Japanese Last Name Generator
Generate Japanese last names with kanji, hiragana reading, romaji and meaning. Common surnames like Sato, Suzuki and Takahashi come up most often, as they do in Japan.
- 森田Morita
- 森田:
- forest + rice field
- 山内Yamauchi
- 山内:
- mountain + inside
- 野村Nomura
- 野村:
- field + village
- 田中Tanaka
- 田中:
- rice field + middle
- 佐藤Sato
- 佐藤:
- assistant + wisteria
- 五十嵐Igarashi
- 杉山Sugiyama
- 杉山:
- cedar + mountain
- 岩崎Iwasaki
- 岩崎:
- rock + cape
- 和田Wada
- 和田:
- harmony + rice field
- 黒田Kuroda
- 黒田:
- black + rice field
Given names come from a hand-reviewed list of real Japanese names; surnames come from a ranked list of 2,000 common surnames. Romaji is simplified Hepburn (Sato, not Satou).
How Japanese surnames are formed
Most surnames combine kanji for places and landscape: 田中 (Tanaka) is "middle of the rice field", 山本 (Yamamoto) "base of the mountain" and 小林 (Kobayashi) "small forest". Rice fields (田), mountains (山), forests (林, 森) and rivers (川) are everywhere because families took names from where they lived.
Well over 100,000 different surnames are in use in Japan, but the most common ones are shared by millions of people. The generator weights each surname by how common it is, and the Rare & unusual style flattens that curve.
The most common Japanese surnames
The most common surnames in the generator, from most to least frequent.
| # | Kanji | Reading | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 佐藤 | さとう | Sato | assistant + wisteria |
| 2 | 鈴木 | すずき | Suzuki | bell + tree |
| 3 | 高橋 | たかはし | Takahashi | tall + bridge |
| 4 | 田中 | たなか | Tanaka | rice field + middle |
| 5 | 伊藤 | いとう | Ito | usually traced to Ise (province) + Fujiwara (wisteria) |
| 6 | 渡辺 | わたなべ | Watanabe | crossing + edge |
| 7 | 山本 | やまもと | Yamamoto | mountain + base |
| 8 | 中村 | なかむら | Nakamura | middle + village |
| 9 | 小林 | こばやし | Kobayashi | small + grove |
| 10 | 加藤 | かとう | Kato | add + wisteria |
| 11 | 吉田 | よしだ | Yoshida | good fortune + rice field |
| 12 | 山田 | やまだ | Yamada | mountain + rice field |
| 13 | 佐々木 | ささき | Sasaki | from Sasaki, a place in old Omi province |
| 14 | 山口 | やまぐち | Yamaguchi | mountain + mouth |
| 15 | 松本 | まつもと | Matsumoto | pine + base |
| 16 | 井上 | いのうえ | Inoe | well + upper |
| 17 | 木村 | きむら | Kimura | tree + village |
| 18 | 林 | はやし | Hayashi | grove |
| 19 | 斎藤 | さいとう | Saito | purification + wisteria |
| 20 | 清水 | しみず | Shimizu | pure + water |
| 21 | 山崎 | やまざき | Yamazaki | mountain + cape |
| 22 | 森 | もり | Mori | forest |
| 23 | 池田 | いけだ | Ikeda | pond + rice field |
| 24 | 橋本 | はしもと | Hashimoto | bridge + base |
| 25 | 阿部 | あべ | Abe | linked to the ancient Abe clan |
| 26 | 石川 | いしかわ | Ishikawa | stone + river |
| 27 | 山下 | やました | Yamashita | mountain + lower |
| 28 | 中島 | なかじま | Nakajima | middle + island |
| 29 | 石井 | いしい | Ishii | stone + well |
| 30 | 小川 | おがわ | Ogawa | small + river |
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common Japanese last name?
Sato (佐藤) is generally ranked first, followed by Suzuki (鈴木), Takahashi (高橋), Tanaka (田中) and Ito (伊藤).
How many Japanese surnames are there?
Estimates run to well over 100,000 different surnames, far more than most countries, although the most common ones are shared by millions of people.
When did ordinary people in Japan get surnames?
Commoners were required to take surnames in 1875, during the Meiji era. That is why so many surnames describe a place or a landscape feature.
Can I get samurai clan surnames?
Yes. Use the samurai name generator for clan names such as Takeda, Sanada and Date.