Common Japanese Last Names (BEST 349+ Picks for 2024)

ByBest Of All Mom Team Reading Time: 7 minutes
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Japanese last names are an essential part of the country’s rich culture and history. These names can be derived from various sources such as nature, history, or even famous people. By exploring the most common Japanese surnames, you can gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of Japan’s unique identity.

A traditional Japanese gate stands in front of a serene garden with cherry blossom trees, representing the common Japanese last names

Some Japanese last names are more widespread than others, and it’s quite fascinating to learn which surnames are the most popular in the country. In this article, we will delve into the world of common Japanese last names and discuss what makes them so prevalent. Before you know it, you’ll have a better grasp of the common names that you might encounter while studying or traveling within Japan.

Browsing through some of the most popular Japanese last names can be quite an interesting experience. Here are a few prevalent names to get you started:

  1. Sato
  2. Suzuki
  3. Takahashi

We hope this exploration of common Japanese last names has piqued your interest and sparked curiosity about the diverse naming traditions in Japan. Happy learning!

Best Names

1-25 Best Names

In this first list, you can find some of the most popular and beautiful Japanese surnames. Feel free to explore these names for inspiration:

  1. Suzuki
  2. Tanaka
  3. Watanabe
  4. Nakamura
  5. Abe
  6. Ono
  7. Takahashi
  8. Yamamoto
  9. Yamada
  10. Yamaguchi
  11. Ishikawa
  12. Aoki
  13. Fujiwara
  14. Hara
  15. Sato
  16. Nakajima
  17. Kobayashi
  18. Kato
  19. Ito
  20. Matsui
  21. Inoue
  22. Kimura
  23. Saito
  24. Miyazaki
  25. Nishimura

26-50 Best Names

This next list of Japanese surnames offers even more choices. These names are also popular and might catch your attention:

  1. Kojima
  2. Mori
  3. Yoshida
  4. Hashimoto
  5. Kondo
  6. Ogawa
  7. Fujita
  8. Okada
  9. Matsumoto
  10. Noda
  11. Shimizu
  12. Yokoyama
  13. Nakayama
  14. Takeda
  15. Sasaki
  16. Kawaguchi
  17. Ueda
  18. Miyamoto
  19. Oshima
  20. Kitamura
  21. Yamashita
  22. Takeuchi
  23. Niwa
  24. Araki
  25. Endo

51 – 75 Best Names

The following list contains more Japanese surnames that you might find interesting. Have a look at these names as well:

  1. Sakai
  2. Nagai
  3. Tamura
  4. Nakata
  5. Uemura
  6. Okamoto
  7. Terao
  8. Kawai
  9. Yanagi
  10. Shibata
  11. Sakamoto
  12. Kodama
  13. Matsuda
  14. Murakami
  15. Ishihara
  16. Kumagai
  17. Shoji
  18. Yaguchi
  19. Makino
  20. Azuma
  21. Chiba
  22. Ueno
  23. Hirano
  24. Yasuda
  25. Fukuda

76 – 100 Best Names

Finally, here is the last list of Japanese surnames for you to consider. These names are equally distinctive and visually appealing:

  1. Ohara
  2. Sugawara
  3. Nomura
  4. Uno
  5. Kikuchi
  6. Imai
  7. Seki
  8. Enoki
  9. Kaneko
  10. Hattori
  11. Shimada
  12. Shirai
  13. Uchida
  14. Hoshino
  15. Kawashima
  16. Oda
  17. Takei
  18. Kurata
  19. Anzai
  20. Kubo
  21. Hori
  22. Iwata
  23. Hamada
  24. Kusano
  25. Yamasaki

These lists provide you with a wide range of Japanese surnames to explore. Remember that each name has its own history and significance, so learning more about the background of each name can add an extra layer of appreciation and understanding. Happy exploring!

Good Names

1-25 Good Names

Here are some friendly Japanese last names for you to consider:

  1. Agawa
  2. Shima
  3. Bay
  4. Kanji
  5. Kobayashi
  6. Mori
  7. Ikeda
  8. Ogawa
  9. Kaneko
  10. Miura

In addition to these, here are other wonderful last names:

  1. Chiba
  2. Sato
  3. Takahashi
  4. Yoshida
  5. Watanabe
  6. Nakamura
  7. Suzuki
  8. Tanaka
  9. Ito
  10. Kondo

Rounding up the first set, consider:

  1. Kanno
  2. Fujita
  3. Sasaki
  4. Kojima
  5. Matsuda

26-50 Good Names

Continuing our list of friendly Japanese last names:

