Kaizen

Kaizen meaning

Kaizen is an international boy's name of Japanese origin.

Improvement; putting right what is bad to make it good

Also used to mean: continuous improvement, change for the better

Kaizen is a Japanese word, written 改善, that has become a boy's name in the United States. The Japanese dictionary Daijisen defines it as putting right what is bad and making it good, and Merriam-Webster breaks it into kai, "change", and zen, "good". Daijisen adds that the word is known around the world through the Toyota production system, and English borrowed it for steady, small improvements made at work. As a first name it carries the idea of getting better step by step. It is said KYE-zen. The zen here is a different word from the Zen of Buddhism, which goes back to Sanskrit dhyāna, "meditation".

Source: Digital Daijisen (Shogakukan), via Kotobank, s.v. 改善 · entry 改善 (kaizen) · See the entry · checked 27 Oct 2026

References: Kotobank, 改善 (Daijisen and Nihon Kokugo Daijiten) · Merriam-Webster, kaizen · Online Etymology Dictionary, Zen

Popularity abroad

• #364 United States, boys 2025 (up 138 from 502 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Related names

Also starting with Kai-

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