SurnameNo. 6 in Japan

Itō

Itō (伊藤) is the 6th most common surname in Japan, shared by an estimated 1.15 million people. Its kanji mean (used for its sound + wisteria.

い · と · う · いとう
Written伊藤いとう(used for its sound + wisteria

What Itō means

伊
(used for its sound, i)
藤
wisteria

Where the name comes from

The ending 藤 (wisteria), read tō, links Itō to the Fujiwara clan, the court family that dominated Japan for centuries. Surnames such as Satō, Itō, Katō and Saitō are traditionally explained as branches of the Fujiwara, with the first kanji marking a place or office.

Famous people named Itō

Itō Hirobumi 伊藤 博文1st, 5th, 7th and 10th Prime Minister of Japan (1841–1909)
Naoji Ito 伊藤 直司Japanese association football player
Hiroki Itō 伊藤 洋輝Japanese association football player (born 1999)
Junji Itō 伊藤 潤二Japanese horror writer and mangaka
Kanako Ito 伊藤 香菜子Japanese association football player
Kiyoshi Itō 伊藤 清Japanese mathematician who pioneered stochastic calculus (1915–2008)

From Wikidata: notable Japanese people with this family name.

Surnames that share a kanji