200 Common Japanese Last Names With Meanings

The Japanese language ranked 13th in the most spoken languages in the world. As such, I have hand-picked 200 common Japanese last names with their meanings included.

List Of 200 Common Japanese Last Names:

Tsuchiya

”House of the earth” or “earth house.” It comes from the Japanese “tsuchi” (”earth”) and “ya” (house”).

Sato

Sato dates back to the Fujiwara clan, a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan. Sato is the most common last name with over 2 million people having this surname. Sato means aid or help.

Oshima

”Big island.”

Toyoda

Toyoda (豊田) is ”bountiful rice field.” The family changed its car brand to Toyota.

Hirose

Hirose is made of hiro, wide, and se, rapids.

Kawai

Kawai (河合) is ”where rivers meet.”

Nishida

”West rice field.” Philosopher Nishida Kitarō founded the Kyoto School.

Yamaha

”Mountain leaf.”

Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi is a Japanese toponymic surname and means ”mountain mouth” or ”mountain gateway.” Badminton player Akane Yamaguchi was a three-time world champion.

Kawaguchi

”Mouth of the river.”

Kitano

Kita, north, with no, field.

Kawasaki

”River promontory.”

Suzuki

Suzuki is the 2nd most common surname. It means ”bud tree” or ”bell wood.” Suzuki Motor Corp is one of the world’s largest car manufacturers. Suzuki’s first passenger car was manufactured in 1955.

Hayashi

”Woods.” Hayashi is in the top 20 most common Japanese surnames.

Japanese last names with dark meanings:

Name	Meaning	Pronunciation
Onizuka	”demon’s mound”	oh-nee-ZOO-kah
Kiriyama	misty mountain	kee-ree-YAH-mah
Kuzuryu	nine-headed dragon	koo-zoo-RYOO
Kurobane	black feather	koo-roh-BAH-neh
Kito	demon head	KEE-toh
Tsukahara	plain of burial mounds	tsoo-kah-HAH-rah
Kageyama	”shadow mountain.”	kah-geh-YAH-mah
Kumakiri	bear cutter	koo-mah-KEE-ree
Kuroyanagi	black willow	koo-roh-YAH-nah-gee
Karasuma	the crow	kah-rah-SOO-mah or kah-rah-soo-MAH-roo
Shimotsuki	month of frost	shee-moh-TSOO-kee
Kurokawa	black river	koo-roh-KAH-wah
Kirishima	”fog island”	kee-ree-SHEE-mah
Kuroiwa	black rock	koo-roh-EE-wah
Kuroki	black tree	koo-ROH-kee

The list continues.

Morita

Morita is made of mori (”forest”) and ta (”rice field”).

Takahashi

Takahashi is symbolizing “tall bridge” or “high bridge.”

Nakajima

Nakajima is in the top 25 most common Japanese last names and means ”inner island.” Retired racing driver Daisuke Nakajima started his career in go-karts.

Higashi

Higashi (東) is the single character for east.

Kitamura

”North village.”

Minami

Minami (南) is south.

Tanaka

Tanaka (田中) is ta (”rice field”) and naka (”middle”) so “middle of the rice field” is the meaning.

Abe

‘Fire’ in the Ainu language which is usually used in the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Takagi

“Tall tree”.

Harada

“Field on the plain” and combines hara (”open moor” or ”plain”) and da (”rice field”).

Onishi

Onishi combines ō, great, with nishi, west.

Japanese last names with beautiful meanings​:

Name	Meaning	Pronunciation
Hoshikawa	river of stars	hoh-shee-KAH-wah
Tsubaki	camellia	tsoo-BAH-kee
Shiratori	”white bird,” the swan	shee-rah-TOH-ree
Kazehaya	the early wind	kah-zeh-HAH-yah
Sakuragi	cherry tree	sah-koo-RAH-gee
Yumeno	field of dreams	yoo-MEH-noh
Ayase	silk-patterned rapids	ah-YAH-seh
Asahi	”morning sun.”	ah-SAH-hee or AH-sah-hee
Hanabusa	cluster of blossoms	hah-nah-BOO-sah
Tsukishima	moon island	tsoo-kee-SHEE-mah
Momoi	the well by the peaches	moh-MOH-ee
Amamiya	shrine in the rain	ah-mah-MEE-yah
Kotobuki	”long life and joy”	koh-toh-BOO-kee
Shirahama	white beach	shee-rah-HAH-mah
Hanazawa	flower marsh	hah-nah-ZAH-wah

Scroll for more.

