Dear Japanese名前と漢字

Japanese surnames

Most Japanese surnames describe a place: a field, a bridge, the foot of a mountain. They are listed here from most to least common.

KanjiNameKanaHow commonMeaning
佐藤 Sato さとう Top 10 assist + wisteria
鈴木 Suzuki すずき Top 10 bell + tree
高橋 Takahashi たかはし Top 10 tall + bridge
田中 Tanaka たなか Top 10 rice field + middle
伊藤 Ito いとう Top 10 that one (sound i) + wisteria
渡辺 Watanabe わたなべ Top 10 cross over + area
山本 Yamamoto やまもと Top 10 mountain + origin
中村 Nakamura なかむら Top 10 middle + village
小林 Kobayashi こばやし Top 10 small + grove
加藤 Kato かとう Top 10 add + wisteria
吉田 Yoshida よしだ Very common good luck + rice field
山田 Yamada やまだ Very common mountain + rice field
佐々木 Sasaki ささき Very common assist + (repeats the previous kanji) + tree
山口 Yamaguchi やまぐち Very common mountain + mouth
松本 Matsumoto まつもと Very common pine tree + origin
井上 Inoue いのうえ Very common well + above
木村 Kimura きむら Very common tree + village
林 Hayashi はやし Very common grove
斎藤 Saito さいとう Very common purification + wisteria
清水 Shimizu しみず Very common pure + water
山崎 Yamazaki やまざき Very common mountain + cape
森 Mori もり Very common forest
池田 Ikeda いけだ Very common pond + rice field
橋本 Hashimoto はしもと Very common bridge + origin
阿部 Abe あべ Very common corner + section
石川 Ishikawa いしかわ Very common stone + river
山下 Yamashita やました Very common mountain + below
中島 Nakajima なかじま Very common middle + island
石井 Ishii いしい Very common stone + well
小川 Ogawa おがわ Very common small + river
前田 Maeda まえだ Common before + rice field
岡田 Okada おかだ Common hill + rice field
長谷川 Hasegawa はせがわ Common long + valley + river
藤田 Fujita ふじた Common wisteria + rice field
後藤 Goto ごとう Common after + wisteria
近藤 Kondo こんどう Common near + wisteria
村上 Murakami むらかみ Common village + above
遠藤 Endo えんどう Common far + wisteria
青木 Aoki あおき Common blue + tree
坂本 Sakamoto さかもと Common slope + origin
福田 Fukuda ふくだ Common fortune + rice field
太田 Ota おおた Common thick + rice field
西村 Nishimura にしむら Common west + village
藤井 Fujii ふじい Common wisteria + well
金子 Kaneko かねこ Common gold + child
岡本 Okamoto おかもと Common hill + origin
藤原 Fujiwara ふじわら Common wisteria + meadow
中野 Nakano なかの Common middle + field
三浦 Miura みうら Common three + bay
原田 Harada はらだ Common meadow + rice field
中川 Nakagawa なかがわ Common middle + river
松田 Matsuda まつだ Common pine tree + rice field
竹内 Takeuchi たけうち Common bamboo + inside
小野 Ono おの Common small + field
田村 Tamura たむら Common rice field + village
中山 Nakayama なかやま Common middle + mountain
和田 Wada わだ Common harmony + rice field
石田 Ishida いしだ Common stone + rice field
森田 Morita もりた Common forest + rice field
上田 Ueda うえだ Common above + rice field
原 Hara はら Common meadow
内田 Uchida うちだ Common inside + rice field
柴田 Shibata しばた Common brushwood + rice field
酒井 Sakai さかい Common sake + well
宮崎 Miyazaki みやざき Common shrine + cape
横山 Yokoyama よこやま Common side + mountain
高木 Takagi たかぎ Common tall + tree
安藤 Ando あんどう Common peaceful + wisteria
宮本 Miyamoto みやもと Common shrine + origin
小島 Kojima こじま Common small + island
谷口 Taniguchi たにぐち Fairly common valley + mouth
今井 Imai いまい Fairly common now + well
工藤 Kudo くどう Fairly common craft + wisteria
高田 Takada たかだ Fairly common tall + rice field
増田 Masuda ますだ Fairly common increase + rice field
丸山 Maruyama まるやま Fairly common round + mountain
杉山 Sugiyama すぎやま Fairly common cedar + mountain
村田 Murata むらた Fairly common village + rice field
大塚 Otsuka おおつか Fairly common big + mound
新井 Arai あらい Fairly common new + well
小山 Koyama こやま Fairly common small + mountain
平野 Hirano ひらの Fairly common flat + field
藤本 Fujimoto ふじもと Fairly common wisteria + origin
河野 Kono こうの Fairly common river + field
上野 Ueno うえの Fairly common above + field
野口 Noguchi のぐち Fairly common field + mouth
武田 Takeda たけだ Fairly common military + rice field
松井 Matsui まつい Fairly common pine tree + well
千葉 Chiba ちば Fairly common thousand + leaf
岩崎 Iwasaki いわさき Fairly common rock + cape
菅原 Sugawara すがわら Fairly common sedge reed + meadow
木下 Kinoshita きのした Fairly common tree + below
久保 Kubo くぼ Fairly common long time + protect
佐野 Sano さの Fairly common assist + field
野村 Nomura のむら Fairly common field + village
松尾 Matsuo まつお Fairly common pine tree + tail
市川 Ichikawa いちかわ Fairly common market + river
菊地 Kikuchi きくち Fairly common chrysanthemum + ground
杉本 Sugimoto すぎもと Fairly common cedar + origin
古川 Furukawa ふるかわ Fairly common old + river
大西 Onishi おおにし Fairly common big + west
島田 Shimada しまだ Fairly common island + rice field
水野 Mizuno みずの Fairly common water + field
桜井 Sakurai さくらい Fairly common cherry blossom + well
高野 Takano たかの Fairly common tall + field
吉川 Yoshikawa よしかわ Fairly common good luck + river
山内 Yamauchi やまうち Fairly common mountain + inside
西田 Nishida にしだ Fairly common west + rice field
飯田 Iida いいだ Fairly common meal + rice field
星野 Hoshino ほしの Fairly common star + field
白石 Shiraishi しらいし Fairly common white + stone
黒田 Kuroda くろだ Fairly common black + rice field

Popularity bands are approximate and based on commonly cited surname rankings.