What Japanese family names do you find cool ?

**Duo** · Sep 14, 2005, 19:46

eh names, ummmmmm i dont know much but kitano sounds cool or iwasaku names that sound a bit masculine like that ......... for proper names my fave is kenshin, i think it just sounds so damm nice

**yuuto** · Sep 15, 2005, 18:46

@ FLASHJEFF
What a pity !! I can't load pix from URL .
loading from my hard disc is not possible because the picture is too big!!
my pix is 94 kb and 1024 x 768 > 700 x 700

**yuuto** · Sep 15, 2005, 20:07

the pictures didn't open automatically

**nurizeko** · Sep 15, 2005, 22:10

...Fumie...

My girlfriends got a friend with that name, but she doesnt like her much :S.

I like Hagiwara, because i knew someone with that last name

I like Katsumoto to.

And Watanabe, and Arai, and Imagawa sounds cool.

As for first names, Saori is nice, kaori is also pretty i think.

I dont have much experience with japanese names so i dont really have much to base a list of ones i like.

**misa.j** · Sep 17, 2005, 00:59

Originally Posted by Maciamo

It's weird as a court ruled a few years ago that some parents couldn't name their child "Akuma" (悪魔, which means "evil spirit")

I remember that, thinking what a horrible name for a child. The parents were pretty angry when they were told to rename their child. The father got arrested later on for posession and use of illegal substance.

In contrary, there was a boy who could change his name "Tanaka Kakuei" to something else, when Tanaka Kakuei(ex-prime minister, also was convicted for accepting over $ 2 million in bribes) was being tried.

**studyonline** · Sep 18, 2005, 00:50

I was just thinking of that incident, too. It was a quite big news though anything can be "big" so fast and easily in Japan.

Such a parent indeed. Considering the bully in schools is one of the big problems in Japan, I am glad that they seriously took care of the case pretty quickly.

I wonder if someone tried to name a kid "Tenshi"?? Just a thought.

**Kintaro** · Sep 20, 2005, 10:08

Fans of Hikaru no Go will weep when they realize that Waya is not a Japanese name.

Waya** (i.e. Wayama)
**waya (i.e. Iwaya)
**waya** (bleh)
But not "Waya".

This apparently comes from a survey of 70+% of households... 100,808 names on the search engine... http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~suzakihp/index40.html

Besides, it's not like I care, it makes me like the name even more. Sounds native, but it isn't.

**jasminekumi** · Oct 17, 2005, 01:09

i like kimura... common and easy

**Pierrot le Fou** · Oct 17, 2005, 16:18

There is a list of accepted kanji characters for use in names (specifically given names). One actress/talento/j-idol/whatever she was named her kid 'ichigo' (strawberry) but had to do it in Katakana because the kanji hadn't been approved. This year it was approved for use, and apparently she was pretty miffed.

My favourite name of all time has to be 酒井 (sakai) with 酒 meaning 'alcohol' and 井 meaning 'well.' And quite frankly, how can you top the 'liquor well' family? It makes me regret I was not born under better circumstances.

Many of the pre-Meiji names are three-kanji names. For instance, 中小路 (nakakoji, fukuoka area) or 西小路 (nishikoji, kyoto area) or 長谷川 (hasegawa) or 五十𣘺 (isozumi, I may have the last kanji wrong). I'm sure there are more, and I'm not sure if other three-kanji names like 佐々木 (sasaki) or 鈴木 (suzuki) fall into the same category...

**celtician** · Oct 19, 2005, 12:09

I like Terao (just for the sound and the 'R' is pronounced almost correctly in this case) and Koizumi because this is such a nice person HA HA!

**voica** · Nov 29, 2005, 05:50

I very much like the names containing kami or mori, because of their meaning.

Could you please post the meanings of the names you post, because I am very interested in this and I don't know whereelse could I find them. Thank you.

**-rika- shinya`** · Dec 30, 2005, 15:08

terachi! ^^ i really like surnames which has um.. just 3 parts(i don't know how you call it sorry)..i think they're really nice .and those which ends with -i. they sound a little more delicate somehow

**Child_prey** · Feb 9, 2006, 18:28

Takarai is very nice.

**Endsight61** · Mar 28, 2006, 06:24

Originally Posted by Child_prey

Takarai is very nice.

I agree, as well as Akechi and Ishimoto

**godppgo** · Feb 15, 2006, 04:15

I thought 犬養 (いぬかい) is kinda interesting.... must have gone through a rough childhood with that name.

**komikado** · Feb 18, 2006, 13:06

I like mine: KOMIKADO though I don't know what it means. Can anyone help? I also like my other family name since to me it sounds strong: SHIGUEMATSU. I think it is more common but no clue of the meaning either.

**nurizeko** · Feb 18, 2006, 15:55

My favorate it just bland old everyday: HAGIWARA
Its my fave because its my girlfriends last name, and the family name of her family, great bunch, and it pained me soooo much having to leave them, infact i best not get into it too much, i'll end up teary eyed again.

The first girl ever to "dis" me was called Stacey Robson, ah, to be young again,she was from new zealand and stuff, my first girlfriend so you can emagine we both were destined to mess-up with our raging in-experience and teenage hormones and psychological state.

Yeah, i thought it was like, total real love, aahhhh the foolishness of youth, i guess im lucky i found my real love at the age of 18 after some pretty painful experiences before.

Maybe compacting the dating aroung thing into my mid teens was a major contributing factor but, hey, i can live with it if at 20 im already firmly emplaced with my soulmate.

lol

**oni_dori** · Mar 9, 2006, 04:38

i personally like Ishikawa (sorry dont know the kanji for it). it means "stony river" and is my girlfriends surname. ya, i know i might be a little biast, but still, i liked it when i first met her long before we became a couple. i dont know how common the name is, i had never remembered hearing it before i met her, that could be one of the reasons i liked it.

**yuuto** · Mar 11, 2006, 05:57

My favorate is OIKAWA ... that's means a river

**PsychoticNess** · Mar 15, 2006, 06:34

I don't know many surnames... I like Sagawa and Takeshi.

For given names I really like the names Kyoko and Megumi

**Shikei** · Mar 28, 2006, 02:52

I tend to like longer names in general, but one of my favourite surnames is 滝 (Taki) because it sounds so pretty ^^ And it means waterfall, so its got a pretty meaning too!

**Harvey** · Mar 29, 2006, 23:03

I like MIMBU 民部

**dangdaga** · Apr 21, 2006, 02:55

kamizono cause she was the first to diss me and in the process taught me one of the cornerstones of japanese culture
also cause of what it means
and also cause it's the name of the neighborhood of where it happened as well

**Hanneesh** · Apr 23, 2006, 05:36

i like Tanaka, Yamada and hattori Hanzo. Kawazaki has a ring to it as well. Oh! and Arakawa. She won gold in the figure skating of the winter olympics. Her first name is cool as well. Shizuka. Actually that is the coolest Japanese name. Shizuka Arakawa. Try saying it in a deep voice. SHIZUKA ARAKAWA!

**yamada** · Aug 22, 2006, 22:52

Originally Posted by Hanneesh

i like Tanaka, Yamada and hattori Hanzo. Kawazaki has a ring to it as well. Oh! and Arakawa. She won gold in the figure skating of the winter olympics. Her first name is cool as well. Shizuka. Actually that is the coolest Japanese name. Shizuka Arakawa. Try saying it in a deep voice. SHIZUKA ARAKAWA!

Shizuka is also known as a girl friend of Nobita.