88+ Japanese Names Starting with M
Names from Japan starting with M are known for their pretty sounds and deep cultural roots. Japanese culture values names that mean good things like peace, strength, beauty, or wisdom. These names give your child a special link to Japanese traditions and values that have lasted for thousands of years. When you pick a Japanese name, you choose meaning. Look closely at the meaning behind each name on your list. In Japan, parents pick names based on what they hope for their child future. Think about what values and wishes you want the name to show to the world. Also check if the name works as your child grows from a baby to an adult. A good name should fit a child, a teen, and a grown person well. Use this list of 88 names as your guide to find the perfect Japanese name for your child. Read the meanings carefully to see which ones speak to your heart and your hopes. Take notes on the names that catch your eye and feel special to you. The right name will feel like it belongs to your child even before they are born. Trust your feelings.
Popular Names
Explore the most searched japanese names starting with m side by side. The infographic below shows the leading names for both boys and girls.
Japanese Names Starting with M for Girls
- Origin:Germanic, Japanese, Persian
- Meaning:"Love; Harbor; Beautiful"
- Description:Occurs in many languages as a diminutive or independent name; meanings vary widely with cultural and linguistic origin.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Temple; Shrine"
- Description:In Japanese contexts it can reference shrine or palace elements, and it is also used internationally as a short modern name.
- Origin:Hebrew, Japanese, Scandinavian
- Meaning:"Beloved or Sea"
- Description:Mari is used across cultures as a short form of Mary-related names or independent forms, yielding multiple plausible meanings.
- Origin:Hebrew, Japanese
- Meaning:"Who Is Like God"
- Description:Used in both Hebrew derived nicknaming traditions and Japanese naming, so meanings vary by cultural and linguistic context.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful"
- Description:Miyori is Japanese in form, and its meaning varies by kanji selection, often favoring auspicious or nature-linked readings.
- Origin:Vietnamese, Japanese
- Meaning:"Plum Blossom"
- Description:Common in several Asian languages; in Vietnamese it often refers to apricot or plum blossoms, while Japanese readings vary by kanji.
- Origin:Hebrew, Japanese
- Meaning:"Bitter Beloved"
- Description:Miri is used as a short form of Hebrew Miriam-derived names and also occurs independently in Japanese contexts, with meanings depending on linguistic source.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"True Gentleness"
- Description:Mayumi is a Japanese feminine name with readings that commonly express ideas of truth and gentleness or elegance.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Future; Prospect"
- Description:A Japanese given name associated with the concept of the future, often chosen for forward-looking symbolism.
- Origin:Japanese, Italian
- Meaning:"Beautiful Cherry; My"
- Description:A short name used in Japanese and Italian contexts, bearing different interpretations such as beautiful cherry or my.
- Origin:Japanese, Hebrew
- Meaning:"Who Is Like God"
- Description:A cross-cultural form appearing in Japanese naming and also as a variant of Micah-related names in other contexts.
- Origin:Polynesian, Japanese, Persian
- Meaning:"Spiritual Power"
- Description:Cross-cultural name; in Polynesian contexts mana denotes spiritual power, while other languages assign different meanings and forms.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Green"
- Description:A Japanese given name meaning green, commonly associated with freshness, vegetation, and color symbolism in Japanese usage.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"True Gentleness"
- Description:A Japanese name with multiple kanji possibilities, it often combines notions of truth and gentle disposition in interpretive readings.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Sky"
- Description:A Japanese given name with multiple possible kanji spellings, commonly interpreted with imagery of beauty and sky.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Gentleness"
- Description:Miyu is a Japanese name commonly written with kanji suggesting beauty and gentleness, with multiple accepted character combinations.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Child of Truth"
- Description:A Japanese feminine name commonly ending in -ko, with meanings dependent on chosen kanji, often involving truth or village imagery.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Generation Child"
- Description:A Japanese name often interpreted with elements for beauty and generation, though specific kanji selection determines the precise nuance.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Moon"
- Description:Mizuki is a Japanese given name whose meaning varies by kanji, often interpreted as beautiful moon or auspicious tree.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Blessing Grace"
- Description:Megumi is a Japanese given name meaning blessing or grace, widely used with varied kanji spellings.
- Origin:Japanese, English
- Meaning:"Excellent Fragrance"
- Description:Meika can be formed from Japanese name elements and also appears as an English adaptation, with meanings dependent on chosen characters.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Child of Beauty"
- Description:Japanese feminine name whose meaning depends on chosen kanji, often interpreted with positive aesthetics and child-related elements.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"South"
- Description:Japanese name commonly written with characters for south, used for both personal and place related naming.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Deep Snow; Beautiful Happiness"
- Description:Miyuki is Japanese and varies by kanji, commonly interpreted as deep snow or as beautiful happiness.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Bright Child"
- Description:Japanese name often written with characters conveying brightness or excellence, paired with the feminine child suffix.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Blossom"
- Description:Misaki is a Japanese given name with multiple possible kanji spellings, often yielding interpretations involving beauty and blossom imagery.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Moon"
- Description:Mitsuki is a Japanese given name often associated with combinations of characters yielding meanings such as beautiful moon.