  1. Nishimura
  2. Okamoto
  3. Hashimoto
  4. Ishikawa
  5. Nakagawa
  6. Maeda
  7. Yamashita
  8. Satoh
  9. Shimizu
  10. Yamaguchi

Another batch of delightful last names for you:

  1. Saito
  2. Ueda
  3. Arai
  4. Ohara
  5. Fukada
  6. Yamagata
  7. Shoji
  8. Tamura
  9. Kubo
  10. Shibuya

Finishing this set, consider these names:

  1. Nagasaki
  2. Murai
  3. Yamamoto
  4. Honda
  5. Hara

51-75 Good Names

Here is the next installment of charming Japanese last names to consider:

  1. Sugita
  2. Inoue
  3. Tsukamoto
  4. Uchida
  5. Shinohara
  6. Higuchi
  7. Niwa
  8. Kuroda
  9. Takeuchi
  10. Azuma

More endearing last names on our list:

  1. Okuda
  2. Imai
  3. Mizutani
  4. Yamada
  5. Katayama
  6. Miyamoto
  7. Shiozawa
  8. Mochizuki
  9. Togashi
  10. Kitano

To complete this selection, consider these names:

  1. Terada
  2. Hamada
  3. Goto
  4. Harada
  5. Yamane

76-100 Good Names

Here is our final set of lovely Japanese last names:

  1. Takahata
  2. Sasaki
  3. Fujii
  4. Miyazaki
  5. Sakurai
  6. Yokoyama
  7. Mitsuda
  8. Asano
  9. Amano
  10. Tanabe

In addition to these, here are more appealing last names:

  1. Okumura
  2. Hasegawa
  3. Nishida
  4. Nitta
  5. Kodama
  6. Oshima
  7. Nishino
  8. Osawa
  9. Endo
  10. Kumagai

And to conclude this section, take a look at these names:

  1. Hayashi
  2. Abe
  3. Sumida
  4. Iwamoto
  5. Teramoto

These are 100 friendly Japanese last names for you to reference or choose from!

More Name Ideas

A traditional Japanese street lined with shops and lanterns, with the name signs of various families displayed prominently

1-25 Name Ideas

Here are some common Japanese last names to get you started. Remember, these are just some ideas. Feel free to explore more and find the perfect surname for your needs.

  1. Fuji
  2. Sato
  3. Ito
  4. Saito
  5. Ida
  6. Oya
  7. Aito
  8. Masaki
  9. Akai
  10. Yoshida
  11. Sasaki
  12. Matsumoto
  13. Inoue
  14. Kimura
  15. Nakamura
  16. Kobayashi
  17. Yamamoto
  18. Ueda
  19. Mori
  20. Takahashi
  21. Watanabe
  22. Ishikawa
  23. Sugimoto
  24. Okada
  25. Hayashi

26-50 Name Ideas

Don’t worry if the first 25 names didn’t catch your eye. Here is another set of 25 Japanese surnames to consider.

  1. Miyamoto
  2. Nakayama
  3. Ishii
  4. Tanaka
  5. Sakamoto
  6. Kato
  7. Nishimura
  8. Imai
  9. Takeuchi
  10. Tamura
  11. Yamada
  12. Shimizu
  13. Kawasaki
  14. Yamaguchi
  15. Hasegawa
  16. Ogawa
  17. Nagai
  18. Yokoyama
  19. Matsuda
  20. Igarashi
  21. Kaneko
  22. Kojima
  23. Kawaguchi
  24. Takeda
  25. Suzuki

51 – 75 Name Ideas

Still searching for the ideal Japanese surname? Here are 25 more options for you to consider.

  1. Sugawara
  2. Murakami
  3. Kawakami
  4. Tachibana
  5. Ohno
  6. Fujimoto
  7. Yasuda
  8. Kondo
  9. Otsuka
  10. Yamashita
  11. Sakai
  12. Izumi
  13. Nomura
  14. Kurosawa
  15. Kitamura
  16. Shimada
  17. Kasai
  18. Oda
  19. Hashimoto
  20. Fukuda
  21. Hirata
  22. Katayama
  23. Yabuki
  24. Ogata
  25. Fukushima

76 – 100 Name Ideas

If you haven’t found the perfect Japanese last name yet, don’t worry. Here are 25 more options for you to explore.

  1. Hirano
  2. Iwata
  3. Ishida
  4. Hosokawa
  5. Tsuda
  6. Endo
  7. Niwa
  8. Kishi
  9. Shibata
  10. Asano
  11. Kikuchi
  12. Ueno
  13. Terada
  14. Ishihara
  15. Kumagai
  16. Yokota
  17. Taniguchi
  18. Hoshino
  19. Abe
  20. Sakurai
  21. Iwasaki
  22. Sakaguchi
  23. Komatsu
  24. Tanimoto
  25. Maruyama

Now that you have a wide range of Japanese last names to choose from, you can use this list to search for the perfect surname to match your desired meaning and character. Happy name hunting!

