is a very common

Japanese given name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name. Japanese names are usually written in kanji, where the pronunciation follows a special set of rules. Because parents when naming children, and foreigners when adoptin ...

used by either sex.

Written forms

Yū can be written using different

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, 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 and are ...

characters and can mean: *優, "tenderness" or "superiority" *夕, "evening" *友, "friend" *有, "qualified" *勇, "courage" *祐, "help" *裕, "abundant" *雄, "masculine" *悠, "permanence" *由宇, "reason, eaves" *侑, "assist" The name can also be written in

hiragana is a Japanese language, Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", ...

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 fr ...

People

;with the given name Yū * Yu Aida (裕), a Japanese manga artist and illustrator *

Yū Aoi is a Japanese actress and model. She made her film debut as Shiori Tsuda in Shunji Iwai's 2001 film '' All About Lily Chou-Chou''. She subsequently portrayed Tetsuko Arisugawa in '' Hana and Alice'' (2004), also directed by Iwai, Kimiko Tanigawa ...

(優), a Japanese actress * Yū Asagiri (夕), a Japanese manga artist *

Yū Asakawa is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress from Tokyo, Japan. She also provides the voice samples for Crypton Future Media's Vocaloid voice synthesiser software, Megurine Luka. Asakawa is currently a freelance voice actress and was previ ...

(悠, born 1975), a Japanese voice actress *

Yu Darvish , more commonly known as Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ有), is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Lo ...

(有), an Iranian-Japanese starting pitcher *, Japanese footballer *

Yū Hayami is a Japanese singer and television personality. In 2011, the Japanese music television program '' Music Station'' listed her as the 50th all-time best-selling idol in Japan, with 2,850,000 records sold. Childhood and education Hayami was ...

(優), a Japanese pop singer and actress * Yū Hasebe (優), a Japanese actress, singer and model * Yū Hayashi (勇), a Japanese voice actor and singer *

Yuu Kashii , known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress and model. She studied at Mejiro University, where she majored in English. History Personal life She married actor Joe Odagiri, who is exactly 11 years her senior, on February 16, 2008, the birt ...

(由宇), a Japanese actress and model *

Yuu Kikkawa is a Japanese singer and actress. Kikkawa achieved early fame portraying Kobeni Hanasaki from '' Kirarin Revolution Stage 3'' and later debuted as a solo singer with the song, "Kikkake wa You!" Career 2006–2010: Pre-debut, ''Kirarin Revoluti ...

(友), a Japanese pop singer *

Yū Kikumura was allegedly a member of the Japanese Red Army, an armed militant organization. Arrest in The Netherlands Police arrested Kikumura in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam in 1986 when they found him carrying a bomb in his luggage. After spending ...

(憂), a member of the Japanese Red Army *, Japanese boxer *, Japanese footballer *

Yū Kobayashi is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Holy Peak. Some of her most prominent roles include that of Tadamichi Aoba in '' Dan Doh!!'', Setsuna Sakurazaki in ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', Dan Kuso in ''Bakugan Battle Brawlers'' ...

(ゆう, born 1982), a Japanese voice actress *, Japanese footballer *

Yū Koyama is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from Shizuoka Prefectural Shimada Commercial High School he moved to Tokyo and in 1968 took a job with Saito Productions, the company run by Takao Saitō. In 1971 he worked with Kazuo Koike at Studio ...

(ゆう), a Japanese manga artist *, Japanese artistic gymnast *, Japanese sport wrestler *

Yuu Miyake is a Japanese composer and sound engineer who formerly worked at Bandai Namco Entertainment. His most known work surfaced with '' Katamari Damacy'' soundtracks, on which he served as a sound director. Other notable works include various tracks in ...

(優), a Japanese composer and sound engineer *

Yū Mizushima is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. He is the Japanese voice-over for Sammo Hung, and is the Japanese voice of Wakko. In the 1980s, He proved to be a popular choice for many Japanese animation studios for the roles of male heart-t ...

(裕), a Japanese voice actor * Yu Nakajima (悠), a Japanese Rubik's Cube solver *, Japanese women's footballer *

Yu Narukami is a character featured in the ''Persona'' series developed by Atlus, he serves as the main protagonist of the 2008 role-playing video game ''Persona 4''. In the game, Yu is a silent protagonist whose thoughts and actions are decided by the pla ...

(悠), a Japanese detective and fighter *, Japanese voice actress *, Japanese voice actress and singer *, usually written

You Shiina is a Japanese freelance illustrator and manga artist. She has contributed to light novel and children's book covers, illustrations, as well as game package and character design. She did work on the illustrations for the Ascendance of a Bookworm ...

, Japanese illustrator and manga artist * Yū Shimaka (裕), a Japanese voice actor *, Japanese voice actress * Yuu Shirota (優), a Japanese-Spanish actor and singer *

Yuu Shiroyama Yuu or YUU may refer to: * Yū, Yamaguchi, or Yuu, a town in Kuga District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan * Yuu (wrestler) is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler working as a freelancer and is best known for h ...

