...
EtymologySugimoto (written as 杉本) is a Japanese surname. It is composed of two kanji: 杉 (sugi), meaning "cedar," and 本 (moto), meaning "base, root, origin." Thus, the name can be interpreted as "cedar origin" or "bas...
Sugimura is a Japanese surname composed of the elements sugi (杉, meaning "cedar") and mura (村, meaning "town" or "village"), signifying a "cedar village." This toponymic surname is found across Japan and is particularl...
Sugita is a Japanese surname composed of two kanji characters: 杉 (sugi) meaning “cedar” and 田 (ta) meaning “field” or “rice paddy.” As a toponymic surname, it originated from places with abundant cedar trees or fields...
Sugiura is a Japanese surname that derives from the combination of two geographic elements. The first, sugi (杉), means "cedar," a tree common in Japan's forests and associated with strength and longevity. The second, ur...
Sugiyama is a Japanese surname written with the characters 杉 (sugi) meaning "cedar" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain" or "hill." It is a toponymic surname, denoting a person who lived near a mountain covered with cedar t...
Suzuki (鈴木) is a Japanese surname composed of two suzu (鈴) meaning “bell” and ki (木) meaning “tree” or “wood”. It is the second most common surname in Japan, following Sato. The name likely originated from a place na...
Tachibana is a Japanese surname with both ornamental and toponymic origins. The primary meaning comes from the word tachibana (橘), a reference to a small, aromatic citrus fruit native to Japan — the mandarin orange or t...
Takahashi (高橋) is the third most common Japanese surname, written with characters meaning "tall" or "high" (taka) and "bridge" (hashi). The surname likely originated from a toponymic source, referring to someone who li...
Takeda is a Japanese surname. It is most famously associated with the Takeda clan, a powerful samurai family that rose to prominence during the Sengoku period (16th century) in Japan. The name is written with the kanji c...
Takenaka (竹中) is a Japanese surname meaning "dweller amongst bamboo", derived from the elements take (竹, "bamboo") and naka (中, "middle"). This surname is found throughout Japan, with notable bearers in various field...
Etymology Takeuchi (竹内) is a Japanese surname. It derives from the kanji 竹 (take) meaning "bamboo" and 内 (uchi) meaning "inside", thus signifying "within bamboo". An alternative spelling uses the kanji 武内, meaning...
Tamura is a Japanese surname composed of the ta (田) element meaning "field, rice paddy" and mura (村) meaning "town, village." The name originates from various places in Japan, such as historical villages named Tamura,...
Etymology and MeaningTanaka is a Japanese surname that literally means "middle of the rice field." It is composed of two kanji elements: 田 (ta), meaning "field, rice paddy," and 中 (naka), meaning "middle" or "inside."...
Tani is a Japanese surname that originates from the Japanese word tani (written with the character 谷), meaning "valley." This topographic surname likely referred to families living in or near a valley, a common feature...
Taniguchi (written: 谷口, literally "valley mouth") is a Japanese surname, ranking as the 92nd most common surname in Japan. It is composed of two elements: tani (谷, "valley") and kuchi (口, "mouth" or "entrance"). The...
Tomioka is a Japanese surname composed of two elements: tomi meaning "wealth, abundance" and oka meaning "hill, ridge." The name thus translates to "wealthy hill" or "abundant hill." Like many Japanese surnames, it origi...
Toyoda is a Japanese surname composed of the elements 豊 (toyo) meaning "bountiful, luxuriant" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy". The name literally refers to a "bountiful rice paddy." Etymology The name is written...
Tsukuda is a Japanese surname written with a single kanji character: 佃. This character compounds the element “人” (person) with “田” (rice field), giving the meaning of “cultivated rice field,” specifically one worked b...