Comments for the name Mariko

I think it's almost the same as my (Dutch) name Marieke. I don't know how to pronounce Mariko... but with my Dutch mind it sounds like: MAH-ree-koh. And you pronounce my name as: mah-reek-UH.

Yes, you are correct about the pronunciation, though the meanings vary, depending on the kanji one chooses. If you only want to use one kanji for the "mari" part, one possibility is a kanji meaning "jasmine". "ko" means child.

If you want to use separate kanji for "ma" and "ri", here are some possibilities.
"ma"
-truth
-ten thousand
"ri"
-village
-science
-pear
-benefit
(the first 2 of these are more common than the others)

There are numerous names you can start with Mari also:
Marie (ma-ri-eh)
Marika (as you see it and the "ka" can be "fragrance" or "beautiful" or "song" just in case you're interested for your name)
Marina
Marino
or just plain Mari

Thank you for the information! This is really useful. :-)

A famous bearer is the Japanese photographic and video artist, Mariko Mori.

Another meaning for Mariko is "child of true benefit".

A famous bearer of the name Mariko is Mariko Konji, the head cheerleader for Seisyun High School in the popular anime/manga Ranma 1/2.

Mariko Shoda -- formidable, magnetic, emotionally disturbed antagonist in one of the espionage novels about the spy calling himself "Quiller." Written under the name Adam Hall. Real name: Ellisdon Trevor.

I have a friend called Mariko. It's pronounced Ma-ree-kow.

Many people believe that this is the Japanese form of the name "Mary," but I don't believe the two names are related at all.

Mariko is a character is the anime Elfen Lied, and she is one of the character's real daughters.

Mariko Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木麻里子) is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo, Japan.

Mariko is now considered a pretty old-fashioned name in Japan... names with the "ko" character have been falling out of fashion for a while. They are equivalent to names like Jane or Susan in English - not "old lady" per se, but "traditional" names that are more common in older women. More popular now would be names like Mari, Marina, Marika however "Marika" sounds like a Spanish swear word and should probably be avoided unless you can guarantee that the child will never meet a Spanish speaker or go to a country where Spanish is spoken...