(優), real name of The Gazette's guitarist Aoi *

Yū Sugimoto is a Japanese voice actress. Filmography Anime Film Video Game Voice Dubbing References * 1975 births Living people Japanese video game actresses People from Suita Voice actresses from Osaka Prefecture 20th-century Japanese ...

(ゆう), a Japanese voice actress *

Yu Suzuki is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimensi ...

(裕), a Japanese game designer and producer * Yu Takahashi (高橋優), a Japanese singer-songwriter * Yū Terashima (優), a Japanese manga artist * Yu Todoroki (悠), a Japanese Takarasienne *

Yū Wakui is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Mitt Management talent agency. She studied ballet from a young age, which helped create an interest in theatre and performance. During high school, she began the theatrical studies that led her to beco ...

: (和久井優), a Japanese voice actress *

Yuu Watase is a Japanese manga artist. She debuted in 1989 at the age of 18 with the short story "Pajama de Ojama" (, "An Intrusion in Pajamas") and has since published more than 50 volumes of one-shots and long-running manga series. One of her most popu ...

(悠宇), a Japanese shōjo manga artist * Yuu Yabuuchi (優), a Japanese manga artist *

Yu Yagami is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for the manga ''Those Who Hunt Elves'', which was adapted as an anime series. His works ''Those Who Hunt Elves'', '' Dokkoida?!'', '' Go West!'', and ''Hikkatsu! Strike a Blow to Vivify'' have been lic ...

(裕), a Japanese manga artist *

Yu Yamada is a Japanese model, actress and singer best known from her modeling work with ''CanCam'' magazine. Personal life On March 14, 2012, Yamada married Japanese actor Shun Oguri, and is a mother of four children, as of April 2020, according to re ...

(優), a Ryukyuan model, actress, and singer * Yu Yokoyama (裕), a member of the Japanese idol group ''Kanjani8''

Fictional characters

;with the given name Yū * Yuu Asou (麻生優雨), a character from the '' Fatal Frame III: The Tormented'' video game series * '' Yu Ishigami'' (石上優), a character from the manga series '' Kaguya-sama: Love is War'' * Yu Kajima (カジマ), a character from the ''

Gundam is a Japanese military science fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ...

'' anime series * Yū Kanda (ユウ), a main character in the manga series ''

D.Gray-man ''D.Gray-man'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino. Set in an alternate 19th century, it tells the story of a young Allen Walker, who joins an organization of exorcists named the Black Order. They use an ...

'' * Yuu Kashima (遊), a character from the

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Izumi Tsubaki. The chapters are serialized online in ''Gangan Online'' and have been published in ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix. An anime adaptation produced by Doga ...

anime series * Yu Kirasawa, a character from ''

Ultraman Nexus is a Japanese tokusatsu TV show. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting (CBC), and Dentsu. It is the thirteenth entry (nineteenth overall) in the Ultra Series and the first to be made for an adult audience. The series aired o ...

'' known as the "Illustrator" * Yū Komori (ユウ), a main character in '' Spider-Man: The Manga'' * Yū Koito (小糸侑), the main character from the anime '' Bloom into You'' * Yū Kōtari (神足ユウ), a character from the '' BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER'' anime series * Yuu Matsuura (遊), a central character in the shōjo manga series ''

Marmalade Boy is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Wataru Yoshizumi. It was published in Shueisha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Ribon'' from May 1992 to October 1995 and collected in eight ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series was adapt ...

'' * Yū Nanba (難波悠), a supporting character and party member in '' Yakuza: Like a Dragon'' *

(鳴上悠), the main protagonist from the video game ''

Persona 4 is a 2008 role-playing video game by Atlus. It is chronologically the fifth installment in the ''Persona (series), Persona'' series, itself a part of the larger ''Megami Tensei'' franchise, and was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan in Ju ...

'' * ''Yū Naruse (usually called Yuu-chan), a main character in the manga WataMote'' * Yū Nishinoya (夕), a character from the

Haikyū!! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Haruichi Furudate. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from February 2012 to July 2020, with its chapters collected in 45 volumes. The story f ...

anime series * Yu Ominae (優), the main character of the manga series '' Spriggan'' * Yuu Otosaka (乙坂有宇), a character from the anime television series '' Charlotte'' * , a character from the anime series ''

Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club is a Japanese multimedia spin-off project from the ''Love Live!'' series and its game series ''Love Live! School Idol Festival (often abbreviated as ''LLSIF'' or ''Sukufesu'') is a Japanese rhythm game series. The first game, develop ...

'' * Yū Tendo (天童遊), a character from the anime series '' Beyblade: Metal Fusion'' * Yū, a character from '' Dōbutsu no Mori (film)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Yu Japanese unisex given names