Japanese names that are good in English

I know a little half-Japanese girl called Yuka - it’s pretty easy for English people to pronounce!

Sakura is lovely and I like Shota and Haruto too. Don't choose Yuki, Miyuki etc, it would be read as "Yucky"

@haudyer is Shunsuke just shun-s'keh? I don't know how to write that, but just with the quick middle syllable and the half-AY-half-EH last bit? That's how I always pronounce those kind of names/words, like Daisuke, Sasuke etc - DAee-s'keh, SAs'ke etc. Obviously I am terrible at writing out English phonetics

I think that's a pretty important thing to note for OP in general actually - in English we tend to default to emphasising the middle syllable in a 3 letter word, for example Sakura might be mispronounced as saKOOra in England quite often, Azumi could become A-ZU-me, etc. In London where people are a bit more multicultural in general (as in they're used to asking people to clarify their names since so many people aren't from England) it should be fine though shouldn't it?

Boys: Love Shota. Also Haruki and Takumi. (Tatsuki may be mistaken for a well-liked dil tatsiki!l

Girls: Koharu and Natsuki lovely

I like Sakura, just sounds like an unusual name, easy to pronounce and pretty.

I also like riku.

This could start a new name trend some of them are lovely.

Not Fuka though!!

Definitely avoid the following;

Fuka
Ichika
Shota
Itsuki

Other than that they all work well!

I love Maiko for a girl

A is Ah like in apple

Ah-ya-kah with equal emphasis on each syllable.

True about the -suke endings. I think that it's because karaoke is such a mispronounced word that the e in the end is assumed to be ee or a silent e like in English.

Congratulations!
Would you be able to put how they are correctly said, so we can see if it is the same way we would naturally say it when reading it? This might help your decision.

My favourites are these:

Sakura
Ayaka
Natsuki

Haruto
Haruki
Riku

I have two Japanese-Scottish children. Names that work in both easily are

Mari

Eimi - Amy
Emiri
Arisu
Ana
An
Maya
Mei
Naomi - although English becomes Naiomi

Riku - a lot of American friends went with this.
Ken-names: Kenta, Kento
Gen - my son has a variation of this, ending in Gen.
Hiro - sounds so cool!

I notice a lot of Haru in the names you have. I think that's pretty safe; Koharu, Haruka, Haruto etc.

The UK is quite multicultural and friends moved to London with kids with much more traditional Japanese names and have been fine. Definitely avoid Fuka, or my husband's suggestion of Yusaku - sounds like "you suck". Similarly -suke endings have proven difficult - Nakamura Shunsuke played in Scotland and I've yet to hear it pronounced correctly.

@ivykaty44 A sounds something like "ah".

Do you pronounce the A at the beginning of a name as an I ? So Ayaka would be said Eyeyaka?

I have taught a great number of Japanese students in an English speaking international school.

I have always loved the name Ayaka for a girl - and have taught some lovely Ayakas in the past and present. Same goes for Misaki.

For the boys I have never taught any from your list but I do like Haruki very much.

Hi MamaJapan! We are having a half-Japanese baby in a few weeks and we can't decide on a name, so I enjoyed reading your list :)

All of your names are lovely but a few thoughts:
Fuka - definitely not good in English as others have pointed out!
Ichika - lovely name in Japanese but we are avoiding 'ichi' names because sounds like 'itchy'

Shota - I think this would be mispronounced a lot in England. Most people would read it with a short 'o', like the English word 'shot'. But when said with a long 'ou' sound in an English accent it sounds like the word 'shorter'!
Tatsuki - I love this name, but I used to know a guy with this name in London and people called him Tatty. I thought it was a cute nickname but the word doesn't have such a good meaning so it could be a problem for you.
Itsuki - this is on my husband's shortlist. I do like it, but the thing putting me off is that there is a sushi takeaway chain here called Itsu. I wonder if people would make a connection?! Maybe it's not a problem since nobody else has mentioned it. But it's on my mind!

Haruto and Haruki are two of our favourites. I think they're easy to pronounce in English, nice meaning/kanji, and they can be anglicised to Harry if he ever wants an English name.

Good luck with your baby and move!

Like a lot of others have said I wouldn't use Fuka because it sounds like a swearword in English. The rest of the names are lovely and the meanings are also great but some people may struggle with unfamiliar names. However the kids in their class will probably not my dd has an unusual name but it's always adults that have a hard time even as toddlers the children around her always got her name right.

Just to add to pp I would also possibly avoid Tatsuki as it sounds a bit like the Greek dip

Another vote for Sakura - lovely name

I would probably choose Riku from boys list (and it would probably be shortened to Rik at some stage, which would also sound ok)

Just to add Naomi, Megumi and Mia would work well for girls and Ryo and Joe for boys

Love natsuki! 😍 when in England friends etc could shorten to suki which is also lovely

I think Sakura just sounds so elegant.

Midori just makes me think of the liqueur.

Sakura - this was very nearly my daughters middle name, I've always loved it!!! Cherry blossoms are my favorite tree ❤️

And I think Riku would be really well remembered and pronounced in the UK

Sakura is soooo pretty.

Not on your list, but I also like Midori. However, the one I knew would be aged sixty now, so maybe it sounds very dated to Japanese ears.

I would advise against Fuka and possibly Ichika and Shota.

I love them all though. I think Sakura is the easiest to pronounce in English of the girls, but Natsuki could be shortened to Suki, which is unusual here but recognised and easy to pronounced and a really cool name. Ayaka could have the nickname Aya.

Of the boys, Haruto and Haruki could have the nickname Harry which is a very popular boys name here. We're big on nicknames here.