Japanese Last Names Ending in -kawa / -gawa

The kanji 川 means river. At the end of a surname it is read kawa or gawa, depending on the sound before it. Like most Japanese surnames, names ending in it describe where a family lived. Ishikawa (石川) is 石 stone + 川 river; Ogawa (小川) is 小 small + 川 river; Hasegawa (長谷川) is 長 long + 谷 valley + 川 river.

The list is ordered by how many notable people on Wikidata share each surname, so the most familiar names come first. Surnames from Japan's 100 most common are linked to their own pages.

Kanji	Name	Meaning	Notable people
石川	Ishikawa	stone + river	Top 100 surname
小川	Ogawa	small + river	Top 100 surname
長谷川	Hasegawa	long + valley + river	Top 100 surname
中川	Nakagawa	middle + river	Top 100 surname
市川	Ichikawa	market + river	Top 100 surname
吉川	Yoshikawa	good luck + river	299
徳川	Tokugawa	virtue + river	156
早川	Hayakawa	early + river	154
及川	Oikawa	reach out; exert + river	137
瀬川	Segawa	shallows + river	101
白川	Shirakawa	white + river	99
前川	Maekawa	front + river	92
吉川	Kikkawa	good luck + river	88
戸川	Togawa	door + river	63
佐川	Sagawa	to help + river	48
江川	Egawa	inlet + river	44
皆川	Minagawa	all; everything + river	44
浅川	Asakawa	shallow + river	42
歌川	Utagawa	song + river	42
宮川	Miyagawa	shrine + river	41
相川	Aikawa	mutual + river	40
堀川	Horikawa	moat + river	36
横川	Yokokawa	side + river	34
平川	Hirakawa	peace + river	32
鮎川	Ayukawa	freshwater trout; smelt + river	32
瀧川	Takigawa	waterfall + river	32
稲川	Inagawa	rice plant + river	30
谷川	Tanigawa	valley + river	27
有川	Arikawa	to have + river	27
宮川	Miyakawa	shrine + river	26
柳川	Yanagawa	willow + river	25
湯川	Yukawa	hot water + river	24
今川	Imagawa	now + river	23
井川	Igawa	well + river	22
井川	Ikawa	well + river	22
白河	Shirakawa	white + river	21
小河	Ogawa	small + river	19
谷川	Tanikawa	valley + river	18
越川	Koshikawa	to cross over + river	17
古河	Furukawa	old + river	16
仲川	Nakagawa	go-between; relationship + river	14
須川	Sugawa	necessary + river	14
笹川	Sasagawa	bamboo grass + river	14
阿川	Agawa	(used for its sound + river	14
浦川	Urakawa	bay + river	12
津川	Tsugawa	harbour + river	12
賀川	Kagawa	congratulations + river	12
島川	Shimakawa	island + river	12
芳川	Yoshikawa	fragrant + river	12
深川	Fukagawa	deep + river	11
横川	Yokogawa	side + river	11
清川	Kiyokawa	pure + river	11
橋川	Hashikawa	bridge + river	11
三河	Mikawa	three + river	11
安川	Yasukawa	peace + river	10
坪川	Tsubokawa	plot of land + river	10
美川	Mikawa	beautiful + river	10
緑川	Midorikawa	green + river	9
木川	Kigawa	tree + river	9
上川	Kamikawa	above + river	8
渋川	Shibukawa	astringent; hesitate + river	8
米川	Yonekawa	rice + river	8
天川	Amakawa	heaven + river	8
三川	Mikawa	three + river	8
好川	Yoshikawa	to like + river	8
岸川	Kishikawa	shore + river	7
金川	Kanagawa	gold + river	7
南川	Minamikawa	south + river	7
辻川	Tsujikawa	crossroads + river	7
新川	Arakawa	new + river	7
糸川	Itokawa	thread + river	7
砂川	Sunagawa	sand + river	7
廣川	Hirokawa	wide + river	7
緒川	Ogawa	thread + river	7
西河	Nishikawa	west + river	7
桂川	Katsuragawa	Japanese Judas tree + river	6
本川	Motokawa	origin + river	6
瀧川	Takikawa	waterfall + river	6
並川	Namikawa	row; and + river	6
宇治川	Ujigawa	house + to govern + river	6

Surnames and counts: Wikidata (CC0) and the Meiji Yasuda 2008 surname survey.

Japanese last names ending in -kawa / -gawa