# Samurai Names

> Free samurai name generator with real kanji, meanings and pronunciation, plus researched guides to Japanese warrior names, clans, titles and crests.

## Tools
- [Samurai Name Generator](https://samurainames.com/): the main tool. Twelve styles (classic, daimyo, onna-musha, ronin, legendary epithets, clans, shinobi, warrior monks, swords, dojo schools, anime heroes, gamer tags). Runs in the browser.
- [All Generators](https://samurainames.com/generators/): directory of every naming tool on the site, with advice on which one to use.
- [Samurai Clan Name Generator](https://samurainames.com/samurai-clan-name-generator/): clan and house names with kanji and meanings; documented historical clans are labelled separately from fictional historical-inspired and fantasy clans.
- [Ronin Name Generator](https://samurainames.com/ronin-name-generator/): names for fictional masterless samurai, using Edo period common names, with optional creative English epithets for seven story paths.
- [Female Samurai Name Generator](https://samurainames.com/female-samurai-name-generator/): names for women of warrior houses and onna-musha characters, with honorifics such as Gozen, hime and no Kata explained.
- [Japanese Warrior Name Generator](https://samurainames.com/japanese-warrior-name-generator/): names by role (samurai, ronin, shinobi, sohei warrior monk, daimyo, ashigaru-inspired), each following that role's naming habits.
- [Samurai Sword Name Generator](https://samurainames.com/samurai-sword-name-generator/): names for fictional katana, tachi, wakizashi and nodachi using -maru and -kiri patterns, with translations; all results are fictional blades.
- [Ninja Name Generator](https://samurainames.com/ninja-name-generator/): formal names linked to Iga and Koka families, creative aliases and codenames; aliases and codenames are labelled as fiction.

## Guides
- [How to Use a Samurai Name Generator Well: A Practical Guide](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-name-generator-guide/): Styles, themes, your own name as a seed, shortlisting and testing: a practical walkthrough for getting a samurai name you will actually keep.
- [Cool Samurai Names for Heroes, Rivals and Rogues (With Kanji)](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/cool-samurai-names/): Heroic, icy or roguish? Cool samurai names sorted by vibe, with kanji, meanings and the swordsmen, outlaws and legends who made them famous.
- [Japanese Samurai Names and Their Meanings: Male Given Names Explained](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/japanese-samurai-names-meanings/): Nobunaga, Ieyasu, Masashige and more: real samurai given names broken down kanji by kanji, with the patterns that tell you how their meanings were built.
- [Female Samurai Names Inspired by the Onna-musha Warriors of Japan](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/female-samurai-names/): Tomoe Gozen, Hangaku Gozen, Nakano Takeko and the names of women in warrior households, plus female samurai names with kanji and meanings.
- [How Samurai Names Actually Worked: Childhood Names to Buddhist Names](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/how-samurai-names-worked/): A samurai could have five or more names in one lifetime. Here is how childhood names, imina, common names and Buddhist names fit together, with real examples.
- [Japanese Warrior Names Beyond the Samurai: Words, Types and Names](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/japanese-warrior-names/): Bushi, mononofu, tsuwamono, musha: the Japanese words for warrior, and the foot soldiers, warrior monks and shinobi who fought alongside the samurai.
- [Samurai Clan Names and the Families Behind Them](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-clan-names/): Minamoto, Taira, Hojo, Takeda, Tokugawa: what the great samurai clan names mean, where they came from, and why uji and myoji are not the same thing.
- [Famous Samurai Names and the Stories Behind Them](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/famous-samurai-names/): Seven famous samurai names, from Minamoto no Yoshitsune to Saigo Takamori, and the surprising stories of how each warrior came to be known by them.
- [Ronin Names: Masterless Warriors and How to Name One](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/ronin-names/): What the word ronin really means, how the 47 ronin of Ako were named, and a practical method for building a believable ronin name with a matching epithet.
- [Samurai Sword Names: Japan's Legendary Blades and How to Name a Katana](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-sword-names/): Japan's most famous named swords, from the Five Swords Under Heaven to Tonbogiri, and the naming patterns you can use to give your own katana a fitting name.
- [Samurai Titles and Ranks: From Shogun to Ashigaru](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-titles-and-ranks/): A clear guide to samurai titles and ranks, from the shogun and daimyo down to hatamoto, karo and ashigaru, and what court titles like "no Kami" really meant.
- [Samurai Name Kanji: How to Read the Characters in Warrior Names](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-name-kanji/): Why 信 reads Nobu in a samurai name, how lords granted characters to vassals, and how families passed one kanji down the generations, with real examples.
- [Samurai Honorifics: Dono, Sama, Gozen, Hime and the "no" in Names](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-honorifics/): What dono, sama, gozen and hime really meant in samurai Japan, why it is Minamoto no Yoritomo but never Tokugawa no Ieyasu, and how to use honorifics well.
- [Samurai Nicknames and Epithets: From the Tiger of Kai to Oni Shibata](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-nicknames-epithets/): The stories behind famous samurai nicknames like the Tiger of Kai and the One-Eyed Dragon, the patterns they follow, and how to write an epithet of your own.
- [Kamon: Samurai Family Crests and How They Pair With Clan Names](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-family-crests-kamon/): What kamon are, how Japanese family crests are designed, the emblems of famous samurai clans, and how to match a crest to a clan name.
- [Symbols in Samurai Names: What Each Kanji Really Carries](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-name-symbols/): Dragon, tiger, hawk, crane, pine, bamboo, cherry blossom and moon: the kanji behind common samurai name symbols and what each one carries.
- [Japanese Surnames That Sound Like Samurai Clans, and Why They Do](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/japanese-surnames-samurai/): Mountains, rice fields, rivers and bridges: how Japanese surnames were built from the land, why the Meiji laws matter, and which names carry real warrior history.
- [Naming Samurai Characters in Fiction: A Practical Guide for Writers](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-names-for-writers/): A writer's guide to samurai character names: era, social rank, forms of address, name changes, women's names and the anachronisms that break immersion.
- [Samurai Names for Gamers: Usernames, Clans, Builds and Tags](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-names-for-games/): How to make samurai usernames, clan and guild names and character names that read well, sound right in Japanese and survive voice chat.
- [Samurai Names for Dogs and Cats, From Shiba Inu to Hachiko](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-names-for-pets/): Warrior-inspired names for dogs and cats with kanji and meanings, the Japanese breeds behind them, and the real story of Hachiko the Akita.
- [Common Samurai Name Mistakes and How to Avoid Every One](https://samurainames.com/blog/posts/samurai-name-mistakes/): Fake kanji, backwards name order, -ko on a man, -san as part of a name: the errors that make made-up samurai names sound wrong, and how to fix each one.

## About
- [About](https://samurainames.com/about/)
- [Editorial Policy](https://samurainames.com/legal/editorial-policy/)
- [Contact](https://samurainames.com/contact/): samurainames@gmail.com
- [Privacy Policy](https://samurainames.com/legal/privacy-policy/)
- [Terms and Conditions](https://samurainames.com/legal/terms-and-conditions/)
- [Disclaimer](https://samurainames.com/legal/disclaimer/)
- [Sitemap](https://samurainames.com/sitemap.xml)