Shinji
Shinji is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:Shinji Aoba (真司), perpetrator of the 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack Shinji Aoyama (真治), a Japanese film director Shinji Aramaki (伸志), a Japanese anime director and mechanical designer Shinji Hashimoto (真司), a Japanese game producer Shinji Harada (真二), a Japanese pop music artist Shinji Higuchi (真嗣), a Japanese…
- Japanese
Meaning & Origin of Shinji
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Shinji is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:Shinji Aoba (真司), perpetrator of the 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack Shinji Aoyama (真治), a Japanese film director Shinji Aramaki (伸志), a Japanese anime director and mechanical designer Shinji Hashimoto (真司), a Japanese game producer Shinji Harada (真二), a Japanese pop music artist Shinji Higuchi (真嗣), a Japanese…
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Japanese
The Story of Shinji
Shinji first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1987, with 5 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 2009, when 10 Shinjis were born — ranking #7,691 that year. As of 2026, Shinji ranks #9,654 for baby boys with 7 births, with steady use. In total, more than 28 Shinjis have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1980s through the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Names that sound like Shinji
Phonetically similar names — useful when Shinji is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Shinji
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About the name Shinji
Shinji is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1987 and has accumulated 28 births in the dataset. Shinji's peak popularity came in 2009 when it ranked #7,691. Use the chart and map above to compare Shinji's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 2009 →
- Names of the 2000s →
- Names starting with "S" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.