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Japanese American Last Names

These Japanese American last names, from Tanaka and Nakamura to Okinawan names like Higa and Kaneshiro, are listed with their meanings, along with the immigrant history that brought them to Hawaii and the mainland.

192 real surnames with meanings, A to Z.

A

  • Agena 安慶名

    Okinawan place name in Uruma

  • Ando 安藤

    Peaceful wisteria; Fujiwara branch name

  • Aoki 青木

    Green or blue tree

  • Arai 新井

    Literally new well

  • Arakaki 新垣

    New fence or wall; Okinawan surname

C

  • Chiba 千葉

    Literally thousand leaves

  • Chinen 知念

    Okinawan place name on the southern coast

E

  • Endo 遠藤

    Distant wisteria; Fujiwara branch of Totomi

F

  • Fujii 藤井

    Literally wisteria well

  • Fujimoto 藤本

    Base of the wisteria

  • Fujita 藤田

    Wisteria rice field

  • Fujiwara 藤原

    Wisteria field; name of the ancient noble clan

  • Fukuda 福田

    Fortunate rice field

  • Fukunaga 福永

    Literally eternal fortune

  • Furukawa 古川

    Literally old river

G

  • Ginoza 宜野座

    Okinawan place name in the north

  • Gushiken 具志堅

    Okinawan place name on the Motobu peninsula

H

  • Hamada 浜田

    Beach rice field

  • Hara 原

    Plain or open field

  • Harada 原田

    Plain or field of rice paddies

  • Hasegawa 長谷川

    Long valley river

  • Hashimoto 橋本

    Base of the bridge

  • Hayashi 林

    Forest or grove

  • Higa 比嘉

    Okinawan place name, very common in Hawaii

  • Higuchi 樋口

    Mouth of the water pipe

  • Hirabayashi 平林

    Literally level forest

  • Hirano 平野

    Level field or plain

  • Hirata 平田

    Level rice field

  • Hirose 広瀬

    Literally wide rapids

  • Hokama 外間

    Outer interval; Okinawan surname

  • Honda 本田

    Original or main rice field

  • Hosokawa 細川

    Literally narrow river

I

  • Ichikawa 市川

    Literally market river

  • Iha 伊波

    Okinawan place name in Uruma

  • Ikeda 池田

    Pond rice field

  • Ikemoto 池本

    Base of the pond

  • Imai 今井

    New or present well

  • Imamura 今村

    Literally new village

  • Inouye 井上

    Above the well; older US spelling of Inoue

  • Ishida 石田

    Stone rice field

  • Ishii 石井

    Literally stone well

  • Ishikawa 石川

    Literally stone river

  • Ito 伊藤

    Wisteria of Ise; Fujiwara branch name

  • Iwamoto 岩本

    Base of the rock

  • Iwasaki 岩崎

    Literally rocky cape

K

  • Kagawa 香川

    Literally fragrant river

  • Kakazu 嘉数

    Okinawan place name in Ginowan

  • Kaneko 金子

    Child of gold

  • Kaneshiro 金城

    Golden castle; Okinawan reading common in Hawaii

  • Kato 加藤

    Added wisteria; Fujiwara branch of Kaga

  • Kawaguchi 川口

    Mouth of the river

  • Kawakami 川上

    Upstream, above the river

  • Kawamoto 川本

    Base of the river

  • Kawasaki 川崎

    Literally river cape

  • Kimura 木村

    Literally tree village

  • Kinoshita 木下

    Under the tree

  • Kitagawa 北川

    Literally north river

  • Kitamura 北村

    Literally north village

  • Kobayashi 小林

    Literally small forest

  • Koga 古賀

    Place name in Kyushu and eastern Japan

  • Kojima 小島

    Literally small island

  • Komatsu 小松

    Literally small pine

  • Kondo 近藤

    Near wisteria; Fujiwara branch of Omi

  • Korematsu 是松

    Literally righteous pine

  • Kubo 久保

    Hollow or low-lying land

  • Kubota 久保田

    Rice field in a hollow

  • Kudo 工藤

    Craft wisteria; Fujiwara branch of carpenters

  • Kuroda 黒田

    Black rice field

M

  • Maeda 前田

    Rice field in front

  • Maruyama 丸山

    Literally round mountain

  • Masuda 増田

    Increasing rice field

  • Matsuda 松田

    Pine tree rice field

  • Matsui 松井

    Pine tree well

  • Matsumoto 松本

    Base of the pine tree

  • Matsunaga 松永

    Literally eternal pine

  • Matsuo 松尾

    Pine tree ridge or tail

  • Minami 南

    South, or southern side

  • Mineta 峯田

    Peak rice field

  • Miura 三浦

    Literally three bays

  • Miyake 三宅

    Three houses; ancient royal granaries

  • Miyamoto 宮本

    Base of the shrine

  • Miyasato 宮里

    Shrine village; Okinawan surname

  • Miyashiro 宮城

    Shrine castle; Okinawan reading of Miyagi

  • Miyata 宮田

    Shrine rice field

  • Miyazaki 宮崎

    Literally shrine cape

  • Mizuno 水野

    Literally watery field

  • Mori 森

    Forest or woodland

  • Morikawa 森川

    Literally forest river

  • Morimoto 森本

    Base of the forest

  • Morita 森田

    Forest rice field

  • Murakami 村上

    Literally upper village

  • Murata 村田

    Village rice field

N

  • Nagai 永井

    Literally eternal well

  • Nagata 永田

    Eternal rice field

  • Nakagawa 中川

    Literally middle river

  • Nakajima 中島

    Literally middle island

  • Nakama 仲間

    Okinawan surname; the word also means companion

