400+ Japanese Dog Names

Nona is a name sometimes given to the ninth child -- but unlikely to serve that purpose today. Musical cred: the name of a song by Motley Crue.

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, well known in the U. S. , might inspire some namesakes.

To honor the majestic mountain.

Issa might make more sense if you're using it as a nickname for any one of the various names ending in -issa, but this spelling is also an Arabic and Hebrew boy name. The Isa spelling is almost exclusively feminine.

As an English nickname, Emi can be short for anything beginning with (or containing) the popular "em" sound, such as Emily, Emilia, or maybe even Clementine.

A Japanese name with real firepower, Kasai could be a name that's going places. It's a well-kept secret — for now — but Kasai is on the rise as parents search for alternatives to names like Kai and co.

In the Japanese culture, this name suggests a sense of independence and is one of the popular names for December babies.

Short and sweet Eri is a common female name in Japan that could cross cultures quite easily.

A male Biblical name meaning healer, Asa is also an international gem. In Japanese, it means "(born in the) morning". And in Scandinavia, where it's generally spelled Åsa or Ása and pronounced O-sa, it's a popular diminutive form of Old Norse names beginning with the element áss "god".

Ichiro is a good classic choice for the first boy in a Japanese family.

Like a large proportion of traditional Hawaiian names, Hoku can be used for both girls and boys.

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.

Kona is strongly associated with the Kona coffee of Hawaii. The Hawaiian word kona means "leeward" or "dry side of the island," and Kona districts are where Kona coffee is grown. It's a unisex name in Hawaii, with an appealing simple, strong sound.

A multicultural choice with an appealing sound. In Arabic, it means "women" and is the name of the fourth chapter of the Quran (surah an-Nisa).

Unisex Japanese name more often given to boys.

Tao is the Chinese word for the underlying harmony of the universe, combining both yin and yang. Extreme kayaker Tao Berman made this one of the spiritual names prime for adoption. Tao rhymes with cow.

A funkier version of Coco that may be more appealing if you have Japanese or Native American heritage. Koko comes from the Blackfoot tribe, native to what is now Montana and Alberta, Canada.

Naming babies after precious gems as a protection against evil spirits is an ancient Japanese tradition.

In the 1940s, Toni began to surpass its progenitor, Antonia, but it peaked in 1960 and has since dropped back below the US Top 1000.

An aquatic Japanese choice that would work well cross-culturally. American parents are starting to pick up on this short and sweet international choice, with over 100 baby girls receiving this name per year.
/br> Fans of One Piece may recognize this name as the Straw Hat Pirates' navigator. In the US, NAMI is the acronym for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.