Did You Know?
- A kitsune grows an additional tail every hundred years — a nine-tailed fox is at least 900 years old and has near-godlike power.
- The word 'kitsune' literally means 'fox' in Japanese, but in folklore it specifically refers to foxes with supernatural powers.
- Kitsune are said to fear dogs intensely. Even the most powerful nine-tailed fox will flee from a barking dog.
The Kitsune Name Generator produces Japanese fox spirit names for fantasy writers, RPG players and anime-style original characters, sorted by fox type (zenko, yako, tenko, kūko, nogitsune, myōbu) rather than by generic Japanese style. Unlike a general Japanese name generator, every name it returns is meant to hint at foxfire, rice fields, moonlight or a tail count.
Below are 45 names you can take as they are. The folklore group is attested in the sources at the bottom of the page.
Kitsune Names from Legend and Shrine Tradition
| Name | Meaning / context |
|---|---|
| Tamamo-no-Mae | 玉藻前 — "Jeweled Seaweed"; the nine-tailed fox who served Emperor Konoe |
| Kuzunoha | 葛の葉 — "leaf of arrowroot"; white fox and mother of Abe no Seimei |
| Kyūbi | Nine-tailed fox (kyūbi no kitsune), the form Tamamo-no-Mae takes in legend |
| Sesshō-seki | "Killing Stone"; the stone Tamamo-no-Mae's spirit is said to have entered |
| Daji | Shang-dynasty consort whose form the fox took in Hokusai's telling |
| Bao Si | Zhou-dynasty consort, the fox's next disguise in the same telling |
| Kayō | Lady Kayō, the fox's identity in India in that telling |
| Dōji | Childhood name of Abe no Seimei, Kuzunoha's half-fox son |
| Seimei | Abe no Seimei, the famous onmyōji born to a fox mother |
| Shinoda | Shinoda Forest in Izumi, home of Kuzunoha |
| Inari | 稲荷 — "rice-bearer"; the rice kami whose messengers are white foxes |
| Ō-Inari | 大稲荷 — "great Inari", another form of the kami's name |
| Ukanomitama | Kami identified with Inari at Fushimi Inari shrine |
| Toyouke | Classical kami that scholars have identified with Inari |
| Uke Mochi | Another classical kami scholars link to Inari |
Fox Words and Type Titles as Names
These are ordinary Japanese words and folklore categories. They work as names for spirits, not for humans.
| Name | Meaning / context |
|---|---|
| Shirogitsune | 白狐 — white fox (also read byakko) |
| Kitsunebi | 狐火 — foxfire, pale lights seen over fields at night |
| Inaho | 稲穂 — ear of rice |
| Tsukikage | 月影 — moonlight |
| Zenko | 善狐 — good fox, a messenger of Inari |
| Yako | 野狐 — wild field fox, often mischievous |
| Tenko | 天狐 — celestial fox, the most ancient type |
| Kūko | 空狐 — sky fox |
| Nogitsune | 野狐 — field fox, sometimes harmful |
| Ninko | 人狐 — man-fox, tied to possession lore |
| Kurama | The Nine-Tails sealed in Naruto Uzumaki, also called Kyūbi |
Japanese Given Names That Suit a Fox
Real names with dictionary meanings, useful when a kitsune walks around in human form. Several match fox colours: amber, deep red, moon.
| Name | Meaning / kanji |
|---|---|
| Kohaku | 琥珀 — amber |
| Akane | 茜 — deep red, madder dye |
| Shion | 紫苑 — aster |
| Haruka | 遥 — distant, remote |
| Hikari | 光 — light |
| Ren | 蓮 — lotus |
| Kaede | 楓 — maple |
| Tsukiko | 月子 — moon child |
| Yuki | 雪 — snow (also 幸, happiness) |
| Sakura | 桜 — cherry blossom |
| Hotaru | 蛍 — firefly |
| Ayame | 菖蒲 — iris |
| Tsubaki | 椿 — camellia |
| Honoka | 和花 — harmony and flower |
| Sora | 空 — sky |
| Akira | 明 — bright |
| Kaito | 海斗 — sea and Chinese constellation |
| Tsukasa | 司 — director |
| Ryū | 竜 — dragon |
What Each Setting Changes
The generator's fox type and style fields steer the output in fixed ways, taken from its own prompt:
- Zenko: light, harvest and service to Inari; -hime or -hiko endings for nobles.
- Yako: shorter, snappier names built from actions or plants.
- Tenko: formal, title-like names with ten (heaven) or the "no" particle.
- Nogitsune: harder consonants and words for darkness, black or demon.
- Myōbu: priestly names, honorifics like -sama, white and gold imagery.
Format rules apply everywhere. Long vowels keep macrons (Kyūbi, not Kyuubi), the particle joins with hyphens (Tamamo-no-Mae, never "Tamamo No Mae"), and no digits appear. A default five-name batch holds three plain given names, one -hime/-hiko/-sama name and one "no" name.
Tamamo-no-Mae — the pattern the generator copies for legendary foxes
Picking a Name for Your Fox
Match the name to the tail count. In the folklore a fox only grows an extra tail after living 100 years, and one, five, seven and nine are the counts stories use most. A young fox with one tail can carry Akane. A nine-tailed elder needs something that reads like a title.
Foxes and lights go together, so foxfire names such as Kitsunebi and Hotaru rarely feel wrong. For more spirit types beyond foxes, see the yokai name generator. Human-form names work best when the kanji has a second reading: Kohaku is a plain girl's or boy's name until you notice it is also the colour of fox fur.
- Pair a plain given name with a fox epithet
- Keep macrons on mythological names
- Give villains harder consonants
- Kurama for a fox in fan fiction outside Naruto
- Kyuubi spelled without the macron
- Inari as a personal name; it is the kami
Everyone reaches for Tamamo-no-Mae first. Try Kuzunoha instead for a sympathetic fox: she raises a son, is exposed by a glimpse of her tail, and leaves.
Common Questions
What are good kitsune names?
Names that hint at fox lore without spelling it out. Kohaku (amber), Akane (deep red) and Tsukiko (moon child) suit friendly foxes, while Kuzunoha and Tamamo-no-Mae suit foxes with a story. Names built on 狐 (fox) or 火 (fire) read as kitsune at once.
Can I use this as a fox name generator for a pet or a non-Japanese fox?
Yes, with care. The output is Japanese fox spirit naming, so it suits red or amber-coated pets well: Kohaku, Akane and Hotaru all work. For a woodland fox in a Western setting the names will read as deliberately Japanese.
What does kitsune mean, and is it a name?
Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. In folklore it means a fox spirit that can shape-shift. It is a category, not a personal name, so give your character something like Kuzunoha or Kohaku and use "kitsune" as the species.
Sources
- Kitsune — Wikipedia
- Tamamo-no-Mae — Wikipedia
- Inari Ōkami — Wikipedia
- Kuzunoha — Wikipedia
- Japanese names — Behind the Name
Updated September 2026: replaced the type grid with 45 sourced names in three tables, corrected the Tamamo-no-Mae meaning to "jeweled seaweed", and added FAQs.
