A Japanese name has been chosen for you
空
そら
Sora
SOH-rah · a unisex name
“The sky”
Open · Free · Honest
The story of Sora
The pure Sora — the whole sky in one character.
Sora is the Japanese word for the sky itself. Genderless as weather, easy in any language, it names a spirit that refuses small rooms.
Kanji by kanji
sky, emptiness
The everyday kanji for the sky — and, in Buddhism, for the freeing emptiness at the heart of things.
How it feels
The full story
About 空
空 is openness itself: nothing hidden, nothing walled off. It suits a spirit that gives everyone room to breathe.
Popularity in Japan
Sora has ranked highly for both boys and girls since the 2000s — one of Japan's signature unisex names.
Through the decades
A leading name of the era when sky-and-nature names took over Japanese naming.
Deep dive
The sky belongs to no one, which is exactly why Sora suits anyone. Japanese poetry returns to the sky constantly — its changing weather as feelings, its blue depth as honesty, its openness as freedom.
Names like Sora
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