This year, the island nation of Japan will likely welcome fewer than 700,000 babies for the first time in modern history.
What will the most popular names among this (relatively small) group of newborns be?
We’ll never know for sure, because Japan doesn’t release official baby name rankings. But the country’s top names of 2024 could include Rin and Tsumugi for girls, and Ao and Haruto for boys.
How do we know this?
Because, every year, two Japanese companies — the Benesse Corporation and the Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company — come up with unofficial baby name rankings for Japan using their own data (i.e., the names of the newborns of their own customers/clients). Both companies rank names in two ways: as they’re written, and as they’re said aloud (because so many Japanese names have more than one possible pronunciation).
- Benesse’s 2024 rankings account for 263,885 babies born in Japan from January to September, 2024.
- Meiji Yasuda’s 2024 rankings account for 14,325 babies born in Japan from January to September, 2024.
Girl names
Here are Japan’s top girls names as written, according to both companies:
The top three girl names on Benesse’s list are commonly read Rin (meaning “cold” or “dignified”), Himari/Hinata (a combination of two kanji characters meaning “sun” and “hollyhock“), and Sui (meaning “green” or “verdant”). The top girl name on Meiji Yasuda’s list is commonly read Tsumugi (meaning “pongee“).
And here are Japan’s top girl-name readings, according to both companies:
The top three readings on Benesse’s list are Sana, Ema, and Mei, while the top three on Meiji Yasuda’s list are Tsumugi, Ema, and Sana.
Boy names
Here are Japan’s top boy names as written, according to both companies:
The top three boy names on Benesse’s list are commonly read Ao/Aoi (meaning “blue-green”), Ren (meaning “lotus”), and Nagi (meaning “calm”). The top name on Meiji Yasuda’s list is commonly read Haruto/Hinato (a combination of two kanji characters meaning “sun” and “soar”).
And here are Japan’s top boy-name readings, according to both companies:
Notably, Benesse and Meiji Yasuda are in agreement on the top three: Haruto, Minato, and Riku.
Benesse’s data reveals the name Ran (meaning “indigo”) has seen a significant increase in usage among babies of both genders, likely because of (male) Olympic volleyball player Ran Takahashi.
And Meiji Yasuda’s data indicates that the most popular kanji character used in boy names (for the fourth consecutive year) is sho, no doubt thanks to the ongoing success of professional baseball player Shohei “Shotime” Otani.
Finally, here’s a link to Japan’s unofficial 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare this year to last year.
Sources
- Japan’s 2024 baby name rankings – Benesse
- Japan’s 2024 baby name rankings – Meiji Yasuda
- “Ao and Rin most popular baby names in Japan in 2024.” Kyodo News 9 Nov. 2024.
- “Haruto, Hinato, Tsumugi most popular baby names in Japan in 2024: Survey.” Japan Today 16 Dec. 2024.
- “Haruto and Tsumugi: Japan’s Top 2024 Baby Names.” Nippon.com 18 Dec. 2024
- “Japan’s births likely to fall under 700,000 for 1st time in 2024.” Kyodo News 6 Nov. 2024.
- Behind the Name
Image: Adapted from Flag of Japan (public domain)