  • Nakamoto 仲本

    Middle origin; common Okinawan surname

  • Nakamura 中村

    Literally middle village

  • Nakano 中野

    Middle field or plain

  • Nakao 中尾

    Literally middle ridge

  • Nakashima 中島

    Middle island; alternate reading of Nakajima

  • Nakasone 仲宗根

    Okinawan place name; middle, ancestor, root

  • Nishida 西田

    West rice field

  • Nishimoto 西本

    Western origin or base

  • Nishimura 西村

    Literally west village

  • Noda 野田

    Field and rice paddy

  • Noguchi 野口

    Entrance to the field

  • Nomura 野村

    Literally field village

O

  • Ogata 緒方

    Place name in Bungo province, Kyushu

  • Ogawa 小川

    Small river or stream

  • Oishi 大石

    Literally great stone

  • Okada 岡田

    Hill rice field

  • Okamoto 岡本

    Base of the hill

  • Okazaki 岡崎

    Literally hill cape

  • Okimoto 沖本

    Base by the open sea

  • Okubo 大久保

    Literally great hollow

  • Okuda 奥田

    Inner or remote rice field

  • Omura 大村

    Literally great village

  • Ono 小野

    Small field or plain

  • Oshiro 大城

    Great castle; Okinawan name common in Hawaii

  • Ota 太田

    Big or thick rice field

  • Otsuka 大塚

    Literally great mound

  • Oyama 大山

    Literally great mountain

S

  • Saito 斎藤

    Purification wisteria; Fujiwara shrine branch

  • Sakaguchi 坂口

    Foot of the slope

  • Sakai 酒井

    Literally sake well

  • Sakamoto 坂本

    Base of the slope

  • Sakata 坂田

    Slope rice field

  • Sakurai 桜井

    Cherry tree well

  • Sano 佐野

    Literally helper's field

  • Sasaki 佐々木

    Helper trees; name of an old Omi clan

  • Sato 佐藤

    Helper plus wisteria; Fujiwara branch name

  • Shibata 柴田

    Brushwood rice field

  • Shimabukuro 島袋

    Island pocket; Okinawan place name

  • Shimada 島田

    Island rice field

  • Shimizu 清水

    Pure or clear water

  • Shiroma 城間

    Okinawan place name in Urasoe

  • Sugawara 菅原

    Literally sedge field

  • Sugimoto 杉本

    Base of the cedar

  • Sugiyama 杉山

    Literally cedar mountain

  • Suzuki 鈴木

    Literally bell tree

T

  • Taira 平良

    Level and good; Okinawan place name

  • Takada 高田

    High rice field

  • Takagi 高木

    Literally tall tree

  • Takahashi 高橋

    Literally high bridge

  • Takano 高野

    Literally high field

  • Takara 高良

    High and good; Okinawan surname

  • Takeda 武田

    Warrior rice field

  • Takemoto 竹本

    Base of the bamboo

  • Takeuchi 竹内

    Inside the bamboo grove

  • Tamaki 玉木

    Literally jewel tree

  • Tamanaha 玉那覇

    Okinawan surname from a place name

  • Tamashiro 玉城

    Jewel castle; Okinawan surname

  • Tamura 田村

    Rice field village

  • Tanabe 田辺

    Beside the rice field

  • Tanaka 田中

    In the middle of the rice field

  • Taniguchi 谷口

    Mouth of the valley

  • Tengan 天願

    Heavenly wish; Okinawan place name

  • Toguchi 渡口

    Ferry landing; Okinawan surname

  • Tsuchiya 土屋

    Literally earthen house

  • Tsuda 津田

    Harbor rice field

  • Tsukamoto 塚本

    Base of the mound

U

  • Uchida 内田

    Inner rice field

  • Uchiyama 内山

    Literally inner mountain

  • Uechi 上地

    Upper land; Okinawan surname

  • Ueda 上田

    Upper rice field

  • Ueno 上野

    Upper field or plain

  • Uyehara 上原

    Upper plain; older Hawaii spelling of Uehara

W

  • Wada 和田

    Harmonious rice field

  • Watanabe 渡辺

    Area around the ferry crossing

Y

  • Yamada 山田

    Mountain rice field

  • Yamaguchi 山口

    Mouth or entrance of the mountain

  • Yamamoto 山本

    Base of the mountain

  • Yamane 山根

    Root or foot of the mountain

  • Yamasaki 山崎

    Mountain cape; common US spelling of Yamazaki

  • Yamashiro 山城

    Mountain castle; Okinawan reading common in Hawaii

  • Yamashita 山下

    Below the mountain

  • Yamauchi 山内

    Within the mountains

  • Yano 矢野

    Literally arrow field

  • Yasuda 安田

    Peaceful rice field

  • Yasui 安井

    Literally peaceful well

  • Yogi 与儀

    Okinawan place name in Naha

  • Yokota 横田

    Side rice field

  • Yokoyama 横山

    Mountain at the side

  • Yonamine 与那嶺

    Okinawan place name with a peak

  • Yoshida 吉田

    Lucky or good rice field

  • Yoshikawa 吉川

    Literally lucky river

  • Yoshimoto 吉本

    Literally lucky origin

  • Yoshimura 吉村

    Literally lucky village

  • Yoshioka 吉岡

    Literally lucky hill

Z

  • Zukeran 瑞慶覧

    Okinawan place name in Kitanakagusuku

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Results (6)

  • Omura

    大村

    Literally great village

    Japanese

  • Chiba

    千葉

    Literally thousand leaves

    Japanese

  • Nakama

    仲間

    Okinawan surname; the word also means companion

    Japanese

  • Harada

    原田

    Plain or field of rice paddies

    Japanese

  • Yoshikawa

    吉川

    Literally lucky river

