📛 Japanese Name Generator (姓 + 名 with 読み)

A Japanese personal name consists of a surname (姓, myōji) followed by a given name (名, namae), almost always written in kanji. There are roughly 100,000 known surnames in Japan, but the top fifty cover most of the population, and given names draw from a much wider pool because parents combine kanji by meaning and reading. Every name has at least one reading (読み) written in hiragana or romaji, which tells you how to pronounce the kanji.

This Japanese name generator combines a curated list of common surnames with popular given names (split by gender) and outputs the full name in kanji together with its kana reading and romaji. It is built for novelists who need believable Japanese characters, game designers populating NPCs, developers generating sample data, and learners who want to see how names are constructed. For deeper surname-only generation, use the Japanese surname generator; to check the fortune of a name you already have, try the name fortune tool.

Refer to the table below for a sample of the most common surnames and given names the generator draws from:

The generator keeps three arrays - surnames, male given names, and female given names - each with the kanji form, its kana reading, and a romaji transliteration. On each click it picks one surname and one given name with Math.random(), respects the gender you select, and joins them in the correct Japanese order: surname first, then given name. The kana reading is shown in parentheses and the romaji below it, so you can see the name, hear it, and copy it.

The table below shows how a generated name is assembled from its parts:

Each click draws fresh random selections, so you can regenerate until a combination feels right. To convert the kana output into a different romanization, paste it into the romaji converter; to swap hiragana for katakana, use the kana converter.

1. Choose a gender - Male, Female, or Any.
2. Choose how many names to generate (up to 20 at a time).
3. Click Generate to see full names with kana and romaji readings.
4. Browse the list and click Copy next to any name you like.
5. Click Generate again for a fresh batch of random names.

Are these the names of real people?

No. The names are random combinations of common surnames and given names from curated lists. Any resemblance to a real person is coincidental.

Why is the surname written first?

In Japanese, names follow the order surname-given name, which is the opposite of the Western given-surname order. The generator follows the Japanese convention; for English contexts you may swap the order manually.

What do the parenthesised kana and romaji mean?

They are the reading (読み) of the name - how the kanji are pronounced. Kana is the hiragana spelling and romaji is the Hepburn romanization, so non-Japanese speakers can still pronounce the name.

Can the same kanji have different readings?

Yes. Japanese given-name kanji often have multiple valid readings (名乗り), so 翔太 might be read Shōta by one family and Kyōta by another. The generator uses the most common reading for each name.

Can I generate only surnames?

This tool generates full names. For surnames only, use the dedicated Japanese surname generator, which focuses on the surname pool with more variety.

Is the list culturally accurate?

Yes. The surnames are drawn from the most common family names in Japan (Satō, Suzuki, Takahashi and so on), and the given names reflect popular names from recent decades, so the output looks authentic.

Japanese names are written surname first, given name second in Japanese - the opposite of the Western order. So 佐藤翔太 is Mr/Ms Satō Shōta, not Shōta Satō. Long vowels (ō, ū) are often written without the macron in English (Sato, Yuki), but keeping the macron is more accurate. Many given names have multiple valid readings for the same kanji, so a real person may read 翔太 as Shōta, Shota, or even Kyōta - the generator uses the most common reading. For formal writing, add the honorific -さん (san) after the surname. If you are generating names for a Japanese-language project and want furigana above the kanji, run the output through the furigana generator.