Cute Japanese names for your dog

Are you looking for a name for your Shiba Inu or Akita and want to give him or her a Japanese name? Or are you just looking for unique ideas to name your dog (any breed) in Japanese? Check out these cute Japanese names for your dog below!

I named my Shiba Inus ‘Chelsea,’ after one of my favorite Japanese candies and ‘Rocket,’ after my favorite Marvel Comics movie character.  I felt that as a girl with a Japanese name, giving a Japanese breed a Japanese name would be a little over the top.  So, I’ll probably continue to name my dogs regular human names like Steve, or Norman, or Beyoncé.  I even joked about getting 3 dogs and naming them after 3 of our friends – Hugh, Dave and Larry – which can be confusing and yet funny during the summer time when we are all hanging out together in our backyard!

The names listed below are not the typical Japanese names for people.  These are some Japanese words that can make very cute names for your Shiba, Akita or whatever the dog breed you choose:

Colors:

• Aka (red)
• Kuro (black)
• Shiro (white)
• Midori (green)
• Goma (sesame) – I know this isn’t typically a color, but it is for Shiba Inu

Fruit:

• Momo (peach)
• Mikan (orange)
• Ichigo (strawberry)
• Ringo (apple)
• Yuzu (Asian citrus)

Season/Nature:

• Haru (spring)
• Natsu (summer)
• Aki (autumn)
• Fuyu (winter)
• Yuki (snow)
• Sora (sky)
• Kokoro (heart)
• Kumo (cloud, but it also means spider)

Food/Drinks:

Most of these hopefully don’t need a translation!

• Tako (octopus) – This is my husband’s idea of “cute”…
• Tofu
• Azuki (red bean paste)
• Goma (sesame)
• Mochi
• Matcha
• Sake
• Shumai (small steamed dumplings)
• Korokke (Japanese croquette – recipe coming soon!)
• Kinoko (mushroom)
• Nori (seaweed)
• Tamago (egg)
• Unagi (eel)

Animals:

• Kuma (bear)
• Kitsune (fox)
• Neko (cat) – This is an ironic name to give your Shiba Inu since they are known to be ‘catlike’!
• Tora (tiger)

Flowers:

• Hana (flower)
• Sakura (cherry)
• Kikyo (bell flower)
• Kiku (Chrysanthemum)
• Yuri (lilly)

If you really want a simple Japanese name to consider, here are some ideas.  There aren’t direct translations per se for these names because the meaning usually comes from the Chinese characters used in the individual names. 

Boy Names:

Yoshi, Toshi, Hiro, Taro, Kenta, Kenji, Koji, Akira

Girl Names:

Yumi, Megumi (you can nickname her ‘Meg’ and use the full name when she’s in trouble), Yuki, Yukiko, Keiko, Mika. And of course, saving the best for last: AKIKO!

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