Minami (みなみ; ミナミ; 南, lit. "south") is both a Japanese surname and a feminine Japanese given name (occasionally used for men).

Possible Writings

As a surname, Minami is most frequently written as 南, meaning "south". Minami (南) is shared by 100,000+ individuals in Japan. The remaining variants are used by less than 2,000 individuals each and are generally used by related families. ^[2]

As a given name, Minami may be written as simply "みなみ" and rarely "ミナミ", or it can be written using different kanji characters or a mix of hiragana and kanji to convey different meanings, such as:

People with the surname

• Akina Minami ( 南 明奈, born 1989), Japanese gravure idol and tarento
• Dale Minami (born 1946), Japanese American lawyer
• Eiko Minami ( 南 栄子, born 1909), Japanese dancer
• Haruka Minami ( みなみ 遥), Japanese manga artist
• Haruo Minami ( 三波 春夫, 1923–2001), Japanese enka singer
• Hikari Minami ( みなみ 飛香, born 1994), Japanese professional wrestler
• Hiroaki Minami ( 南 弘明, born 1934), Japanese composer
• Jirō Minami ( 南 次郎, 1874–1955), Japanese general and convicted World War II war criminal
• Kaho Minami ( 南 果歩, born 1964), Japanese actress
• Katsuyuki Minami ( 南 克幸, born 1970), Japanese volleyball player
• Kunzo Minami ( 南 薫造, 1883–1950), Japanese painter
• Moeka Minami ( 南 萌華, born 1998), Japanese women's footballer
• Omi Minami ( 南 央美, born 1968), Japanese voice actress, essayist and columnist

[Warren N. Minami (1938-2022), Japanese American, retired senior executive of the IMF, former chair of National Japanese American Memorial Foundation

• Yoshiharu Minami ( 南 喜陽, born 1951), Japanese judoka
• Yoshikazu Minami ( 南 芳一, born 1963), Japanese professional shogi player
• Yoshitaka Minami ( 南 佳孝, born 1950), Japanese musician
• Yuta Minami ( 南 雄太, born 1979), Japanese footballer

People with the given name

Women

• Minami (actress) ( 美波, born 1986), Japanese actress
• Minami (singer) ( 美波, born 1997), Japanese singer
• Minami Ando (安藤 みなみ, born 1997), Japanese table tennis player
• Minami Aoyama ( 青山 南, born 1985), Japanese pink film actress and AV idol
• Minami Hamabe ( 浜辺 美波, born 2000), Japanese actress
• Minami Hokuto ( 北都 南), Japanese voice actress
• Minami Iju ( 伊集 南, born 1990), Japanese women's basketball player
• Minami Itahashi ( 板橋 美波, born 2000), Japanese diver
• Minami Kato ( 加藤 美南, born 1999), Japanese idol, singer and former member of NGT48
• Minami Kuribayashi ( 栗林 みな実, born 1976), Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress
• Minami Minegishi ( 峯岸 みなみ, born 1992), Japanese idol and member of AKB48 and no3b
• Minami Otomo ( 大友 みなみ, born 1981), Japanese actress and model
• Minami Ozaki ( 尾崎 南, born 1968), Japanese manga artist, also known as Ryo Minami (南亮) and Minami Himemuro (姫室ミナミ)
• Minami Sadamasu ( 貞升 南, born 1986), Japanese professional shogi player
• Minami Takahashi ( 高橋 みなみ, born 1991), Japanese singer, tarento, and former member of AKB48
• Minami Takayama ( 高山 みなみ, born 1964), Japanese voice actress, narrator, singer and composer
• Minami Tanaka ( 田中 美海, born 1996), Japanese voice actress
• Minami Tanaka (announcer) ( 田中 みな実, born 1986), announcer and tarento
• Minami Yamanouchi ( 山ノ内 みなみ, born 1992), Japanese long-distance runner

Men

• Minami Aoyama ( 青山南, born 1949), male Japanese translator, essayist, American literary researcher, literary critic, picture book writer, real name Shigeru Sugiyama
• Minami Ichikawa ( 市川南 (映画プロデューサー), born 1966), male Japanese film producer

Fictional characters

As a given name

• Minami Amada (天田 南), a character in the manga Jormungand
• Minami Asakura (浅倉 南), a character in the manga Touch
• Minami Hayama (葉山 南), a character in the Japanese television drama Long Vacation
• Minami Iwasaki (岩崎 みなみ), a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Lucky Star
• Minami Kaido (海藤 みなみ), a character in the anime series Go! Princess PreCure
• Minami Katayama (片山 実波), a character in the manga and anime series Wake Up, Girls!
• Minami Kotobuki (寿 みなみ), a character in manga and anime series Oshi no Ko
• Minami Maki (真木 南), a character in the manga Majitora!
• Minami Nanba (難波 南), a male character in the manga Hana-Kimi
• Minami Shimada (島田 美波), a character in the light novel series Baka and Test
• Minami Takahashi (高橋 みなみ), a character in the anime series AKB0048
• Minami Toba (鳥羽 美波), a character in the manga series Laid-Back Camp

As a surname

• The Minami (南) sisters (Haruka (春香), Kana (夏奈), and Chiaki (千秋)), characters in the manga series Minami-ke
• Itsuki Minami (南 樹), a character in the anime and manga series Air Gear
• Kaori Minami (南 佳織), a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Battle Royale
• Ken Minami (美波 ケン), a character in the manga Machine Robo Rescue
• Kenjirō Minami (南 健次郎), a character in the anime and manga series Yuri on Ice
• Kohtaro Minami (南 光太郎), a character in the Japanese superhero drama series Kamen Rider Black and Kamen Rider Black RX
• Kotori Minami (南 ことり), a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Love Live! School Idol Project
• Mirei Minami (南 みれぃ), a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Pripara
• Rena Minami (水波 レナ), a character in the anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica
• Shizuku Minami (南 しずく), a character in the manga Sakura Trick
• Tsuyoshi Minami (南 烈), a character in the manga Slam Dunk
• Youichi Minami (南 陽一), a character in the manga Gokusen
• Yuko Minami (南 夕子), a character in the Japanese superhero drama series Ultraman Ace

References

Name list

This page or section lists people that share the same given name or the same family name.
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