Old Japanese Names
Old-fashioned Japanese given names with kanji, readings and meanings, and how -ko, -ro endings and birth-order forms sound dated in Japan today.
100 names with kanji, readings and meanings
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About this list
In this list
The best 100 of 429 matching given names, each shown with one of 40 surnames.
Typical length
Mostly 3 beats. The shortest has 2, the longest 5.
Kanji you will see most
子 (name ending) ×50, 郎 (name ending) ×10, 利 (benefit) ×5, 太 (thick) ×4
Gender of the names
59 feminine, 39 masculine, 2 either gender
Meanings and spellings of these names
Each name has a page with its kanji spellings, what the kanji mean and how to say it.
Need a name right now? Pick a gender and style, generate a few at random and copy your favorite.
Samurai Name GeneratorWhy -ko and -ro endings sound old-fashioned in Japan now
In Japan today, a girl's name that ends in 子, read -ko, often registers as traditional rather than new. Hanako (花子), Sachiko (幸子), Kazuko (和子) and Tomoko (智子) follow a pattern parents used widely through much of the twentieth century; the ending works as a conventional flourish rather than adding a fresh image of its own. For boys, 郎 in names such as Taro (太郎), Jiro (次郎) and Saburo (三郎) marks birth order or a similarly fixed role; spellings with explicit number kanji, such as Jiro and Saburo, sound bluntly ordinal to many ears. Neither pattern is wrong, but if you want a name that sounds current in Japanese conversation, you usually look past -ko and plain -ro endings unless that nostalgia is exactly the point.
Birth-order names from Taro to Goro
The well-known ladder Taro (太郎) eldest son, Jiro (次郎) second, Saburo (三郎) third, Shiro (四郎) fourth and Goro (五郎) fifth is one of the clearest old-fashioned signals in Japanese men's names. Each name states rank in plain kanji before 郎. Parents sometimes soften the formula with 小: Kotaro (小太郎) is little eldest son and Kojiro (小次郎) little second son. Taro (太郎) and Jiro (次郎) are three beats each; Saburo (三郎), Kotaro (小太郎) and Kojiro (小次郎) are four. The sound stays sturdy across the set. Outside Japan the ladder is easy to recognize even when the listener does not know which son the character is.
Virtue kanji without -ko or -ro endings
Several men's names in an older style are just one kanji with the usual readings: Tadashi (忠) loyalty, Takeshi (武) martial, Ken (健) healthy, Shin (信) trust and Jin (仁) benevolence. They are short, often two or three beats, and the kanji carry the meaning without a decorative ending. Longer men's compounds such as Naoki (直樹) honest tree or Yamato (大和) great harmony sit in the same plain-spoken family. Women's names can follow the same pattern: Shizuka (静) quiet and Megumi (恵) blessing use single virtue kanji without relying on 子 or 郎.
Ten classic names: the Taro ladder, -ko girls, and little Kotaro
Taro (太郎), Jiro (次郎) and Saburo (三郎) anchor the birth-order line; Hanako (花子), Sachiko (幸子), Kazuko (和子) and Aiko (愛子) show the -ko girl's name shape; Kumiko (久美子) and Tomoko (智子) stack virtue or beauty kanji before 子; Kotaro (小太郎) tucks 小 in front of the eldest-son pattern. Together they cover the endings and kanji that read as old-fashioned to many Japanese ears. Kazuko (和子) shares its かずこ reading with other spellings such as 一子, and Yoko (洋子) ocean child differs from Yoko (陽子) sun child on the same ようこ sound.
| Kanji | Reading | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 太郎 | たろう | Taro | Eldest son |
| 次郎 | じろう | Jiro | Second son |
| 三郎 | さぶろう | Saburo | Third son |
| 花子 | はなこ | Hanako | Flower child |
| 幸子 | さちこ | Sachiko | Happy child |
| 和子 | かずこ | Kazuko | Harmonious child |
| 愛子 | あいこ | Aiko | Beloved child |
| 久美子 | くみこ | Kumiko | Long-lasting beauty |
| 智子 | ともこ | Tomoko | Wise child |
| 小太郎 | こたろう | Kotaro | Little eldest son |
Same reading, older kanji choices
Old-fashioned naming often kept the reading and swapped kanji. Sachiko (幸子) happy child can also be written 倖子 for the same さちこ, a spelling you still see on formal records though 幸子 is the familiar form today. For ようこ, Yoko (洋子) ocean child and Yoko (陽子) sun child share one sound with different middle kanji. Makoto (誠) sincerity and Makoto (真) truth are both single-kanji names on the same まこと reading. Pick the kanji you are willing to explain, and avoid treating sound-only kanji such as 亜 in unrelated coinages as if they carried their dictionary sense in a personal name.
How this list is chosen
Every given name here is a real Japanese given name. It is on our hand-reviewed core list, or it is listed in JMnedict, the open Japanese name dictionary, with one consistent gender. Surnames come from a directory of common family names.
A name’s meaning is built from what each of its kanji means by itself, so Mizuki (美月) reads as beauty and moon. When parents chose a kanji for its sound, or a kanji is only a name ending, the card says so instead of inventing a meaning.
Topic pages put names whose kanji or shape fit the topic first, then rank them by how widely each name is known. Being on a list is not a popularity ranking for Japan, and an unusual spelling is still a real name, not a recommendation.
Read the full method · Content last reviewed: 2026-11-08.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are old Japanese names only for grandparents and historical fiction?
No. In Japan many people alive today still bear -ko names or birth-order -ro names, and the forms remain polite and recognizable. What reads as old is a matter of fashion in the listener's ear, not a ban on use. For a baby in Japan, parents often weigh whether they want that traditional tone; for a character, old-fashioned names are a quick way to signal era or temperament without stating a year. Names such as Sachiko (幸子) and Jiro (次郎) are ordinary given names, not costumes.
What is the difference between Taro and Kotaro?
Both keep the 郎 ending, but the lead kanji changes the picture. Taro (太郎) states eldest son with 太 thick and 郎 as the conventional boy's ending. Kotaro (小太郎) adds 小 small first, so the name means little eldest son: the same rank idea, softened or used for a younger boy in the family. Taro is three beats on たろう; Kotaro is four on こたろう. Choose Taro when you want the plain rank name; choose Kotaro when the diminutive fits the person.
Why do so many old-style girls' names end in ko?
The kanji 子 means child and, in names such as Aiko (愛子), Sakurako (桜子) and Kumiko (久美子), it works mainly as an ending marker after a virtue, flower or season kanji. That -ko shape was the default for many twentieth-century girl's names in Japan, which is why it now sounds vintage. A name does not need -ko to be feminine today; Kaori (香織) woven fragrance or Chiyo (千代) a thousand generations keep an older feel through their kanji without relying on 子.
How do I pick between two spellings with the same old-fashioned reading?
Start from the reading you want, then compare the kanji one by one. Kazuko (和子) harmony child differs from other かずこ spellings in the first character, not the -ko ending. Yoko (洋子) and Yoko (陽子) share ようこ but point to ocean versus sun. Keep the spelling whose image you would repeat when someone asks what the name means. If only one kanji is in common use for that reading today, the rarer one reads as deliberately retro.
Does an old Japanese name need a rare kanji to sound authentic?
Usually not. Everyday kanji such as 花, 幸, 忠 and 武 carry most of the old-fashioned effect. The sound comes from the ending, the birth-order pattern, or a plain virtue image, not from obscure characters. Rare kanji can make forms harder for Japanese readers to guess, which is a trade-off for formal documents and school life. For most purposes, a clear, common kanji on a well-known reading sounds more believably old than obscure variant spellings few people use.
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