Save Gender Masculine Usage Japanese Scripts 直也, 直哉, 直弥, 尚弥, etc.(Japanese Kanji) Pronounced Pron. NA-O-YA [key] Meaning & History From Japanese 直 (nao) meaning "straight, direct" combined with 也 (ya) meaning "also" or 哉 (ya), an exclamation. This name can be formed with other kanji combinations as well.