Japanese name meaning 'second son,' from 'ji' (second) and 'ro' (son).
Jiro is a classic Japanese masculine name, typically written with the characters 二郎 (*ji-ro*), meaning 'second son,' combining *ni/ji* (two, second) with *rō* (son, young man). For centuries Japanese naming tradition assigned ordinal birth-order names to sons — Ichiro (first son), Jiro (second son), Saburo (third son) — a practice that embedded family structure directly into personal identity. While modern Japanese parents have largely moved away from birth-order names toward more individualistic choices, Jiro retains a warm nostalgic resonance and is still given to boys both in Japan and in Japanese diaspora communities worldwide.
The name has achieved remarkable global recognition through two figures in particular. Jiro Ono, the subject of the documentary *Jiro Dreams of Sushi* (2011), became an international symbol of mastery, dedication, and the pursuit of perfection in craft — his name became synonymous with a particular philosophy of work. The beloved manga and anime series *Cyborg 009* features Jet Link, and the franchise universe includes many Jiros; more directly, *Kaze Tachinu* (*The Wind Rises*, 2013), Hayao Miyazaki's final Studio Ghibli film, centers on the aeronautical engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose story of creative passion and moral complexity became one of the most acclaimed animated films in history.
Outside Japan, Jiro is appealing precisely because it is simple, strong, and immediately pronounceable in most languages — two syllables, clean consonants, no ambiguity. It has the forthrightness of a name that was never meant to be decorative, only true. For families with Japanese heritage it carries ancestral connection; for families without it, the name's cultural weight and its associations with dedicated craft make it a distinctive and respectful cross-cultural choice.