Share this generator
Supporting rewilding efforts
Trees planted so far: 126795
Rewilding projects so far: 53
(Join me?)
Japanese name generator 
This name generator will generate 10 random Japanese names in their Romanized and regular versions. Note that surnames are written before first names in Japanese, which is also the order in this generator.
Japan is an island nation in East Asia, and, with over 123 million people, the 11th most populated country in the world. Japan is known across the world for its technology, entertainment culture, cuisine, art, architecture, literature, and more. Its entertainment is especially well known through anime, manga, Japanese pop music (J-Pop), movies, and video games through companies like Nintendo and Sony.
Among its biggest cultural influences and worldwide phenomena are Pokemon, Godzilla, One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Studio Ghibli, Hatsune Miku, Yoasobi, LiSA, and that is only naming a handful of the most famous artists and creations. For some of these creations you'll find additional name generators on my site.
Japanese names are written in kanji and hiragana, with rare or foreign names in katakana. Kanji are logographic characters originally from China, and are used for the vast majority of names. It's the only script used for surnames. Hiragana is a phonetic system used alongside kanji, usually as part of grammatic rules, but can also be used to write out names normally written in kanji. Historically, it was very common to write women's names in hiragana because of its softer, flowing script. Today, gender plays less of a role in choosing hiragana.
Because of how numerous kanji are, the same name can be written with a wide range of symbols. This choice often plays an important role when parents choose a name for a child. But it can also make it so a first name is hard to pronounce even for native Japanese speakers unfamiliar with an otherwise rarely used symbol. This isn't the case for surnames, who are by far most commonly written with very common, often nature based kanji.
Another element that can influence their choice is how many strokes it takes to write a name. If the total is an unlucky number (e.g. 4, 9, 24, 42, 43, 45, or 49), a different symbol or hiragana might be chosen. The reason these numbers are unlucky is due to the sound they make. The word for 4 sounds similar to the word for death. The word for 43 can sound similar to the word for stillbirth, which is why it isn't used in hospitals, and so on. Similar to the number 13 in many Western cultures.
To start, simply click on the button to generate 10 random names. Don't like the names? Simply click again to get 10 new random names.
Art submitted by Robin Ellie, click to visit her DeviantArt profile.