title: Naoko
text: # Naoko
  
  Naoko (なおこ, ナオコ) is a feminine Japanese given name which is occasionally spelled Nahoko (なほこ, ナホコ).
  
  ## Possible writings
  
  Naoko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
  
  * 直子, "obedient, child"
  * 尚子, "esteem, child"
  * 奈緒子, "Nara, cord, child"
  * 菜緒子, "greens, cord, child"
  * 奈央子, "Nara, center, child"
  * 菜穂子, "greens, ear (of grain), child"
  * 奈保子, "Nara, keep, child"
  * 奈生子, "Nara, fresh, child"
  
  The name can also be written in hiragana or katakana.
  
  ## People with the name
  
  * Nahoko Kinoshita (菜穂子, born 1980), Japanese actress
  * Nahoko Kojima (奈保子, born 1981), Japanese paper cut artist
  * Nahoko Uehashi (菜穂子, born 1962), Japanese writer
  * Naoko Fukatsu (深津 尚子, born 1944), Japanese tennis table player
  * Naoko Funayama, Japanese American sportscaster
  * Naoko Hashimoto (born 1984), Japanese volleyball player
  * Naoko Hayashiba (直子, born 1968), Japanese writer and shogi player
  * Naoko Iijima (直子, born 1968), Japanese actress
  * Naoko Imoto (直歩子, born 1976), Japanese freestyle swimmer
  * Naoko Ishihara (奈央子, born 1974), Japanese sport shooter
  * Naoko Kamio (born 1967), Japanese suit actor
  * Naoko Kawai (河合奈保子, born 1963), Japanese singer and actress
  * Naoko Ken (ナオコ, born 1953), Japanese singer and actress
  * Naoko Kijimuta (雉子牟田 直子, born 1972), Japanese tennis player
  * Naoko Kouda (直子, born 1959), Japanese voice actress
  * Naoko Kume (久米 直子, born 1963), Japanese swimmer
  * Naoko Matsui (菜桜子, born 1961), Japanese voice actress
  * Naoko Miura (三浦 直子, born 1959), Japanese swimmer
  * Naoko Mori (尚子, born 1971), Japanese actress
  * Naoko Saito (齋藤 尚子, born 1976), Japanese field hockey player
  * Naoko Sakamoto (runner) (直子, born 1980), Japanese long-distance runner
  * Naoko Sakamoto (softball) (直子, born 1985), Japanese softball player
  * Naoko Sato (直子, born 1955), Japanese tennis player
  * Naoko Sawamatsu (奈生子, born 1973), Japanese professional tennis player
  * Naoko Takahashi (尚子, born 1972), Japanese long-distance runner
  * Naoko Takeuchi (直子, born 1967), Japanese manga artist
  * Naoko Watanabe (渡辺奈緒子, born 1984), Japanese actress who appeared in Silk
  * Naoko Watanabe (菜生子, born 1959), Japanese voice actress
  * Naoko Yamada, (尚子, born 1984), Japanese animator and film director
  * Naoko Yamano (直子, born 1960), member of the Japanese rock trio Shonen Knife
  * Naoko Yamazaki (直子, born 1970), Japanese astronaut
  
  ## Fictional characters
  
  * Naoko, a character in the anime series Bubblegum Crisis
  * Naoko (直子), a character in the novel Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
  * Naoko, a character in The Revenge of Shinobi (The Super Shinobi)
  * Naoko Akagi (ナオコ), minor character in the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion
  * Naoko Kamikishiro (直子), character in the light novel and manga Boogiepop and Others
  * Naoko Kawamata, character in the film, The Grudge 3
  * Naoko Satomi, a main character in the film The Wind Rises
  * Naoko Yamada (奈緒子), the main heroine of the Japanese TV drama series Trick
  * Naoko Yanagisawa (奈緒子), character in the anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura
  * Naoko Yasutani, a main character of the novel A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
  