Otsuka

Otsuka (大塚) means ”great mound,” an old burial mound.

Yoshikawa

”Lucky river.”

Watanabe

“Crossing area.” It has roots in the Watanabe clan which is a samurai lineage originating in the Heian period.

Hasegawa

“Long valley river.”

READ MORE: What Are The 100 Names Of God And Their Meaning

Hashimoto

Hashimoto is composed of the words hashi (”bridge”) and moto (”base”). Hashimoto’s thyroiditis was first described by Hakaru Hashimoto.

Ito

”Wisteria of Ise.”

Facts about the Japanese language

It has four different writing systems: hiragana, katakana, kanji, and romaji. Kanji is the most complicated form of the Japanese language.

It does not have an indefinite or definite article.

In the fourth century, it adopted the Chinese writing system.

There are about 130 million native speakers worldwide.

Yamamoto

“Foot of the mountain” or “base of the mountain.”

Sugawara

”A plain of sedge grass.” Scholar Sugawara no Michizane was deified as Tenjin after his death.

Mizuno

Mizuno is made of mizu, water, and no, field.

Furukawa

”Old river.”

Komatsu

”Little pine.” Komatsu company has been building bulldozers since eight decades.

Igarashi

Igarashi (五十嵐) is written ”fifty storms.”

Shimada

”Island rice field.”

Tsuji

Tsuji (辻) is the word for crossroads.

Ōtomo

”Grand companion.” Daimyo Ōtomo Sōrin was baptized and was known as Francisco.

Matsushita

”Under the pine.” Matsushita Kōnosuke founded the company known today as Panasonic.

Yokoyama

Yokoyama is made of the elements yoko (”sideways”) and yama (”mountain”)

Rare Japanese last names starting with u:

Name	Meaning	Pronunciation
Urabe	guild of diviners	oo-RAH-beh
Ukai	”cormorant keeper”	oo-KAI
Ueshiba	planted turf	oo-eh-SHEE-bah
Utagawa	song river	oo-tah-GAH-wah
Ukita	origin unclear	oo-KEE-tah
Urashima	island in the cove	oo-rah-SHEE-mah
Uryu	where melons grow	OO-ryoo
Umezawa	”plum-tree marsh.”	oo-meh-ZAH-wah
Ukon	guard of the right	OO-kohn
Uemura	planted village	oo-eh-MOO-rah
Utsumi	inland sea	oo-TSOO-mee
Ujiie	house of the clan	oo-JEE-eh
Usami	”beauty of Usa”	oo-SAH-mee
Unno	sea field	OON-noh or oo-MEE-noh
Usui	mortar well	oo-SOO-ee

Even more below.

Yamazaki

”Mountain promontory.” Rhythmic gymnast Hiroko Yamasaki competed at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Hamada

Hama, beach, and da, rice field.

Arai

Arai (新井) is ”new well.”

Ichikawa

Ichikawa is ”market river.”

Nakamura

“Village in the middle.” Shunsuke Nakamura played as a professional footballer for Yokohama FC, Espanyol, Celtic, and Reggina.

Fujii

”Wisteria spring.”

Minamoto

Minamoto is the word for ”source” or ”origin”. Emperor Saga handed it to several of his sons.

Kobayashi

“Small forest.”

Okamoto

Okamoto is one of the top 50 most common Japanese family names. It signifies ”base of the hill.”

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Kato

‘Increasing wisteria.’

Maeda

Maeda symbolizes an individual ”who lived in front of a rice field.”

Matsuo

Matsuo (松尾) is ”foot of the pines.”

Sakurai

Sakura, the cherry tree, with i, well.

Noguchi

”Mouth of the field.” Bacteriologist Noguchi Hideyo was on the 1,000 yen note.

Sugimoto

”Base of the cedar.”

Sano

Sa, help, and no, field.

