Japanese names that start with ‘A’ include Akira, a widely recognized name thanks to Akira Kurosawa, the filmmaker behind classics like “Rashomon,” “Seven Samurai,” and “Ran,” as well as Akira Toriyama, the Manga artist who created the “Dragon Ball” series.
Also beginning with ‘A’, the female Japanese name Ai (愛) has a lovely meaning as it corresponds to the Japanese word for “love.”
Japanese names that start with ‘A’ include many choices. We have found that among Japanese first names that start with a vowel, that initial vowel was ‘a’ in 54% of the cases, ‘i’ in 22% of the cases, followed by ‘e’ (17%), ‘u’ (4%), and ‘o’ (3%).
Most Japanese names have several different possible spellings. Each spelling has its own meaning that depends on the Kanji characters used.
For example, the name Aiko can be spelled as 愛子 (with Kanji characters meaning “love” and “child”), as 愛幸 (the second Kanji character means “happiness” or “fortune”), or even as 藍子 (“indigo” and “child”).
Japanese girl names that start with ‘A’ frequently have one of the following three initial Kanji characters:
One of the difficult aspects of the Japanese language is that Kanji characters often have several different readings (pronunciations) depending on the word in which they appear.
For example, the kanji 美 is read as ‘bi’ in the word 美術 (bijutsu), which means “art.” But it is pronounced as ‘mi’ in the following spellings of the names Aimi (愛美) and Akemi (明美).
Below, we have organized some of the Japanese girl names listed above into groups based on their initial Kanji character (in one of their common spellings).
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ai | 愛 | 愛 (ai): love |
| Aiko | 愛子 | 愛 (ai): love 子 (ko): child |
| Aimi | 愛美 | 愛 (ai): love 美 (mi): beauty |
| Airi | 愛理 | 愛 (ai): love 理 (ri): reason |
| Aina | 愛奈 | 愛 (ai): love 奈 (na): no specific meaning |
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Akari | 明里 | 明 (aka): bright 里 (ri): village |
| Akiko | 明子 | 明 (aki): bright 子 (ko): child |
| Akemi | 明美 | 明 (ake): bright 美 (mi): beauty |
| Akina | 明奈 | 明 (aki): bright 奈 (na): no specific meaning |
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Aya | 彩 | 彩 (aya): color |
| Ayaka | 彩花 | 彩 (aya): color 花 (ka): flower |
| Ayako | 彩子 | 彩 (aya): color 子 (ko): child |
| Ayano | 彩乃 | 彩 (aya): color 乃 (no): from, possessive particle |
Let’s look at possible spellings for the Japanese boy names listed above. (it is important to remember that most Japanese names have several different spellings, and the meaning of a name depends on the chosen spelling)
Three Kanji characters that often appear at the beginning of Japanese boy names that start with ‘A’ are:
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Akio | 昭夫 | 昭 (akio): bright 夫 (o): husband, man |
| Akihiko | 昭彦 | 昭 (aki): bright 彦 (hiko): boy, prince |
| Akiyoshi | 昭義 | 昭 (aki): bright 義 (yoshi): justice |
| Akifumi | 昭文 | 昭 (aki): bright 文 (fumi): literature, writing |
| Akinori | 昭徳 | 昭 (aki): bright 徳 (nori): virtue, benevolence |
| Akiyuki | 昭之 | 昭 (aki): bright 之 (yuki): of, this |
The Kanji 明 is read as “mei” in the word 明快 (meikai), which means “clarity.” In the word 明け方 (akegata), which means “dawn,” this same Kanji has a different reading. In the following Japanese names, it provides the initial ‘A’ sound.
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Akihiro | 明宏 | 明 (aki): bright 宏 (hiro): wide, large |
| Akito | 明人 | 明 (aki): bright 人 (to): person |
| Akihito | 明仁 | 明 (aki): bright 仁 (hito): benevolence |
| Akiya | 明也 | 明 (aki): bright 也 (ya): to be |
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Atsushi | 篤志 | 篤 (atsu): earnest, sincere 志 (shi): intention, will |
| Atsuto | 篤人 | 篤 (atsu): sincere 人 (to): person |
| Atsuo | 篤夫 | 篤 (atsu): sincere 夫 (uo): husband, man |
| Atsuya | 篤也 | 篤 (atsu): sincere 也 (ya): to be |
A famous namesake can make a name more attractive. In the case of Japanese first names that start with ‘A’, there are many artists with such names, including Manga artists, singers, and actresses.
| Name | Occupation |
|---|---|
| Akira Kurosawa | Japanese filmmaker who made the movies “Rashomon,” “Seven Samurai,” and “Ran” |
| Ayumi Hamasaki | Japanese singer-songwriter |
| Akira Toriyama | Manga artist who created the series “Dragon Ball” |
| Ai Yazawa | Manga artist who created the series “Nana” |
| Akihisa Ikeda | Manga artist who created the series “Rosario + Vampire” |
| Akio Morita | Co-founder of Sony Corporation |
| Asami Mizukawa | Japanese actress |
| Ai Otsuka | Japanese pop singer |
| Akina Nakamori | Japanese singer and actress |
| Arata Isozaki | Japanese architect who designed the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles |
| Akiyuki Shinbo | Japanese animation director |