Does anyone familiar with Japanese have any suggestions for baby names that will sound ok in English too?

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Todd S

It's so great that you are putting a lot of thought to this. My wife (from Japan) and I had twin daughters 9 months ago and we named them Kyori and Kayo. We love the names but people pronounce them "Kay-o and Kai-ori. Drives us nuts. Sorry not an answer to your question just wanted to say that.

â˜†koshyï½žâ˜†

For girls: Erika, Ellie, Hannah, Mari, Sara, Miki, Rena...
For boys: Ken (Kenta/Kenji), Tad (Tadashi)...ï½žâ˜†
I know some foreigners married to Japanese and these are some of the names they used.
Edit: The name "Sara" IS used in Japan. I personally know two Saras. The kanji you can use is æ²™ç¾…. The name comes from a beautiful white flower called "Sara". You can see it here:
http://saranokikai.com/2006natsutsubaki2.jpg
In Japan it is pronounced 'sah rah'. In English it would be Sarah.

pop

M:
ken, shou, jou, shin, kei, kou, sou, ryou,

F:
mari, maria, ami, emi, emiri, hana, anna, naomi, sara, ai, erika, eri, shina, mai, yui, rin, rei,

Lamia

I agree that "Ken" (or a Japanese name beginning with Ken, like "Kentaro" or "Kenji") is probably your best bet for a boy. It's a nice, familiar name in both countries that anyone will be able to spell and pronounce.

"Ben" and "Dan" are other good choices for a boy. I don't think they're very common in Japan, but they are used as boy's names there and should be no problem to write or pronounce in Japanese.

For girls, there are more possibilities. Actually, I think most traditional Japanese girls' names are easy enough to pronounce. Something like "Emiko" or "Madoka" shouldn't be difficult for the English relatives. But if you want a name that sounds fairly familiar in both languages, try:

Sara
Mina
Tori
Karen
Naomi
Kimi/Kimmy
Emi/Emmy
Hana/Hannah

twikfat

For a girl, Naomi (both english and Japanese)
A guys name - Ken

Nice and simple, both Japanese, both English names

Marika

for a boy- kenji, makoto

for a girl- marika, mariko, erika, arika.

FANatic

Male : Aki, Akira, Asato, Ben, Eigo, Eito, Eimori, Engo, Fumio, Gai, Gen, Genji, Han, Haruya, Hideki, Hideo, Hiro, Hiroshi, Ichiro, Iku, Jin, Jun, Kai, Kan, Kei, Ken, Kenji, Kuon, Makio, Masa, Nao, Nobu, Norio, Riki, Riku, Ryuu, Sai, Seigo, Seiji, Seijun, Seito, Shinji, Tai, Taigo, Taka, Takeo, Takeshi, Tenchi, Tenri, Tetsu, Tomo, Umi, Waki, Waku, Yasuki, Yasuo, Yoshio, Youki, Yukio

Female : Aemi, Ai, Aiko, Aina, Airi, Akari, Akiko, Ami, Arika, Asako, Asami, Asumi, Ayame, Ayu, Ayumi, Chieri, Chisa, Ema, Emi, Emiko, Emiho, Emika, Erika, Eriko, Fumi, Hana, Haruka, Harumi, Hasumi, Hatomi, Hikari, Hiromi, Hisami, Isa, June, Junko, Kami, Kaori, Karen, Katsumi, Keiko, Kiko, Kimi, Kimiko, Kiri, Kisa, Mai, Maiko, Mariko, Maruko, Midori, Mika, Miki, Miko, Mina, Misa, Mito, Nami, Naomi, Nina, Reiko, Romi, Sara, Sena, Sonia, Sumi, Tamika, Taemi, Yorie, Yukiko, Yuma, Yuri, Yuki,

Mari

Kai & Aki..you can use them whether your baby's a boy or girl..

Quigley

I think that most of the name you provided are fine. I don't personally like Deimon, Jouki, or Tomi since those could easily be mispronounced. Provide some more names....

ets2521

My brother named his 2 boys same reason of yours. "Rei" & "Kento". I just want to mention Sara may not be a good name if you live Japan. I had a friend name Sara and she hated it. Because other kids always make a fun of her name calling her "O- Sara"(Japanese meaning= dish or plate). I believe Suzana might be a good name for a girl(My ten years old daughter said that).

lone_traveller27

Mary (Mari-Chan manga)
Nana (also from manga Nana Chan)
May

Annie

I'd look at some Japanese names...can be entered in kanji or hiragana and will be unusual in the states. Our son is named Kenji.

Hung Up

Alisu is a good one too I think.

stormchaser7

MIDORI its japanese for green and is the name of a female friend

kainat a

go to this website u will like it http://www.mandarintools.com/chinesename.html

rock_memories

Ryoku

nesty

Sakura (girl)
Toji
Kenzo
Kojiro
Ayame(girl)
Mayako(girl)

Delita

Emily (Emiri)
Amy (Eimi)
Gina (Jina)
Mary (Meari)
Theresa (Teresa)
Rosa (Rosa)

Ken
Rene
Roni
Ian
Gino

askawow 47

girl
jyuri(julie), eri(ellie), mari(mary), kerii(kelly)
boy
ken, joo(joe), yuujin(eugene), tomu(tom)

1M9

To be honest, I don't know anything about the language. I have a friend who's daughter is 1/4 Japanese though, and naming her with something that sounded both Japanese and American was important to her. They ended up creating a name that includes "Kaili" in it. I just wanted to mention it in case it works in your situation.

Best of luck!

Captain Bunkum

Rory

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