NameRealm
Jiraiya

Jiraiya: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“uncertain; likely a legendary personal name”
Origin
Japanese
Say it
jih-RYE-yuh · 3 syllables
Used for
Boys (95% of all uses)

Known chiefly from the Japanese folk-tale hero Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari. As a given name outside Japan, usage is modern; the name’s original etymology is uncertain. The origin of this name is not settled among etymologists.

Japanese namesModern namesMythological namesInternational names

How popular is Jiraiya?

202482.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Jiraiya in 2024274

2024 rank#919 boys

Peak year2023

Total US babies since 18802,154

Jiraiya is rising: use over the last five years is 9.8× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Jiraiya

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Kobegod's door · Japanese
  • Raidenthunder and lightning · Japanese
  • Kodauncertain · Japanese
  • Roninmasterless samurai · Japanese
  • Kaizenimprovement; change for better · Japanese
  • Kenzohealthy and three · Japanese
  • Kenjihealthy second son · Japanese
  • Zenmeditation · Japanese

Jiraiya questions

What does the name Jiraiya mean?

Jiraiya means "uncertain; likely a legendary personal name". It comes from Japanese. Known chiefly from the Japanese folk-tale hero Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari. As a given name outside Japan, usage is modern; the name’s original etymology is uncertain.

Is Jiraiya a boy or girl name?

Jiraiya is mainly a boy's name in US records (95% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Jiraiya?

274 US babies were named Jiraiya in 2024. Its peak year was 2023.

How do you pronounce Jiraiya?

Jiraiya is usually pronounced jih-RYE-yuh.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.