It depends on how enclosed your porch is. Many north facing locations offer a lot of indirect light and that really doesn't limit choices, but heavy or dark shade will be more difficult to accommodate. Too heavy shade will result in rangy growth and sparse foliage.

I grew 'Waterfall' in a container on the north facing porch of my old house and it thrived under those conditions. But although no direct sunlight, it was a relatively bright location. Another choice would be 'Peaches and Cream'.

Acer Palmatum is an understory tree in its natural setting so almost any japanese maple will likely do fine in your location. Since you are planting in a container you might want to look at the dwarf or smaller varieties. World Plants web site has a lot of picture of various cultivars availble that you can chose from:

.http://www.worldplants.com/mapleintro.htm

Some of my favorites are: Red Filigree Lace, Filigree, Koto No ito, Murasaki Kiyohime, Mikawa Yatsubusa and acer Japonicum Oqurayama.

Thanks for the suggestions. The area gets a good amount of indirect light, so it's not what I would describe as dark or heavy shade at all. There's just no direct light.

Most Japanese maples will be fine in these conditions. Plenty of dwarves to choose from.

I'll add 'Hupp's Dwarf', Sharp's Pygmy and Shirazz as a few great choices.