Fun Facts About the Name Asai
- 339 babies named Asai: U.S. records list 339 babies given the name Asai from 1880 through 2025. Even 12 girls received the name Asai - about 1 girl for every 27 boys.
What Does the Name Asai Mean?
Asai is a Japanese name, most often written 浅井. It combines 浅 asa, "shallow," with 井 i, "well," giving the literal meaning "shallow well." Because Japanese names are written with characters chosen individually, the same sound can be written other ways with different senses; 朝井, for example, uses 朝 asa, "morning," and means "morning well." The meaning of Asai as a personal name therefore depends on the characters used, and the familiar "shallow well" sense belongs specifically to 浅井.
Asai Name History & Origins
Like many Japanese surnames, 浅井 is also found as a place name, and family names of this kind commonly developed from the names of places where a family lived or held land. The best-known historical bearers are the 浅井 family of Ōmi Province, a daimyō house of the Sengoku period. Its most famous member, Nagamasa (1545 - 1573), is usually romanized Azai, a voiced reading of the same two characters; his daughter, Yodo-dono, became a consort of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the family's castle stood at Odani.
In the Edo period the name was borne by Asai Ryōi (c. 1612 - 1691), a writer of popular fiction whose Ukiyo Monogatari is one of the early works of its genre. The reading Azai for 浅井 survives mainly in references to the Sengoku clan, while Asai is the more usual reading of the surname.
Asai is uncommon as a given name in Japan, and when it is used the characters are chosen by the family, so no single sense applies to every bearer. Outside Japan it appears chiefly as a Japanese family name.
How Popular is the Name Asai?
Asai has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2025. Its best rank was #2,081 in 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | #13,620 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2022 | #13,788 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,081 | 71 | 0.0042% |
| 2024 | #3,390 | 34 | 0.0020% |
| 2023 | #2,846 | 44 | 0.0026% |
| 2022 | #2,920 | 43 | 0.0025% |
| 2021 | #3,303 | 35 | 0.0020% |
| 2020 | #3,923 | 26 | 0.0015% |
| 2019 | #4,116 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2018 | #5,118 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2017 | #7,138 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2016 | #8,903 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2013 | #10,846 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2012 | #10,905 | 6 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Asai Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Creative and outgoing, you are always looking for an opportunity to show your abilities, especially before audience. You are very flexible and like to feel appreciated. You are looking for chances to mix with others socially and to communicate your ideas. You like to talk and can easily relate to different cultures and concepts. The biggest challenge for you is uncertainty. Easily getting bored, you can move from one job to another, switch projects and lovers. The high creative force can lead you either to happiness or unhappiness. If you understand your goals, if you can make major decisions in life and follow it directly and straight up without worry and uncertainty, you are able to achieve great heights.
✦ Asai's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Asai's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.