TOKYO -- Names written in Chinese characters commonly read as "Haruto" or "Hinato" and a single-kanji name usually pronounced as "Tsumugi" were the most popular names given to boys and girls respectively, according to this year's ranking released by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co.

The company has annually conducted the survey on the most popular Japanese baby names since 1989. Names given to 7,308 boys and 7,017 girls born in 2024 were summed up in the poll targeting insurance policyholders and their families, that was released on Dec. 13. The names are referred by prevalent readings assigned to the kanji characters.

"Haruto" or "Hinato" came out on top as a male given name for the first time in seven years. "Tsumugi" became the most popular female name for the second time since 2021.

The second most popular name for boys was "Nagi" or "Nagisa," and the third was "Asahi." The most frequently used kanji for baby boy names was "sho," the same character used in Shohei Ohtani's name, for the fourth consecutive year. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance analyzed that "Shohei Ohtani's performance in Major League Baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers likely influenced naming trends."

For girls, the second most popular name was "Sui," followed by "Rin," marking the first time since the survey began that single-kanji names dominated the top three places. A company representative told the Mainichi Shimbun, "Single-kanji names are very popular because they are easy to read and tend to leave a lasting impression."

(Japanese original by Hayato Narisawa, Business News Department)