Fun Facts About the Name Tadashi
- 676 babies named Tadashi: U.S. records list 676 babies given the name Tadashi from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Tadashi Mean?
Tadashi is a Japanese masculine given name written with a single kanji. Its meaning depends on which character is chosen, because Japanese names are written in kanji rather than as a fixed string of letters. The character most often used is 正, read tadashi, meaning "correct," "right," or "just." Other characters share the same reading: 忠 "loyal, faithful," 直 "straight, honest, upright," 節 "integrity, fidelity," and 理 "reason, principle."
The reading is native Japanese (kun'yomi), not a Chinese-derived one. It belongs with the everyday adjective tadashii (正しい), "correct, right," and the verb tadasu (正す), "to correct, to set right," which share the same root. The character is chosen by the family, so the sound Tadashi by itself does not reveal the kanji; the written form fixes which meaning applies to a given person.
Tadashi Name History & Origins
Tadashi belongs to the group of Japanese male names made from a single kanji read with its native Japanese (kun'yomi) reading, rather than from a two-character compound read with Chinese-derived (on'yomi) sounds. Because the name is a reading and not a fixed spelling, the same sound Tadashi has been written with different characters over time, and bearers of the name may share no written form at all.
The reading is old in the language: tadashi as an adjective and tadasu as a verb for setting something right or ascertaining the truth are attested in classical Japanese, and the name draws on that native vocabulary. The one-character, native-reading male name is a long-established pattern in Japanese naming, and Tadashi is a standard member of it alongside names such as Minoru, Susumu, and Isamu.
Older romanization systems spell the name Tadasi. In Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki, the kana し is written si, so documents and publications using those systems render the name with an s rather than sh. The Hepburn romanization now standard in most English-language contexts gives Tadashi.
A widely known recent fictional bearer is Tadashi Hamada in the 2014 Disney film Big Hero 6. This is a modern literary use of a name that already existed independently; the character did not originate the name or its reading.
How Popular is the Name Tadashi?
Tadashi 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 1922. Its best rank was #1,169 in 1917.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #7,620 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2024 | #8,862 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2023 | #8,182 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #9,722 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2021 | #6,629 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2020 | #5,010 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2019 | #11,957 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2018 | #8,081 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2017 | #8,066 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2016 | #6,676 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2015 | #6,272 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2008 | #14,342 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2007 | #14,132 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2005 | #13,106 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1990 | #7,085 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1988 | #7,145 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #5,552 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1977 | #5,059 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1976 | #4,376 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1970 | #5,355 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1942 | #3,527 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1938 | #3,978 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1936 | #2,829 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1935 | #2,119 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1934 | #1,922 | 15 | 0.0015% |
| 1933 | #3,599 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1932 | #2,822 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1931 | #2,451 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1930 | #2,166 | 14 | 0.0013% |
| 1929 | #2,087 | 15 | 0.0014% |
| 1928 | #2,148 | 15 | 0.0014% |
| 1927 | #1,637 | 23 | 0.0020% |
| 1926 | #1,709 | 21 | 0.0019% |
| 1925 | #1,625 | 23 | 0.0021% |
| 1924 | #1,353 | 31 | 0.0027% |
| 1923 | #1,272 | 33 | 0.0030% |
| 1922 | #1,240 | 35 | 0.0032% |
| 1921 | #1,444 | 28 | 0.0025% |
| 1920 | #1,318 | 31 | 0.0029% |
| 1919 | #1,618 | 22 | 0.0022% |
| 1918 | #1,591 | 23 | 0.0023% |
| 1917 | #1,169 | 34 | 0.0037% |
| 1916 | #1,841 | 17 | 0.0019% |
| 1915 | #1,655 | 19 | 0.0022% |
| 1914 | #1,435 | 19 | 0.0029% |
| 1913 | #1,572 | 13 | 0.0025% |
| 1912 | #1,872 | 9 | 0.0021% |
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 Tadashi Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You like to control everyone within your influence, to shape things to your own liking. If positive, you develop high spirituality, as you have a God's protection. You are sensitive, affectionate, imaginative and cooperative, spiritually aware and prone to self-sacrifice. You can keep secrets and are a good diplomat. You may have healing and psychic powers. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Tadashi's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Tadashi's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.