Yoshida

Yoshida has a meaning that I like, ”good rice field” or ”fortunate rice paddy.” It is the 11th most common Japanese last name.

Kimura

“Tree village.”

Date

Date is pronounced as DAH-teh, and is a district of Mutsu Province in the north.

Uesugi

Ue, upper, and sugi, cedar.

Yamada

Yamada is the 12th most common Japanese family name and is interpreted as ”mountain field.”

Fukuda

“Good-fortune rice field.”

Sasaki

Sasaki has its roots in the Sasaki clan that is a historical Japanese clan. It means “helper of the forest.”

Hirano

Hirano is made of hira, flat, and no, field.

Masuda

Masuda (増田) is the ”rice field that grows.”

Matsui

”Pine and well.” Matsui Hideki was MVP of the 2009 World Series with the Yankees.

Chiba

”Thousand leaves.” Chiba clan ruled the land east of Tokyo.

Iwasaki

”Rocky promontory.” Iwasaki Yatarō founded the shipping firm that became Mitsubishi.

Matsumoto

Matsumoto is the 15th most common Japanese last name and means ”origin of the pine tree.” Activist Hajime Matsumoto founded the Association to Protect the Poor Students.

Inoue

‘Above the well.’ The romanized form is Inouye.

Shimizu

Shimizu is the 20th most common in Japan and has a meaning that I find interesting, ”pure water.” Racing driver Kazuo Shimizu participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Mori

Mori translates as “forest.”

Konoe

”Near guard”, after the palace guard offices on a Kyoto street. Konoe house headed five regent families who supplied the court’s top advisers.

Ikeda

”Rice paddy near the lake.”

Yamashita

“Under the mountain.” As you can see, the Japanese have many surnames related to the mountain. Maybe because Japan is one of the most mountainous nations in the world.

Takada

Takada is ”high rice field.”

Imai

”Well of now”.

Murata

It combines village and rice field. Murata Tsuneyoshi designed the first rifle made in Japan for its army.

Sugiyama

”Cedar mountain.”

Ueno

”Upper field.”

Ishikawa

“Stone river” and is connected to the Tedori River. The river is used extensively for irrigation.

Ogawa

Ogawa is another Japanese surname that is linked to a river. It means “small river.” Chemist Masataka Ogawa discovered the element rhenium.

Fujita

“Wisteria field.”

Murakami

Haruki Murakami (“above the village”) received the Gunzo Prize for New Writers and his work was translated into 50 languages.

Matsuda

”Pine tree rice field.”

Sakamoto

Sakamoto Ryoma brokered the alliances that helped topple the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1867 Ryōma was assassinated by Tokugawa loyalists. It means “the base of the slope,” from saka (”slope”) and moto (”foot or base”).

Tamura

Ta (rice field) with mura (village).

Nakano

”Middle field.”

Takeuchi

”Inside the bamboo.”

Nakayama

”Middle mountain.”

Shibata

Shiba, brushwood, and ta, rice field. General Shibata Katsuie served Oda Nobunaga.

Wada

Wa, harmony, with da, rice field.

Ueda

Ueda is the ”upper rice field.”

Miyazaki

”Shrine promontory.” Miyazaki Hayao co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985.

Hara

Hara (原) is a single character for an open plain.

Ando

”Peaceful wisteria.” Ando Momofuku invented instant ramen as well as cup noodles.

Maruyama

Maru, round, with yama, mountain.

Taniguchi

Taniguchi is the ”mouth of the valley.”

Okada

“Rice field near the hill.”

Kusanagi

Kusa, grass, and nagi, mowing. In myths hero Yamato Takeru cut the burning grass around him with a sword to escape a trap.

Saito

”Religious purification.”

Goto

Goto is composed of the elements: go and to (later wisteria).

Aoki

From ao (”green” or ”blue”) and ki (”tree)”.

Fujiwara

Fujiwara was the family that supplied imperial consorts for centuries.

Hoshino

Hoshino is meaning ”star field.” The diminutive I love is Hoshi-chan.

Yukawa

“Hot-spring river”. Physicist Hideki Yukawa won the Nobel Prize for predicting the meson.

