100 Japanese baby names for boys
Soon-to-be parents looking for unique and meaningful baby names should look to Japan for inspiration.
Choosing a Japanese boy name for your new arrival can be the perfect opportunity to reflect his Japanese heritage and honor your culture. Or if you are simply looking for name ideas with rich meanings behind them, Japanese boy names provide an abundance of choices.
One Japanese boy name — Kai — has been in the top 100 baby boy names for the last five years, according to the Social Security Administration. The most recent top baby names list has it at No. 61.
Another boy name of Japanese origin, Kobe, started gaining popularity in the U.S. in the 1990s during the rise of NBA basketball star Kobe Bryant, whose parents named him after the Japanese beef of the same name.
Some prominent figures with Japanese boy names include filmmaker Hiro Murai, a producer behind critically-acclaimed TV series "The Bear," historian Yuji Ichioka, "Heroes" actor Masayori “Masi” Oka, and Hawaiian Senator Sanji Abe, who was the first Japanese-American to be elected to that body.
100 Japanese Boy Names
There are so many wonderful Japanese boy names to choose from, how will you decide? Hopefully, this list of 100 names will help narrow it down.
Akio
Kenzo
Fuyuki
Ren
Arata
Kenji
Aoi
Osuke
Hikaru
Kei
Masao
Nori
Ritsu
Yuto
Haruto
Ryosuke
Soma
Kaede
Hanzo
Akimitsu
Hikari
Yasu
Ryo
Akira
Itsuki
Junpei
Kenshin
Makoto
Shuto
Yukiya
Isamu
Kohaku
Isao
Akemi
Minoru
Banri
Haru
Daisuke
Jun’ichi
Ayumu
Taiki
Teruyuki
Ryu
Atsuki
Haruka
Shuta
Tatsuki
Hifumi
Touki
Michi
Noriaki
Yukiharu
Kentaro
Touwa
Hajime
Takehiko
Kazuo
Haruki
Jun
Shoichi
Koki
Mitsuaki
Daigo
Koji
Ryota
Kazuyuki
Ken
Hinata
Yoshi
Aoto
Minato
Hayate
Seriya
Ichiro
Aritomo
Takashi
Touji
Sho
Kichiro
Akihito
Nobutoshi
Riku
Hiro
Yosuke
Zenji
Daishi
Masashi
Haruya
Fumihito
Katsuro
Sota
Fuyuhiko
Asahi
Hideyoshi
Yori
Yuma
Akio
Naoki
Masami
Yukinari
This article was originally published on TODAY.com