- Origin:Hebrew, Japanese
- Meaning:"Seen By the Divine"
- Description:Used as a variant linked to Hebrew Moriah traditions, and also resembles Japanese name forms.
- Origin:Japanese, Hebrew
- Meaning:"Beautiful Tree"
- Description:Miki is a Japanese given name with multiple kanji readings, and also appears as a nickname form in other naming traditions.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Child of Elegance"
- Description:A traditional Japanese feminine name, it usually combines a virtue or quality element with the suffix meaning child.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Child of Light"
- Description:A Japanese feminine name often analyzed with elements meaning light and child, common in twentieth-century Japanese naming.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Chastity Fidelity"
- Description:Misao is a Japanese virtue name associated with chastity or fidelity, historically used to express moral steadiness.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Good Fortune"
- Description:A Japanese given name associated with beauty and good fortune, historically appearing in personal names and family names in Japan.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Blessed Beautiful Child"
- Description:A Japanese feminine name often written with characters meaning beautiful child or blessed child.
- Origin:Japanese, Modern
- Meaning:"Prosperous Rice Field"
- Description:A Japanese surname also used as a given name referring to fertile rice fields.
- Origin:Japanese, Slavic
- Meaning:"Pure"
- Description:A contemporary given name used across communities, sometimes treated as a variant of Mika or similar forms.
- Origin:Modern English, Japanese
- Meaning:"Truthful"
- Description:Name with multiple possible influences, sometimes associated with meanings like truthful, though usage is mainly contemporary and cross cultural.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Night Child"
- Description:Miyako is a Japanese given name and place term, with meanings determined by chosen kanji, often involving beauty or capital imagery.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Hundred Peaches"
- Description:A Japanese name commonly analyzed with elements suggesting many and peach, though exact kanji choices determine nuance.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Pine Branch"
- Description:Matsue is a Japanese name associated with matsu for pine, often interpreted with a nature-oriented sense.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Peach Child"
- Description:A Japanese feminine name typically analyzed from momo and ko elements, commonly interpreted as peach child.
- Origin:Japanese, English
- Meaning:"Bitter/Sea"
- Description:Resembles Japanese name romanizations, yet as a given name outside Japan its meaning and origin may be indeterminate.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Child"
- Description:Miyeko is a Japanese feminine name commonly analyzed through components expressing beauty and child, consistent with Japanese naming morphology.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Pine Child"
- Description:A Japanese feminine name formed from elements meaning pine and child, it follows conventional Japanese naming morphology.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Love"
- Description:A Japanese given name typically analyzed through kanji choices, commonly yielding meanings involving beauty and love.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Three Branches or Generations"
- Description:A Japanese feminine name with meanings depending on kanji choice, often conveying layered generational or natural imagery.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beauty; Protection"
- Description:Miho is a Japanese given name whose meaning depends on kanji choice, commonly involving beauty and protective connotations.
- Origin:English, Japanese
- Meaning:"Home"
- Description:Commonly treated as a modern coinage resembling Misha and Mia, with occasional Japanese associations but no fixed derivation.
- Origin:Japanese, Chinese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Feather"
- Description:Miu occurs in East Asian contexts as a short given form, sometimes associated with characters meaning beautiful feather.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Child"
- Description:Commonly analyzed from kanji elements glossed as beauty and child, though exact nuance varies by characters.
- Origin:Japanese, Latin
- Meaning:"Forest"
- Description:In Japanese it can relate to forest, while elsewhere it may function as a short form with distinct origins.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Harvest; Fruition"
- Description:Minori is a Japanese given name commonly associated with harvest and fruition, reflecting agricultural and metaphorical abundance.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Dance Child"
- Description:A Japanese given name whose meaning depends on kanji, often interpreted with elements for dance and child.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Correct or Elegant World"
- Description:Masayo is a Japanese given name whose meaning depends on kanji choice, often combining ideas of correctness, elegance, or world.
- Origin:Japanese, African
- Meaning:"Bitter/Sea"
- Description:Masaye appears in more than one cultural sphere, and its meaning depends heavily on the linguistic community.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Generation"
- Description:Miyo is a Japanese given name commonly interpreted through kanji as beauty and generation, though readings vary by characters.
- Origin:Sanskrit, Japanese
- Meaning:"Friend or Alliance"
- Description:Mita occurs across cultures, including Sanskrit and Japanese contexts, and its meaning depends on language and written form.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Harmony"
- Description:A Japanese given name commonly written with characters for beauty and harmony, though exact meaning varies by kanji choice.
