The first thing to note about Japanese names is that most of them have several different possible spellings. The meaning of a name depends on the chosen spelling through the individual meanings of the Kanji characters that appear in that particular spelling.
The name Tomoko, for example, can be written as 友子 (with Kanji characters meaning “friend” and “child”), or as 知子 (with Kanji characters meaning “knowledge” and “child”), or as 智子 (“intellect” and “child”), and there are a few more possibilities as well.
Japanese girl names that start with ‘T’ oftentimes have one of the following characters as the initial Kanji in one of their common spellings:
A Japanese Kanji character may have several different readings (pronunciations) depending on the word in which it appears. For example, in the Japanese word for “friend,” which is 友人 (yūjin), the Kanji character 友 has a different reading than in the name Tomoka spelled as 友香.
Let’s now organize some of the Japanese girl names listed above into groups based on the initial Kanji character in one of their common spellings.
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Tomoka | 友香 | 友 (tomo): friend 香 (ka): fragrance |
| Tomomi | 友美 | 友 (tomo): friend 美 (mi): beautiful |
| Tomoko | 友子 | 友 (tomo): friend 子 (ko): child |
| Tomoe | 友恵 | 友 (tomo): friend 恵 (e): blessing, favor |
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Tamao | 珠緒 | 珠 (tama): jewel 緒 (o): cord |
| Tamami | 珠美 | 珠 (tama): jewel 美 (mi): beauty |
| Tamako | 珠子 | 珠 (tama): jewel 子 (ko): child |
| Tamayo | 珠代 | 珠 (tama): jewel 代 (yo): generation |
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Takako | 貴子 | 貴 (taka): precious 子 (ko): child |
| Takayo | 貴代 | 貴 (taka): precious 代 (yo): generation, era |
| Takae | 貴恵 | 貴 (taka): precious 恵 (e): blessing, grace |
Japanese boy names that begin with ‘T’ oftentimes have one of the following characters as the initial Kanji in one of their common spellings:
Let’s now organize some of the Japanese boy names that start with ‘T’ by sorting them into groups based on the initial Kanji character in one of their common spellings. To keep it simple, we will restrict ourselves to the four Kanji characters mentioned above.
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Takeo | 武雄 | 武 (take): warrior, military 雄 (o): male, hero |
| Takeshi | 武 | 武 (takeshi): warrior, military |
| Takehiko | 武彦 | 武 (take): warrior, military 彦 (hiko): boy, prince |
| Takehiro | 武大 | 武 (take): warrior, military 大 (hiro): big, great |
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Takashi | 隆 | 隆: noble, prosperous |
| Takahiro | 隆弘 | 隆 (Taka): noble, prosperous 弘 (Hiro): vast |
| Takayuki | 隆之 | 隆 (Taka): noble 之 (Yuki): of, this |
| Takamasa | 隆将 | 隆 (Taka): noble 将 (Masa): commander, leader |
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Tomoaki | 智昭 | 智 (tomo): intellect, wisdom 昭 (aki): clear |
| Tomohiro | 智大 | 智 (tomo): intellect 大 (hiro): big, great |
| Tomoya | 智也 | 智 (tomo): intellect 也 (ya): to be |
| Tomohisa | 智久 | 智 (tomo): intellect 久 (hisa): long time |
| Tomohito | 智仁 | 智 (tomo): intellect 仁 (hito): benevolence |
| Name | Possible Spelling | Possible Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Takuya | 拓也 | 拓 (taku): to expand, open, pioneer 也 (ya): to be |
| Takuma | 拓馬 | 拓 (taku): to expand, open, pioneer 馬 (ma): horse |
| Takuto | 拓人 | 拓 (taku): to expand, open, pioneer 人 (to): person |
| Name | Occupation |
|---|---|
| Takeshi Kitano | Japanese filmmaker, actor, and comedian |
| Takashi Yamazaki | Japanese filmmaker whose movie “Godzilla Minus One” won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects |
| Toshio Suzuki | Japanese film producer; together with Hayao Miyazaki, he is one of the co-founders of Studio Ghibli |
| Takashi Shimizu | Japanese filmmaker, director of “The Grudge” |
| Toshiki Kaifu | Former Prime Minister of Japan |
| Tetsuo Hara | Japanese manga artist who co-created the series “Fist of the North Star” |
| Toshiko Mori | Japanese-American architect |
| Toshio Maeda | Japanese manga artist |
| Toshiro Mayuzumi | Japanese composer |
| Tsugumi Ohba | Japanese manga author who wrote the “Death Note” series |
| Takahiro Sakurai | Japanese voice actor |
| Toshihiko Koga | Japanese judoka who won an Olympic gold medal |
| Tomoaki Maeno | Japanese voice actor |
| Takao Saito | Japanese manga artist who created the series “Golgo 13” |
By the way, if you like Japanese names, why not learn the language? Start learning Japanese with a free lesson.