    Japanese

  • Nakasone

    仲宗根

    Okinawan place name; middle, ancestor, root

    Japanese

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    Japanese American last names and immigrant history

    Japanese immigration to the United States began in earnest in 1885, when the first government-sponsored workers arrived in Hawaii to work on sugar plantations. Others went to California, Washington and Oregon to farm, fish and build railroads, until the Immigration Act of 1924 closed the door. Most of these first generation immigrants, the Issei, came from a handful of prefectures, especially Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Kumamoto, Fukuoka and Okinawa, and their surnames reflect those regions.

    Japanese surnames were themselves fairly new. Until the Meiji reforms most commoners had no official family name, and a law of 1875 required everyone to register one. Many chose names from the landscape around them, written in kanji: Tanaka (田中) means middle of the rice field, Yamamoto (山本) base of the mountain and Nakamura (中村) middle village. Immigrants brought these names with them, and because they were short and easy to spell in English, few families changed them.

    Okinawan and mainland names in Hawaii and California

    Okinawans formed a large part of the migration to Hawaii, and their surnames are distinct from mainland Japanese ones. Higa, Oshiro, Kaneshiro, Tamashiro, Shiroma and Miyashiro are common in Honolulu and much rarer in Tokyo. Many Okinawan names contain the character for castle, and after Okinawa was absorbed into Japan some families adopted Japanese readings of their characters. Kaneshiro, written 金城, was originally read Kanegusuku in the Okinawan language.

    On the mainland, the common names match those of western Japan: Tanaka, Yamamoto, Nakamura, Watanabe, Yamada, Kimura and Hayashi. Spelling follows older romanisation habits, so long vowels are written with an h or dropped entirely, as in Ohno, Ono or Oono for the same name, and Ito may appear as Itoh. When you use a Japanese American name for a character, these small spelling choices can show how long a family has been in the United States.

    Wartime history and names today

    In 1942, Executive Order 9066 led to the forced removal of about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast, most of them American citizens. Some families responded by giving children English first names or by anglicising how they said their surname, but very few changed the surname itself. Records from the camps, now available through the National Archives and the Densho archive, are an important source for anyone researching a Japanese American family.

    Today many Japanese Americans are Sansei, Yonsei or later generations, and intermarriage is common, so a Japanese surname may appear with any first name. For fiction, a Nisei character born in the 1920s might be named George Tanaka or Mary Higa, while a younger character could easily be Emma Nakamura. Use the list above to check meanings, since many names carry a sense of place, a field, a river or a mountain, that can fit a character's backstory.

    Frequently asked questions

    Which Japanese American last names are the most common?

    Tanaka, Yamamoto, Nakamura, Watanabe, Kobayashi and Yamada are frequent on the mainland, reflecting emigration from western Japan. In Hawaii, Okinawan names like Higa, Oshiro and Kaneshiro rank very high. Sato and Suzuki, the top names in modern Japan, are less dominant in America because they are most common in eastern Japan, which sent fewer emigrants.

    Did Japanese immigrants change their names in America?

    Rarely. Japanese surnames are short and phonetic in English, so most families kept them unchanged. Changes were more common in first names, as the Nisei and later generations adopted English given names. Spelling sometimes shifted, for example with long vowels, but the surname itself usually stayed the same.

    What makes Okinawan names different?

    Okinawa was once an independent kingdom with its own language, and its surnames draw on local places and local readings of characters. Names such as Higa, Chinen, Oshiro and Kaneshiro are typical. Many are rare in mainland Japan but very common in Hawaii and in Okinawan communities in South America, especially Brazil, Peru and Argentina.

    What do Issei, Nisei and Sansei mean?

    They are Japanese words for generations. Issei are first generation immigrants, Nisei their American born children, Sansei the grandchildren and Yonsei the great grandchildren. The terms are still used in Japanese American communities, and knowing a character's generation helps you choose a fitting first name to pair with the surname.

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