Japanese Girl Names

As an Indian name, Sai honors spiritual master Shirdi Sai Baba, who was revered by both Hindu and Muslim devotees. Sai is the name of the young heroine of Kiran Desai's prizewinning The Inheritance of Loss, while Sai De Silva is a Real Housewife of NYC.

Lovely Japanese name that would certainly be appreciated in Europe and the U.S. It was rarely used in Japan until the 1990s, and draws its current popularity from the fact that it is deeply connected to Japanese traditional culture without sounding frumpy and old-fashioned.

One of the most easily imported Arabic names.

Sara, the streamlined form of Sarah, makes this ancient name feel more modern, but perhaps a bit lighter weight.

Sena is one of those names that is as obscure in the Western World as it is simple and straightforward. Sena exists as a name in a range of languages and cultures and may be pronounced like Senna (with a soft e) or Sienna.

A simple and pretty multicultural name: as a Japanese name, it's unisex and means "sky"; as a Korean name, it's feminine and means "conch shell".

Simple and, yes, elegant -- until you think of the wrestlers.