Nishimura

Nishimura is made of nishi (”west”) and mura (”village”).

Ono

Ono is symbolizing a small field or plain. Heian poet Ono no Komachi is one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals.

Endo

”Distant wisteria.” Endo Shūsaku wrote Silence and Martin Scorsese filmed it in 2016.

Ishiie

Ishiie is from ishi (”stone”) and i (”well”). It is pronounced as ee-SHEE-ee.

Miura

Miura has roots in the Miura Peninsula south of Tokyo which is the seat of a samurai clan of the same name.

Nakagawa

”The stream in the middle.”

Kagawa

”Fragrant river.” Kagawa is the smallest of the 47 prefectures by area.

Ota

”A big rice field.” You will also see it written as Ohta.

Kojima

Kojima is made of ko (”small”) and shima (”island”).

Kaneko

“Gold child.”

Imagawa

”River of the present.” Imagawa Yoshimoto marched west with a large army and died at Okehazama.

Yagyū

Yagyū comes from a village near Nara, and its characters are willow and growth.

Fujimoto

”Base of the wisteria.”

Hattori

Hattori is from hatoribe, an early guild of weavers who served the court.

Sakai

“Sake well”.

Miyamoto

Miyamoto Musashi was a swordsman who wrote The Book of Five Rings. It is composed of miya (”Shinto shrine”) and moto (”foot”).

Uchida

“Within the rice field” as well as “inner rice paddy.”

Ishida

In 1600 Ishida Mitsunari led the western army in the famous Battle of Sekigahara. It is made of ishi (stone) and da (rice field).

Kudo

Kudo, written 工藤, is made of ku (”artisan” or ”craft”) and to (”wisteria”).

Kinoshita

”Under the tree.”

Honda

“Main rice field.” In 1948, Soichiro Honda established Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Takeda

Takeda (”a warrior’s field”) Shingen ruled Kai Province and was credited with amazing military prestige.

Kikuchi

”A chrysanthemum pond.” The Kikuchi clan of Kyushu was destroyed when the Ōuchi clan attacked them.

Kubo

“Long lasting” and “protect”.

Nomura

“Field village” and is common in the eastern part of the country.

Kurosawa

It is made of kuro, black, and sawa, a swamp or marsh. Director Akira Kurosawa won the Golden Lion at Venice with Rashomon.

Oda

Oda combines ori (weaving) and ta (rice field).

Taira

Taira has the character 平, for peace and level ground.

Hosokawa

It means narrow river. Morihiro Hosokawa broke the Liberal Democratic Party’s hold on power.

Sanada

Sanada is symbolizing a ”true rice field” and comes from a village in Shinano Province.

Tachibana

Tachibana is the word for a small wild citrus.

Shimazu

”An island harbor.” The clan ruled Satsuma in southern Kyushu for 700 years.

Kazama

”A gap where the wind passes,” from kaze (wind) and ma (space).

Mochizuki

Mochizuki is the full moon of the 15th night in the lunar calendar.

Kuroda

“Black rice paddy”. Painter Kuroda Seiki studied in Paris for nine years and brought open-air painting home.

Kagami

”Mirror” (鏡).

Kurosaki

It combines kuro and saki, ”a dark cape”. Manga readers know it from Ichigo Kurosaki who is the hero of Bleach.

Ōgami

Ōgami 大神 is the ”great deity.”

Asakura

”Morning storehouse.” The clan’s castle town at Ichijōdani in Fukui burned in 1573.

Kujō

Kujō is the 9th avenue of Heian-kyō that is the street grid of Kyoto.

Nitta

”New rice field”. Nitta Yoshisada threw his sword into the sea at Inamuragasaki.

Mishima

”Three islands.”

Amano

From ama, heaven, and no, field. Artist Yoshitaka Amano drew the characters and logo art for Final Fantasy.

Kondo

Kondo (近藤) combines kon, near, with to, the wisteria of the Fujiwara clan.

Hiraga

It is made of hira, flat, and ga, celebration. Inventor Hiraga Gennai got a Dutch elekiter running in 1776.

Kusunoki

Kusunoki is the camphor tree 楠木.

Ishii

Ishi (stone) and i (well).