Japanese names that mean wolf
Real Japanese names connected with wolves, which are very few, plus the wolf names of folklore, film and games.
狼 ōkami, rō: wolfAlmost never in given names大神 Ōgami: a surname
狼 (wolf) almost never appears in real Japanese given names. The rare exceptions are playful twists on old names: 一狼 (Ichirō) and 二狼 (Jirō) swap 郎, son, for 狼, wolf, which is read the same way. They are unusual enough that most Japanese readers would look twice.
The wolf lives on in other ways. The surname 大神 (Ōgami, great god) sounds like ōkami, the word for wolf, and the video game Ōkami built its whole story on that pun. The Japanese wolf, extinct for over a century, was once honoured at shrines as a protector of fields.
一狼
IchirōBoy · 一 one + 狼 wolf
On this page
The kanji behind wolf names
| Kanji | Readings | Meaning | In names |
|---|---|---|---|
| 狼 | おおかみ, ろう | wolf | Rare in ranked names |
First names
Last names with a wolf meaning
| Kanji | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大神 | Ōgami | great + god (sounds like ōkami, wolf) |
Wolf names in stories
Writers often mix real surnames with invented names or readings. Here is which part is which.
Amaterasu 大神Ōkami (video game). The game's title is a pun: 大神 (great god) and 狼 (wolf) are both read ōkami.
Ame and Yuki 雨 · 雪Wolf Children (2012). Half-wolf children named rain and snow.
Questions
Is there a Japanese name that means wolf?
Hardly any. Ichirō written 一狼 uses the wolf kanji, but it is very rare. Most wolf names you see online are invented.
What does Ōkami mean?
Ōkami (狼) is the Japanese word for wolf. Written 大神 it means great god, and Ōgami is a real surname.