Japanese names that start with 'H'

In Japanese, many first names begin with the letter ‘H’ (when they are converted into the Latin alphabet, that is).

Examples of such names include options for girls like Hitomi, Haruna, and Hiroko, alongside options for boys like Hiroshi, Haruto, and Hayato.

Japanese girl names that start with 'H'

Most Japanese first names have several different spellings. Each spelling has its own meaning based on the Kanji characters used.

The name Haruko, for example, can be spelled as 春子 (“spring child”). It can also be spelled as 晴子 (“clear weather child”). And there are several other possible spellings as well.

Japanese girl names that start with ‘H’ often have one of the following three initial Kanji characters:

To make it easier to browse the Japanese girl names listed above, we have organized some of them into groups based on the initial Kanji character in one of their common spellings.

The first group of Japanese names that begin with ‘H’ are those that can be spelled using the Kanji character 春 (haru), which refers to the spring season. Here are examples of such names:

Name Possible Spelling Possible Meaning
Haruko 春子 春 (haru): spring
子 (ko): child
Haruna 春菜 春 (haru): spring
菜 (na): greens
Harue 春恵 春 (haru): spring
恵 (e): blessing
Haruyo 春代 春 (haru): spring
代 (yo): generation
Haruno 春野 春 (haru): spring
野 (no): field

The next group of Japanese girl names that begin with ‘H’ consists of those that can be spelled with the Kanji character 初.

The Japanese word 初 (hatsu) means “first”. That Kanji character also appears in terms like 初恋 (hatsukoi), which means “first love.”

One of the difficulties of the Japanese language is that the same Kanji character can have different readings (pronunciations) depending on the word in which it appears.

For example, the character 初 is read as “sho” (instead of “hatsu”) in the word 初心 (shoshin), a term that can be translated as “beginner’s mind” and refers, in the context of Zen, to an attitude that is free of preconceptions.

Name Possible Spelling Possible Meaning
Hatsue 初枝 初 (hatsu): first
枝 (e): branch
Hatsune 初音 初 (hatsu): first
音 (ne): sound
Hatsumi 初美 初 (hatsu): first
美 (mi): beauty

English has some flower-related girl names (like Daisy, Lily, and Violet), and so does Japanese. Hanako is one of these, and it is often spelled as 花子 (which means “flower child”).

The Japanese word 花 (hana) means “flower.” That Kanji character appears in flower-related terms such as 生け花 (ikebana), which refers to the art of flower arrangement, and 花束 (hanataba), which refers to a bouquet.

Here are some Japanese girl names that can be written with this Kanji character:

Name Possible Spelling Possible Meaning
Hana 花 花 (hana): flower
Hanako 花子 花 (hana): flower
子 (ko): child, girl
Hanae 花絵 花 (hana): flower
絵 (e): picture

Japanese boy names that start with 'H'

Name Possible Spelling Possible Meaning
Hiroyuki 博之 博 (hiro): command
之 (yuki): this
Hiroto 博人 博 (hiro): command
人 (to): person
Hiroaki 博明 博 (hiro): command
明 (aki): bright, clear
Hirofumi 博文 博 (hiro): command
文 (fumi): sentence, literature
Hirokazu 博和 博 (hiro): command
和 (kazu): harmony, peace
Hiroya 博也 博 (hiro): command
也 (ya): to be

Famous people with Japanese first names that begin with ‘H’

A famous namesake can provide additional appeal to a name. In the case of Japanese first names that start with ‘H’, there are some very famous people with such names.

These include, in particular, the author Haruki Murakami and the film director Hayao Miyazaki. Additional examples are listed in the table below.

Name Occupation
Hayao Miyazaki Animator, film director, and co-founder of Studio Ghibli
Haruki Murakami Internationally popular Japanese author whose novels include “1Q84” and “Norwegian Wood”
Hirokazu Kore-eda Japanese filmmaker (he won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his movie “Shoplifters”)
Hiro Mashima Manga artist who created the series “Fairy Tail”
Hiromu Arakawa Manga artist who created the “Fullmetal Alchemist” series
Hironobu Sakaguchi Creator of the “Final Fantasy” video game series
Hiroya Oku Manga artist who created the series “Gantz”
Hajime Isayama Manga artist who created the series “Attack on Titan”