Naruto name meanings as well Japanese names are different from English because they actually have a meaning behind them. Typically they will use the alphabetical system known as kanji. Which are thousands of symbols that represent a word or phrase.
When the parent names their kid they can choose from literally thousands of kanji combinations. Since their are many different kanji the same names can be written differently. For example “Ai” means love, and “ko” means child. From this you would get Aiko which literally means “love child” or “beloved child” etc.
Similarly when Japanese want to name their kids after them they would only use 1 kanji from their own name rather then calling there kid something like Walter Jr. IMO this is such a better and more interesting system than North American means. Another reason to like the Japanese culture.
Anyway when it comes to characters in Naruto or anime in general things tend to get a little whacky. They tend to name the characters off of funny or non-meaninful objects. Below is a list of the most popular Naruto characters in their literal meaning.
Naruto Name Meanings:
Uzumaki=Spiral
Naruto= Fishcake,
Uzumaki Naruto=Spiral fishcake (the white swirl stars in Ramen, makes sense since Naruto loves Ramen..I guess)
Haruno=Blooming fields
Sakura= Cherry Blossom
Haruno Sakura= blooming field of cherry blossoms
Hatake= Field
Kakashi= Scarecrow,
Hatake Kakashi=Field of scarecrows (lol)
Uchiha=paper fan (fan for fire)
Sasuke= Ninja warrior (typical)
Uchiha Sasuke=flame fan ninja warrior.
Gaara= I only love myself..demon
Anko= Sweet bean soup
Mitarashi= topping for beans
Kankuro= Literaly means “Black Cat”
Yamanaka=In the mountains
Ino= Boar (ino pig makes sense now)
Yamanaka Ino=Boar in the mountains
Hinata: sunflower..facing sun
Tobi= Kite
Iruka= Dolphin