Kaoru is a Japanese given name for males or females. The name's meaning varies depending on its written form:
- 薫/郁/芳 — "fragrance", common for both male and female
- 馨/香 — "fragrance", more common for female
- かおる — no specific meaning indicated
- かほる/かをる — same as above, but written in the classical way, sometimes romanized as kahoru and kaworu respectively
As a distinctly asexual name, its usage in popular culture has risen in recent years to give the named character an air of androgyny. Such characters commonly have overt androgynous qualities as well. A similar name, in terms of both pronunciation and meaning, is Kaori. It is used exclusively for female. People named Kaoru include:
- Kaoru Abe 阿部薫 (m) (free Jazz saxophonist)
- Kaoru Fujino かほる (voice actor)
- Inoue Kaoru 馨 (m) (statesman)
- Kaoru Ikeya 薫 (m) (astronomer)
- Kaoru Ishikawa (m) (business theorist, developer of the Ishikawa diagram)
- Kaoru Kobayashi
- KAORU (Kaoru Maeda) 薫 (f) (professional wrestler)
- Kaoru Mori 薫 (f) (manga author)
- Kaoru Sugayama かおる (f) (volleyball player)
- Kaoru Wada 薫 (m) (composer)
- Kaoru (Caol) Uno 薫 (m) (mixed martial artist)
- Kaoru 薫 (m) (one of the guitarists of Dir en grey)
- Kaoru Izima (artist)
Fictional characters named Kaoru include:
- Kaoru Amane 薫 (f) - Taiyou no Uta
- Kaoru Genji 薫 (m) - Tale of Genji
- Kaoru Hondobou (m) - Gyakuten Saiban 3
- Kaoru Kaidoh 薫 (m) - Prince of Tennis
- Kamiya Kaoru 薫 (f) - Rurouni Kenshin
- Kaoru Kiryuu 薫 (f) - Futari wa Pretty Cure
- Kaoru Kishimoto 薫 (m) - Hikaru no Go
- Kaoru Koganei 薰 (m) - Flame of Recca
- Kaoru Hanabishi (m) - Ai Yori Aoshi
- Kaoru Matsubara 松原かおる (f) - Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z
- Kaoru Matsutake 香 (m) - Mirmo!
- Kaoru Mitarai (f) - PitaTen
- Kaworu Nagisa カヲル (m) - Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Kaoru Ooba (Wendy Oldbag) (f), a character in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- Kaoru Saionji (m) - Gakuen Heaven
- Kaoru (m) - Uninhabited Planet Survive!
- Kaoru Kiryūin (m) - Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
All names (except for Kamiya Kaoru) are in western naming order.
