is a common feminine

Japanese given name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name, in that order. Nevertheless, when a Japanese name is written in the Roman alphabet, ever since the Meiji era, the official policy has been to cater to Western expecta ...

which is occasionally used by males. It is also a short name for '' Naoko'', ''

Naomi Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bor ...

'', '' Naoto'', etc.

Possible writings

Nao can be written using different

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

characters and can mean: *直, "honest" *尚, "esteem" *巨, "giant" *奈緒, "

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

, cord" *菜緒, "greens, cord" *奈央, "Nara, center" The name can also be written in

hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived f ...

People

*Nao (ナオ), a drummer from Visual Kei band

Alice Nine is a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in Tokyo in 2004. They were a part of PS Company until 2014. The band had King Records as its record label until 2010, when they joined Tokuma Japan. Then, in 2013, the band joined Universal Music Grou ...

*Nao (born 1985), Japanese singer and former lead singer of the band

fripSide fripSide is a Japanese pop and trance duo originally formed by composer Satoshi Yaginuma (Sat) and singer Nao in February 2002. History In a 2008 interview, Satoshi said that he was a fan of TM Network and its member Tetsuya Komuro in his eleme ...

Nao Deguchi Nao Deguchi (January 22, 1837 – November 16, 1918) founded the religion Oomoto-kyo after being possessed by a spirit called Ushitora no Konjin. Even though she was illiterate, she wrote 200,000 pages of prophesies while possessed. Biography ...

(なお, 1837-1918), founder of

Oomoto ''Chōseiden'' in Ayabe , also known as , is a religion founded in 1892 by Deguchi Nao (1836–1918), often categorised as a new Japanese religion originated from Shinto. The spiritual leaders of the movement have always been women within t ...

Nao Eguchi is a Japanese football player for Kamatamare Sanuki from 2023. He scored a goal from 60 metres for Akita on October 14, 2020. Career On 31 October 2022, Eguchi leave from the club after 6 years at Akita. On 21 December 2022, Eguchi officia ...

(江口直生, born 1992), Japanese footballer *

Nao Furuhata is a member of the Japanese idol girl group SKE48. She is a member of SKE48's Team KII, and a former member of AKB48. Career Furuhata was born in Aichi Prefecture, and passed SKE48's 5th generation auditions in October 2011. Her audition song ...

(奈和, born 1996), member of the girl group

SKE48 SKE48 (S.K.E. Forty-eight) is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SKE48 is named after the Sakae district in Nagoya of Aichi Prefecture, where the group is based. The group performs at SKE48 Theater on 2F of Sunshine Sakae, a ...

Nao Hibino is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 56 in singles and No. 43 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Hibino has won two singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Along with that, she ...

(菜緒, born 1994), Japanese pro tennis player * Nao Higashihama (東浜巨, born 1993 ), Japanese baseball pitcher *, Japanese male swimmer *

Nao Kawakita , simply known as , is the drummer and backup vocalist of Japanese nu metal band Maximum the Hormone. Career Nao is the co-founding member of Maximum the Hormone with Daisuke Tsuda. She recruited her brother Ryo Kawakita to play guitar after Su ...

(奈緒, born 1975), drummer and backup vocalist of Japanese rock band

Maximum the Hormone is a Japanese heavy metal band from Hachiōji, Tokyo. Their lineup has consisted of vocalist Daisuke-han, drummer Nao, guitarist Maximum the Ryo-kun, and bassist Ue-chan since 1999. Each member alternates singing lead vocals, often within ...

Nao Kodaira Nao Kodaira ( ja, 小平奈緒; born 26 May 1986) is a Japanese former long track speed skater who specialised in the sprint distances. She is the 2018 Olympic champion in the 500 m distance. Kodaira is the first Japanese woman to win an Oly ...

(奈緒, born 1986), Japanese Olympic long-track speed skater *

Nao Kosaka is a Japanese singer, model, and actress. She is a member of the Japanese female idol group Hinatazaka46 and an exclusive model for the women's fashion magazine ''Seventeen''. Career On August 13, 2017, Kosaka passed the auditions for new membe ...

(菜緒, born 2002), Japanese idol, model, actress and member of the girl group

Hinatazaka46 is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group was established as a subgroup of Keyakizaka46 named Hiragana Keyakizaka46 on November 30, 2015, and was renamed and spun off into its own group on February 11, 2019. The group's ...

Nao Matsushita is a Japanese actress and singer. History Nao was born in Ikoma, Nara on 8 February 1985 and grew up in Kawanishi, Hyōgo. Winning Japan's Elite Model Look started her modeling career in earnest. She attended the Tokyo College of Music. D ...

(奈緒, born 1985), Japanese actress and pianist *

Nao Nagasawa is a Japanese actress, voice actress, former singer and model. She is known for her roles in various tokusatsu series, film, and drama, such as "Nanami Nono / Hurricane Blue" in the series Super Sentai '' Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger''. Filmogra ...

(奈央, born 1984), Japanese actress, singer and model *

Nao Oikawa is a Japanese people, Japanese actress, TV personality and was also a former AV idol who was very popular in the early 2000s. Life and career Nao Oikawa was born in Hiroshima. Her family moved to Tokyo when she was a little girl. At age 18, whe ...

