Japanese names for girls
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Featured in baby name books
Akira
Akira is a Japanese name meaning “intelligent” or “bright,” sometimes also “dawn.” Traditionally male, as with film director Akira Kurosawa, Akira is increasingly given to girls as an alternative to Keira and Kyra.
Alina
Alina is a Slavic and Russian name related to Helen, meaning “light,” “bright,” or “beautiful,” with “nobility” also given. Alina is popular across the Slavic world, its Old English cousin Aline was used in the Middle Ages, and Alena can also serve as a short form of Magdalena.
Amaya
Amaya is a Japanese name meaning “night rain.”
Anna
Anna is a form of Hannah and Ann, meaning “grace” or a woman favored by God. In the Gospel of Luke, Anna is an elderly widow and prophetess at the Jerusalem temple who recognized the infant Jesus as the Messiah.
Asa
Asa is a Hebrew name meaning “healer,” “physician,” or “doctor,” and in Japanese it means “born in the morning.” Asa was the third king of Judah, who removed pagan idols and reigned for forty-one years, though in old age he trusted physicians rather than God.
Eli
Eli is a Hebrew name meaning “high,” “height,” or “ascended.” Eli is also read as “God is great,” and a separate Scandinavian Eli means “light.”
Ena
Ena is an Irish name meaning “bright” or “shining,” possibly derived from Helen. Ena is also linked to the Gaelic for “fire” or “little ardent one,” with Enya as a related form.
Gina
Gina began as a short form of names like Regina (“queen”), Angelina, Georgina, or Virginia. Other meanings offered are Hebrew “garden,” Japanese “silvery,” and Greek “farmer.”
Hana
Hana is Japanese for “flower” or “flower blossom,” with Hanako as a related form. Hana is also an Arabic name meaning “happy” or “blissful.”
Jun
Jun is a Chinese name meaning “truth” or “truth of life.” Jun is also Japanese for “obedient” or “pure.”
Kane
Kane is a Gaelic or Irish name linked to battle, meaning “little warrior” or “one who battles.” Kane is also Welsh for “beautiful” and Japanese for “golden.”
Karen
Karen is a Danish or Scandinavian form of Katherine, meaning “pure.” Karen took hold in the U.S. in the 1920s and was top five through much of the 1960s, so it now sounds ordinary, like Susan and Lisa; singer Karen Carpenter is a famous bearer.
Keiko
Keiko is a Japanese name meaning “respectful child,” “joyful child,” or “adored.” A badass namesake is Keiko Fukuda, the samurai’s granddaughter who became the highest-ranking woman in judo history.
Kira
Kira is a Greek name meaning “lady,” while Carrington gives “lord.” Kira is also linked to light and the sun, from Latin, Russian, or Persian roots.
Kyoko
Kyoko is a Japanese name meaning “mirror,” or, more poetically, “girl who sees her true image.”
Lena
Lena is a variation of Helen meaning “bright one” or “light.” Lena began as a nickname for names like Helena and Magdalena; the related Lina is Arabic for a young palm tree.
Leona
Leona is Latin for “lion,” the feminine form of Leo or Leon, with variants like Leonie. Hotel owner Leona Helmsley is a notable bearer.
Lina
Lina is an Arabic name meaning “palm tree.” Lina is also a Greek-rooted form tied to Helen, meaning “light,” “a torch,” or “sunbeam.”
Lisa
Lisa began as a short form of Elizabeth, Hebrew for “God is my oath” or “pledged to God.” Lisa rarely stood alone before the 1930s, then ruled as the top girl’s name through most of the 1960s before fading as parents turned to Liza or Libby.
Luna
Luna is Latin and Italian for “moon.” Luna was the Roman moon goddess.
Malia
Malia is the Hawaiian form of Mary, with meanings tied to the sea or bitterness, and in Hawaiian also “still water.” Malia is given the Hebrew meaning “bitterness.”
Maria
Maria is the Latin and Mediterranean form of Mary, meaning “bitter,” or “star of the sea.” Deeply traditional yet modern-sounding, Maria evokes The Sound of Music, West Side Story, and “Ave Maria”; it was also the name of a wife of Muhammad.
Marie
Marie is the French form of Mary, meaning “bitter.” Marie was the second most popular U.S. name in the 1920s and remains a middle ground between Mary and Maria.
Marina
Marina is Latin for “from the sea.” Marina is a fashionable Shakespearean name.
Mina
Mina is a German name meaning “love” or “tender affection,” and is a character in Dracula. Mina began as a short form of names like Wilhelmina, and it is so cute and current that many parents skip the long form.
Mira
Mira comes from Latin and means “admirable,” “wonderful,” or “respected.” Mira shares a root with “miracle” and “mirage”; it is also a Sanskrit name meaning “prosperous” and an Eastern European short form of Miroslava.
Naomi
Naomi is a Hebrew name meaning “pleasant,” sometimes glossed as “amiable” or “friendly.” In the Bible, Naomi is Ruth’s mother-in-law, who returned to Bethlehem grieving and guided Ruth toward Boaz.
Reiko
Reiko is a Japanese name meaning “pleasant child” or “polite child.” Reiko is also linked to gratitude, read as “thankful one.”
Risa
Risa is a Latin name meaning “laughter,” with variants such as Rissa and Riza.
Tori
Tori is the Japanese word for “bird.” Tori is also a short form of Victoria, meaning “victory,” and one book suggests naming her Victoria and calling her Tori instead.
These lists are only intended to give you name ideas. Make sure to further research each name, as some may have negative connotations.