The Best Japanese Baby Names of 2022 have been officially released! While i’m firmly Team #oneanddone, I do like to imagine what names I’d choose if I had a son or another daughter.
As with previous posts, the names featured in this top 10 ranking are not of my own choosing. Rather, it’s a summary of two posts from Neto Rabo ranking the most popular Japanese baby names of 2022 by kanji. (Girls; Boys)
Top 10 Japanese Baby Boy Names of 2022
Top 10 Japanese Baby Boy Names of 2022 is full of surprises! Ren (蓮) fell hard from last year’s ranking of 1st place and didn’t even make it to in the top 10!
陽翔 (read as “Haruto” “Hinata” or “Hinato”) fell to 8th place, while 大翔, an alternative kanji for these names, took 10th place.
“Ao” remains a popular name for boys in Japan. However, the kanji 蒼 has fallen out of favor for 碧 (read as ao or aoi). The name comes from the Japanese word for jasper, 碧玉 (hekigyoku). 碧 features in the 2nd and 3rd place names 斗碧（Toa）and 碧（Aoi).
Coming in 1st place is 颯, which can be read as “Hayate,” “Sou,” or “Kakeru.” The character consists of the kanji for “stand” (立) and “wind”(風), and it means “the sound that wind makes.” 颯made an appearance in last year’s 9th place entry, 颯真 (read as “Souma,” “Haruma,” or “Yuushin.”)
Apparently 颯 can be also read as “Ibuki” as evidenced with the HKT48 member Ibuki Ishibashi (石橋颯).
1. Hayate/Sou/Kakeru (颯 | はやて、そう、かける)
2. Aoi/Ao (碧 | アオイ、アオ)
3. Toa (斗碧 | とあ)
4 Haruki (暖葵 | はるき）
5. Ryuto (琉翔 | りゅうと）
6. Shuri/Shui (柊李 | しゅり、しゅい）
7. Toramasa/Kou (虎優 | とらまさ、こう）
8. Haruto/Hinata/Hinato (陽翔 | ハルト、ヒナタ、ヒナト)
9. Minato/Kanato (湊斗|みなと、かなと）
10. Hiroto/Daito/Haruto (大翔/ひろと、だいと、はると等）
Top 10 Japanese Baby Girl Names of 2022
Taking the number one spot for Japanese girl names in 2022 is Himari (陽葵), which can also be read as Hinata or Hina. A variation of Himari, 陽菜, came in at 9th place, falling 2 spots from last year’s ranking of 7th place.
Rin (凛), which took third place last year, came in second, while last year’s top entry, Tsumugi (紬) fell to 8th place. Its variant 紬希 fell out of the top 10.
Mei (芽依) jumped from 5th to 3rd place, while a new contender, Aoi (葵) entered at 3rd place. However, names such as Riko (莉子), Rei (澪) and Yuina (結菜) remain girls’ names, whereas single name kanji like An (杏) and Hana (花) have been replaced with Uta (詩).
1. Himari/Hinata/Hina (陽葵 | ヒマリ、ヒナタ、ヒナ)
2. Rin (凛 | リン)
3. Mei (芽依 | メイ)
4. Aoi (葵 | アオイ、アオ）
5. Uta (詩 | ウタ)
6. Yua/Yuina/Yuna (結愛 | ユア、ユイナ、ユナ)
7. Riko (莉子 | リコ)
8. Tsumugi (紬 | ツムギ)
9. Hina/Haruna/Hinano (陽菜 | ヒナ、ハルナ、ヒナノ)
10. Mio/Rei (澪 | ミオ、レイ)
The Best Japanese Baby Names of 2022: Recap
Aoi (碧 or 葵) remains a popular name for children born in Japan! I personally wonder if the popularity in Aoi has to do with the popularity of the soccer anime/manga series Blue Lock and Samurai Japan’s ikemen midfielder Aoi Tanaka (田中碧).
Aoi written as 葵 was a top 10 Japanese baby name in 2020, coming in 3rd place for boys and 6th place for girls.
As for girls names, I found it surprising that there were no major upsets; nearly all of last year’s entries made it into the top 10 again this year!
Did any of the best Japanese baby names of 2022 inspire you or your partner?
For more baby name ideas, check out these posts:
The Best Anime Inspired Baby Names
The Best Japanese Baby Names of 2021
The Best Japanese Baby Names of 2020
Japanese/English Baby Names For Boys and Girls
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