10 Japanese baby names that work in English (with kanji and meaning!) - Part 2: Boy Names

Thank you for loving the post on Japanese girl names that work in English! I couldn’t leave my boys hanging, so here’s 5 names for boys. More info on kanji and meaning below!

I didn’t put in the super obvious ones that you might know of, like Ken/Kent and Ren of the world—I feel like boy names have a bad rap for being kind of blah (it’s a lot more classic, the top boy names haven’t really changed in the past century while girls’ are trendier) so I thought I’d give some spots to names that you may not have thought about.

Enjoy!

1. George

The romaji for this would technically be “Jyoji” but ain’t nobody got time for that, so let’s just call it George. A classic American name that can be written in many ways in kanji! Lovers of Ghibli will know Joe Hisaishi, and his kanji for “jyou” would be one of the options here. While there’s an option to break up the sound different ways, I’m focusing on “jyou” and “ji” because that’s the way it makes most sense.

My pick for “Jyou” kanji and meanings

• 譲 - “to give away,” this is what Joe Hisaishi uses for his name, and it’s a very classic kanji that is used a lot

• 丞 - “to help,” this is a kanji that’s got modern appeal, and it’s my favorite on the list. It just looks really cool and is used as the second or third character (yep I said third) for very very old names and titles, so bringing it up at the front makes it feel fresh

• 定 - “determined, set, promise,” this is a kind of not exciting option chosen for the sound. But it’s a classic character, and can offset and balance a more intense second character—that’s the way you can balance the kanjis when choosing multiple

Good “Ji” kanji to use as the second character

• 司 - “to control, work,” there’s a sense of expertise associated with this kanji, and is a great option for any names ending in “shi” or “ji” (can be read both ways—actually, all characters mentioned here can be read either way)

• 士 - “an official, someone who has achieved greatness,” it’s actually synonymous with the one above, so you can just choose based on the look of it. I love how simple this one is.

• 次 - “next, second born,” a very very classic choice. Has anyone heard of Jiro? (of course) oftentimes that name is written with this kanji, and means “second born son,” if you have an uncle or grandpa Jiro in the fam, you can honor him with this kanji

• 路 - “road, reason, journey,” a very fancy version of the kanji for road that you see a lot, 道 as in Judo, Sado, etc. which is read as “do” or “michi.” If you have a family member in the arts or have someone with the name like “Michishige” in the family, this would be a nice connection

Sample names that I think especially go well together:

• 譲士

• 丞路

• 定司

2. Dan

This might surprise you, but there are a few kanjis that you read as “dan” that make great names. Here are my two favorites:

My pick for “Dan” kanji and meanings

• 檀 - “spindletree,” another nature name, for a tree that flowers in early summer and is strong, used to make bows

• 弾 - “bullet, play, bounce,” has a very sporty vibe to it, perfect to name after your uncle who loved basketball or play a string instrument

3. Gene/Jin

Ok, kind of a stretch here, but the sound “Jin” is very similar to “Gene,” and because Japanese doesn't have “g” in their alphabet, it really is the closest sound to it. Of course, Gene isn’t the most popular boy’s names these days but maybe this could help its cause?

My pick for “Jin” kanji and meanings

• 仁 - “heart, benevolence,” a very classic kanji that is rooted in the values of the culture. The bonus here is it’s one of the few kanjis that sound the same in both Japanese and Korean, so really works as a trilingual name!

• 迅 - “quick, intense,” a very modern choice, good sporty name

• 辰 - “dragon,” the way to read it is a little uncommon, but the kanji itself is used a lot in Japanese names especially for babies born in the year of the dragon

4. Akira

From Akira Kurosawa to the manga Akira and… I think there are a lot of anime characters with this name, it’s one of those Japanese names that have broken the language barrier and entered the mainstream in America. I love that it’s also a gender-neutral name, and can work for either boy or girl.

There are two different ways to go about it, using one kanji or doing it as a combo of “Aki” and “Ra.” For the combo name though, the only one I would really recommend is 秋良, meaning “fall, autumn” and “good, right,” for a fall baby.

My pick for “Akira” kanji and meanings

• 明 - “bright, light,” the most obvious choice, I think this is the most common way to write Akira. And just to note, Akira is one of those names that have A LOT of kanji options, and many of them share this same light/sun/bright/fire theme—remember, similar kanji meanings, similar sounds

• 旭 - “sunrise,” I love how simple this is. It’s more traditionally read as “Asahi” which is also an awesome name

• 彬 - “brilliant,” the meaning also has a connotation of being intelligent as well as the actual light aspect. Another thing I love about this kanji is that part of it is the kanji for “hayashi,” so if that’s a family name this is a great way to honor it

• 昭 - “bright like the sun,” this is also read as Shou, which is another popular Japanese name. It’s also part of the gengou or the historical era name for 1926–1989, which means us older Millennials were born during this period

5. Rui/Louis

Another kind of out-of-the-box option here, it’s actually a name that I have in my back pocket for a future boy baby since Steven’s grandpa’s name is Louis. Kind of like Gene/Jin, because “L” is not a letter Japanese people have in their alphabet, it works as a counterpart.

There are two ways to go about it for this too, choosing either one kanji or a combo name. But I don’t really recommend the combo only because it feels a little feminine and also too trendy? Just not really my style.

My pick for “Rui” kanji and meanings

• 塁 - “to continue, stack,” this is my personal choice because it’s also the kanji for “base,” as in the bases for baseball, and it’s my grandpa’s favorite sport—he even played pro for a little bit. Perfect way to honor those baseball fans in our lives.

• 類 - “same kind, fellows,” not a very glamorous meaning kanji but it’s very commonly used for names because of its ease in reading

There you have it! Hope you had as much fun with this series as I did! If you have any requests for future posts about baby names, let me know!