Japanese Names Starting with M for Boys
- Origin:Hebrew, Japanese
- Meaning:"Who Is Like God"
- Description:Used in both Hebrew derived nicknaming traditions and Japanese naming, so meanings vary by cultural and linguistic context.
- Origin:Polynesian, Japanese, Persian
- Meaning:"Spiritual Power"
- Description:Cross-cultural name; in Polynesian contexts mana denotes spiritual power, while other languages assign different meanings and forms.
- Origin:Hebrew, Japanese
- Meaning:"Who Is Like God"
- Description:Variant associated with Micah tradition, ultimately from Hebrew rhetorical theophoric meaning who is like God.
- Origin:Germanic, Japanese, Persian
- Meaning:"Love; Harbor; Beautiful"
- Description:Occurs in many languages as a diminutive or independent name; meanings vary widely with cultural and linguistic origin.
- Origin:Japanese, Hebrew
- Meaning:"Who Is Like God"
- Description:A cross-cultural form appearing in Japanese naming and also as a variant of Micah-related names in other contexts.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Harbor; Port"
- Description:Minato is a Japanese name meaning harbor or port, also common as a place-related term in Japanese contexts.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Sincerity; Truth"
- Description:Japanese given name emphasizing sincerity or truth, used for multiple genders and often written with varied kanji choices.
- Origin:Hebrew, Japanese, Scandinavian
- Meaning:"Beloved or Sea"
- Description:Mari is used across cultures as a short form of Mary-related names or independent forms, yielding multiple plausible meanings.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Bright Child"
- Description:Japanese name often written with characters conveying brightness or excellence, paired with the feminine child suffix.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Righteous Man"
- Description:Masao is a Japanese masculine name formed from kanji readings associated with correctness, virtue, and male identity.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"To Bear Fruit"
- Description:Japanese name associated with fruition and achievement, it carries a semantic field of growth, yield, and realized effort.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Shining Man"
- Description:Mitsuo is a Japanese masculine given name typically analyzed with kanji conveying light or shine alongside male-associated morphemes.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Correct Person"
- Description:Japanese masculine name commonly written with kanji expressing correctness and personhood, with meaning depending on specific character choices.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"To Excel"
- Description:A Japanese given name commonly interpreted as excelling or victory, with precise meaning dependent on the chosen kanji characters.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Beautiful Truth"
- Description:Masami is a Japanese name that may be written with characters conveying beauty, truth, or elegance.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Correct Tree; Proper Order"
- Description:Masaki is a Japanese given name whose meaning depends on kanji selection, commonly combining ideas such as correct, proper, and tree.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Bitter/Sea; Earth"
- Description:Masayuki is a traditional Japanese masculine name with meanings contingent on kanji, commonly expressing correctness and happiness.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"To Protect"
- Description:Mamoru is a Japanese given name meaning to protect, reflecting a protective virtue valued in personal naming.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"To Be Full"
- Description:Mitsuru is a Japanese name whose common meanings include to be full or satisfy, determined by chosen kanji.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Correct First"
- Description:Japanese masculine name typically written with kanji combining correct or proper with one, yielding a meaning like correct first depending on characters.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Correct Prosperity"
- Description:A Japanese masculine name typically written with kanji conveying correctness and prosperity, though exact meaning depends on chosen characters.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Righteous; Proper"
- Description:Japanese masculine name typically written with kanji conveying correctness and virtue, with meaning dependent on specific character choices.
- Origin:Japanese, Italian
- Meaning:"Beautiful Cherry; My"
- Description:A short name used in Japanese and Italian contexts, bearing different interpretations such as beautiful cherry or my.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Man of the Way"
- Description:A Japanese masculine name typically interpreted as man of the way, combining characters associated with road or path imagery.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Offering; Tribute"
- Description:Mitsugi is a Japanese name connected to the concept of offering or tribute, reflecting a clear lexical meaning in Japanese.
- Origin:Japanese, Hebrew
- Meaning:"Beautiful Tree"
- Description:Miki is a Japanese given name with multiple kanji readings, and also appears as a nickname form in other naming traditions.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Correct and Broad"
- Description:Masahiro is a Japanese masculine name whose meaning depends on kanji, often interpreted as correct and broad.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Bitter/Sea"
- Description:Masaji is a Japanese given name whose meaning depends on the kanji chosen, so a single gloss is uncertain.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"True Brightness"
- Description:A Japanese given name whose meaning depends on kanji choice, commonly interpreted with senses of correctness and brightness.
- Origin:Japanese
- Meaning:"Proper Rule; Justice"
- Description:Masanori is a Japanese given name whose meaning depends on kanji, commonly conveying notions of proper governance, justice, or correctness.
Why Choose Japanese Names Starting with M?
Names from japanese names starting with m tend to feel intentional and expressive, which is why they remain a favorite for parents seeking both beauty and substance.

Baby Name Expert & Lead Editor
Editor-in-Chief with 15+ years in baby naming and linguistics. Columbia University M.A. in Linguistics.