How to say "girl" in Japanese

• 女の子おんなのこJLPT N5approx.Common
  expression, nounThe everyday word for a girl, and also for one's daughter or a baby girl. Use it in ordinary conversation when talking about any female child or young person.
  その女の子おんなのこ達たちは、とても忙いそがしい。↗

  Those girls are very busy.
• 少女しょうじょJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounCovers a girl usually between seven and seventeen, with a slightly literary or descriptive flavor, as in stories and narration. Less natural for casual talk about a specific child you know.
• 女子じょしJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounGlossed as woman or girl, but as a standalone way to refer to a girl it is limited; it mainly appears in formal or classificatory contexts rather than as a general word for 'girl' in conversation.
  このクラスには１５人にんの男子だんしと２８人にんの女子じょしがいる。↗

  This class consists of 15 boys and 28 girls.
• ガールCommon
  nounThe loanword for girl. It mostly occurs in set borrowed expressions and names, and is seldom the ordinary word you want when simply referring to a girl in Japanese.
• 女児じょじCommon
  nounMeans a girl or baby girl, but it is really a formal, administrative-sounding term, as in records or statistics, not the word to use for a girl in everyday speech.

Use 「女の子」 for a girl or daughter in everyday speech, 少女 for a girl roughly aged 7–17 in literary or descriptive contexts, and 「ガール」 in borrowed-word expressions; 女子 and 女児 serve narrower, more specialized uses.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 女の子おんなのこgirl
• 少女しょうじょgirl (usu. between 7 and 17)
• 女子じょしwoman
• ガールgirl
• 女児じょじgirl
• 女じょwoman
• 女子おなごwoman
• メッチェンgirl
• 娘子じょうしgirl
• 乙女子おとめごgirl
• 姑娘クーニャンgirl (esp. Chinese)
• 娘っ子むすめっこgirl
• ネカマmale who pretends to be female online
• チャンネーelder sister
• 乙女おとめ(young) girl
• 童女どうじょ(young) girl
• 娘むすめgirl (i.e. a young, unmarried woman)
• 姫ひめgirl
• ギャルgal
• 子女しじょgirl
• 姉ちゃんねえちゃんgirl
• 姉さまあねさまyoung lady