More Name Ideas (Continued)

1-25 Name Ideas

Here is a list of name ideas for you to consider:

  1. Hashimoto
  2. Nakano
  3. Wada
  4. Miyazaki
  5. Ueda
  6. Imai
  7. Takeda
  8. Sano
  9. Ueno
  10. Mountain
  11. Red
  12. Kato
  13. Omi
  14. Nakaya
  15. Well
  16. Field
  17. Wood
  18. Sakurai
  19. Hoshino
  20. Adachi
  21. Sato
  22. Suzuki
  23. Takahashi
  24. Tanaka
  25. Watanabe

26-50 Name Ideas

Here are more name ideas for you to explore:

  1. Yamamoto
  2. Nakamura
  3. Kobayashi
  4. Kato
  5. Yoshida
  6. Yamada
  7. Sasaki
  8. Yamaguchi
  9. Saito
  10. Matsumoto
  11. Inoue
  12. Kimura
  13. Hayashi
  14. Shimizu
  15. Yamazaki
  16. Mori
  17. Abe
  18. Ito
  19. Okada
  20. Goto
  21. Ishikawa
  22. Uchida
  23. Takahashi
  24. Sugawara
  25. Fujita

51 – 75 Name Ideas

Here is another set of name ideas for you to consider:

  1. Matsuda
  2. Inoue
  3. Kimura
  4. Hayashi
  5. Shimizu
  6. Yamazaki
  7. Mori
  8. Abe
  9. Ito
  10. Okada
  11. Goto
  12. Ishikawa
  13. Uchida
  14. Fujii
  15. Ogawa
  16. Nishimoto
  17. Sugiyama
  18. Ishii
  19. Yokoyama
  20. Mochizuki
  21. Ogata
  22. Kojima
  23. Fujimoto
  24. Okamoto
  25. Miyamoto

76 – 100 Name Ideas

Here is the final set of name ideas for you to explore:

  1. Aoyama
  2. Hirano
  3. Sakamoto
  4. Endo
  5. Aoki
  6. Fujimori
  7. Nishimura
  8. Otsuka
  9. Koga
  10. Mizutani
  11. Ishida
  12. Noguchi
  13. Murakami
  14. Miyata
  15. Shibata
  16. Maeda
  17. Kaneko
  18. Hasegawa
  19. Kawai
  20. Takada
  21. Nakajima
  22. nakaoka
  23. Matsubara
  24. Iwata
  25. Kurihara

These name ideas span a diverse range of Japanese surnames, from traditional to unique. Use this list to inspire and find the perfect last name for your character or any other purpose.

Tips For Brainstorming The Perfect Name

A table with a stack of books on one side and a laptop open to a webpage listing common Japanese last names on the other

In this section, we’ll share a few tips to help you brainstorm the perfect Japanese last name for your needs. So, grab a pen and paper, and let’s get started!


  1. Consider the root or origin: Japanese last names often have deep-rooted meanings that connect to nature, geography, or historical backgrounds. When deciding on a name, consider the root or origin of the word and how it reflects your purpose or the person’s character. For example, many names are related to trees, villages, or landmarks.


  2. Explore different name types: Japanese last names come in all shapes and sizes, so don’t be afraid to mix and match to find the ideal combination. Here are ten popular Japanese last names to inspire you:

    1. Hayashi
    2. Nakajima
    3. Yamashita
    4. Hasegawa
    5. Maeda
    6. Fujita
    7. Sakamoto
    8. Nishimura
    9. Matsuda
    10. Tamura

  3. Think about the meaning: Although the instruction says not to include name meanings, it’s still essential to keep the meaning in mind when considering a name. Reflect on the meaning associated with the names and how it might be significant or symbolic to you or the person you’re choosing the name for.



  4. Choose a versatile name: Some Japanese last names can have multiple meanings. Dual-purpose names might offer your child a sense of uniqueness and allow them to maintain a strong connection to their heritage.


For instance, take a look at these ten versatile Japanese last names:
1. Ishida
2. Sakai
3. Shimada
4. Hirano
5. Noguchi
6. Ota
7. Okamoto
8. Honda
9. Yasuda
10. Kiyama

  1. Ask for input: Lastly, don’t hesitate to ask friends or family for suggestions. Sharing your brainstorming process will not only help you come up with more ideas, but it can also help you identify popular or meaningful names within your community.

With these tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way to selecting the perfect Japanese last name. Good luck, and happy brainstorming!

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