(奈央, born 1981), Japanese

AV idol An or is a type of pornographic film actress in Japan. It is a sub-category of the idol culture in Japanese pop entertainment. AV idols work in the pornographic business, often both as an actress as well as a model as the video performances ...

and

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as " ...

* Nao Ōmori (南朋, born 1972), Japanese actor *

Nao Saejima (March 23, 1968 – September 29, 2012) was a Japanese AV idol and model of the 1980s and 1990s who also starred in photobooks, V-Cinema, and feature films, including Nikkatsu's '' Roman Porno'' series. She died in September 2012 of cancer a ...

(奈緒, 1968–2013), Japanese AV idol *, Japanese cyclist * Nao Takamori (奈緒, born 1973), Japanese voice idol *

Nao Takasugi Nao Takasugi (April 5, 1922 – November 19, 2009) was an American politician from California, a member of the Republican Party, and a survivor of the Japanese American internment camps. Early life Born and raised in Oxnard, California, Takasug ...

(1922–2009), Japanese-American politician * Nao Tamura, a Japanese voice actress *

Nao Tōyama is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with the agency Intention. Before joining Intention, she was affiliated with Arts Vision. She debuted as a voice actress in 2010, and played her first leading role as Kanon Nakagawa in ''The Worl ...

(奈央, born 1992), a Japanese pop solo artist and former leader of Buzy (band) * Nao Ueki (南央, born 1997), member of the girl group

HKT48 HKT48 (read "H.K.T. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. HKT48 is named after the Hakata-ku, Fukuoka city of Fukuoka Prefecture, where Akimoto originally intended to base the group. The group currently performs at ...

. Often referred to as Chinkansen *, Japanese singer * Nao Yasuda (奈央, born 1990), former member of Kamen Rider Girls *

Nao Yazawa is a Japanese manga artist born in Tokyo, Japan. Her most notable series is '' Wedding Peach'', which was made into an anime series of the same name, and was published worldwide. Since then she has worked on manga of all sorts, some of which ...

(直), Japanese manga artist

Characters

*Nao, a character in the manga series '' Inu Neko Jump!'' *Nao Chikura (名央), a character in the manga series ''

Hatsukoi Limited , also known as ''Hatsukoi Limited'', is a Japanese ''shōnen'' romantic comedy manga by Mizuki Kawashita. It was serialized by Shueisha in the manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from October 2007 to May 2008 and collected in four boun ...

'' *Nao Egokoro (菜緒), a character from the visual novel ''

Your Turn to Die ''Your Turn to Die'' ( it, Troppo per vivere... poco per morire, french: Qui êtes-vous inspecteur Chandler?) is a 1967 Italian-French crime-thriller movie directed by Michele Lupo. Plot A gang of criminals, in agreement with a model, set their ...

'' *Nao Kamiya (奈緒), a character in the mobile game and anime ''

The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls is a Japanese free-to-play simulation video game co-developed by Cygames and Bandai Namco Studios for the Mobage social network platform for mobile phones. It was first released on November 28, 2011, for feature phones, and compatibilit ...

'' *Nao Kanzaki (ナオ), the main protagonist in the manga and live actions series, ''

Liar Game ''Liar Game'' (stylized as ''LIAR GAME'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shinobu Kaitani. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from February 2005 to January 2015. It was adap ...

'' *Nao Makinoha (奈緒), a character from the shōnen fantasy manga '' Midori No Hibi'' *Nao Mariota Pryderi, a female character in the MMORPG

Mabinogi The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...

*Nao Midorikawa, a character in ''

Smile PreCure! is a 2012 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation and the ninth installment in Izumi Todo's ''Pretty Cure'' metaseries, featuring the seventh generation of Cures. The series is written by Shōji Yonemura, who is best k ...

'', the 9th season in the ''

Pretty Cure , also known as and ''PC'', is a Japanese magical girl anime franchise created by Izumi Todo and Bandai and produced by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, Asatsu-DK, Toei Animation and Bandai. Each series revolves around a group of magical girls kn ...

'' franchise *Nao Morisaki (七央), a character from the erotic visual novel '' Soul Link'' *Nao Okuda (直), a character in the manga series ''

K-On! is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Kakifly serialized in Houbunsha's '' Manga Time Kirara'' magazine between the May 2007 and October 2010 issues, and also serialized in Houbunsha's '' Manga Time Kirara Car ...

'' *Nao Tomori (奈緒), a character in the anime series ''

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

'' *Nao Yasumori (奈緒), a female character in the anime and manga series ''

Shiki (novel series) is a Japanese horror novel written by Fuyumi Ono. It was originally published in two parts by Shinchosha in 1998, it was then reprinted into five parts in 2002. A manga series adapting the story, drawn by Ryu Fujisaki was serialized in the ...

'' * Nao Yuuki (奈緒), a female character in the anime series ''

My-HiME is a Japanese anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from September 2004 to March 2005. The series focuses on the lives of HiMEs—girls with the capa ...

'' *Nao Yoshikawa (菜緒), the main character in the manga and live action series ''

Good Morning Call is a Japanese ''shōjo'' manga series by Yue Takasuka that ran in the monthly magazine ''Ribon'' from 1997 to 2002. Part of the story has been adapted into an OVA. In 2007, a sequel manga, , was serialized in ''Cookie''. As of December ...

'' {{given name Japanese feminine given names Japanese unisex given names