Japanese Names That Mean Blue and Green: Aoi, Sora, Sui and Midori
Blue and green names are having a moment in Japan. In 2025, the top girls' name was 翠, a jade green, and the boys' top ten included both 碧 and 藍. This article explains the blue and green kanji used in names and the real names in our dictionary that use them. It also clears up a surprise about one of the best-known "blue" names.
Blue and green are close in Japanese
Traditionally, Japanese used one word, ao (青), for a range of colours that English splits into blue and green. That is why a green traffic light is still called ao in Japan, and why fresh green leaves can be described as aoi. Several of the kanji below sit somewhere between blue and green for the same reason.
The colour kanji
- 蒼: blue-green, lush. The colour of deep water or a thick forest, with a sense of youth and vitality.
- 碧: jade blue, azure. The blue-green of clear seas and gemstones.
- 藍: indigo, the colour of Japan's traditional indigo dyeing.
- 翠: jade green, and also the kingfisher.
- 緑: green.
- 青: blue or green, the everyday word.
All of them are on our page of names meaning colours.
Boys' names
Sota is most often 蒼太, "blue-green" and "great". 蒼 gives it a fresh, outdoorsy feel. Sota was 10th by reading for boys born in 2025 in Meiji Yasuda's ranking (source, in Japanese).
碧 on its own was 6th among boys' names in 2025. It is read mostly Ao, and sometimes Aoi, which is the spelling we list under Aoi.
藍 was 8th for boys in 2025, read mostly Ran. For girls the same character is the name Ai, "indigo". Ai is more often written 愛, "love", though.
Girls' names
Sui, 翠, was the number one girls' name for babies born in 2025. Meiji Yasuda described it as bringing to mind the jewel hisui (翡翠), jade. 翠 is also the kingfisher, a small, brilliantly blue-green bird.
Midori means simply "green". It is written 緑, or with the same 翠 as Sui. Midori is a long-established name, and the 翠 spelling ties it to today's trend.
Sora, 空 or 蒼空, is the sky. With 蒼 it becomes "the blue sky" specifically. Sora is unisex.
The Aoi surprise
Aoi sounds exactly like the adjective "blue". But its most familiar spelling, 葵, is not a colour at all: it is the hollyhock plant, whose leaves give Kyoto's Aoi Matsuri its name. Aoi can mean blue when it is written 蒼 or 碧. So if blue is the point, choose one of those spellings and tell people about it, because many will assume 葵. Aoi is unisex.
Blue and green in surnames
The colour also appears in family names. Aoki, 青木, means "green tree" or "blue tree", with ao in the old broad sense. It is one of the more common surnames in our list. Combining a colour surname with a colour given name, such as Aoki Aoi, can sound repetitive. A nature name works better, as in Aoki Kaede.
Colour names more broadly
Meiji Yasuda's 2025 report highlighted colour as a theme in girls' names. It counted 28 colour-related names in the girls' top 100. Beyond blue and green, our dictionary includes:
- Akari, which can be 朱里, with 朱 "vermilion red"
- Ayaka, 彩花, "colourful flower"
- Iroha, 彩葉, "colour" and "leaf"
- Sumire, 菫, the violet, which is also a word for the colour violet
Choosing a colour name
- Pick the shade. 蒼 feels lush and youthful, 碧 clear and jewel-like, 藍 deep and traditional, and 翠 bright and green.
- Check the reading. 碧 alone can be Ao, Aoi or Midori. Write the reading down when you register or introduce the name.
- Pair it. Colour kanji combine well with other meanings, as in 蒼空 (blue sky) or 彩葉 (colour and leaf).
Keep exploring
See every name on colours, sky and wind and sea and water. Blue names sit naturally alongside all three.