68 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 68 common Japanese last names with their meanings included.

List Of 68 Japanese Last Names:

Tsuchiya

Tsuchiya has the meanings of “house of the earth” or “earth house.” It comes from the Japanese “tsuchi” (which means ”earth”) and “ya” (meaning house).

Sato

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

Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi is a Japanese toponymic surname and means ”mountain mouth” or ”mountain gateway.” Japanese badminton player Akane Yamaguchi bears this name and she was a three-time world champion.

Suzuki

Suzuki is the 2nd most common surname in Japan. 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

Hayashi means woods. Hayashi is in the top 20 most common Japanese surnames.

Morita

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

Takahashi

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

Nakajima

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

Tanaka

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

Abe

Abe means ‘fire’ in the Ainu language which is usually used in the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Takagi

“Tall tree”.

Harada

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

Watanabe

The surname Watanabe is meaning “crossing area.” It has roots in the Watanabe clan which is a Japanese 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 (which means bridge) and moto (meaning base). Hashimoto’s thyroiditis was first described by Hakaru Hashimoto.

Ito

”Wisteria of Ise.”

Facts about the Japanese language

The Japanese language 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. Also, Japanese verbs have no conjugations.

In the fourth century, the Japanese language adopted the Chinese writing system.

The Japanese word for “Japan” means “Land of the Rising Sun.”

There are about 130 million native Japanese speakers worldwide.

Yamamoto

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

Yokoyama

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

Yamazaki

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

Nakamura

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

Fujii

Fujii means ”wisteria spring.”

Kobayashi

“Small forest.”

Okamoto

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

Editor’s Pick: 33 Funny Bird Names Which Are Actually Real

Kato

‘Increasing wisteria.’

Maeda

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

Kimura means “tree village.”

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.”

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.” Japanese racing driver Kazuo Shimizu participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Mori

Mori translates as “forest.”

Ikeda

Ikeda is a Japanese toponymic surname that is meaning ”rice paddy near the lake.”

Yamashita

Yamashita means “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.

Ishikawa

Ishikawa means “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.” Japanese chemist Masataka Ogawa discovered the element rhenium.

Fujita

Fujita means “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”).

Okada

Okada means “rice field near the hill.”

Saito

Saito is another one associated with wisteria and means ”wisteria field.”

Goto

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

Kondo

It combines the character for near with the one for wisteria, so Kondi means “near wisteria.”

Endo

“Far wisteria.”

Aoki

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

Fujiwara

Fujiwara was the family that supplied imperial consorts for centuries. It means “wisteria plain” and the clan dates to 669.

Nishimura

Nishimura is made of nishi (means ”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.

Ishiie

Ishii is from ishi (”stone”) and i (that means ”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.”

Ota

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

Kojima

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

Kaneko

“Gold child.”

Fujimoto

Fujimoto is meaning ”base of the wisteria.”

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 (means ”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. The surname is made of ishi (stone) and da (rice field).

Kudo

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

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

Kubo is meaning “long lasting” and “protect”.

Nomura

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