Continuing the topic of Japanese names, in this part I will focus on Japanese male names and surnames. I will try to answer the questions: what names and surnames are given to Japanese boys? What do they mean and how do they affect their future fate? What Japanese male names are considered "cool" or "samurai" and why? I will also give an unofficial table of translations of Russian male names into Japanese.

It is known that Russian surnames were formed for the most part from generic names (Nikanor -> Nikanorov) and nicknames (Bezrodny -> Bezrodov), including those associated with the profession (Kuznets -> Kuznetsov). formed in strict relation to a specific locality. Therefore, surnames common in the Kanto region, such as Tanaka (田中 - rice field + middle), Ito (伊藤 - hieroglyph for Italy + wisteria), Kobayashi (小林 - small + forest), Watanabe (渡辺 - cross + side), Yamamoto (山本 - mountain + source), etc. are less common in the southern regions of Japan. Unusual surnames are more common there, see the table below (information from the site myoji-yurai.net)

Shimane Prefecture	Obina - 帯名 - belt + name
Aichi Prefecture	Ochi - 越智 - to increase + wisdom
Miyazaki Prefecture	Kōhi - 甲斐 - high ambition
Saga Prefecture	Kōga - 吉賀 - old + holiday
Okinawa Prefecture	Higa - 比嘉 - compare + good

Traditional Japanese male names

In ancient times, it was not uncommon for Japanese boys to be given names in the order in which they were born:

• first son - Itirō 一郎 (one + son),
• the second - Jirō 二郎 - two + son,
• third - Saburō 三郎 - three + son and so on

Old Japanese male names, like those of samurai, are in demand even today. I easily found a site entirely dedicated to such names: http://naming.nobody.jp/category/wafu-otoko.html

Samurai names are distinguished by intricacy: they often have three hieroglyphs. They also have typical endings. Here are some examples:

1. Genzo - 源蔵 - source of wealth,
2. Naotaro - 直太郎 - correcting mistakes, courageous,
3. Ryunosuke - 竜之介 - striving to be strong like a dragon and many others.

Here are some more ancient traditions regarding male names. One is to use the same last character of the name for all brothers. For example, if the eldest son's name is Yuma - 悠馬 - calm + horse, then his younger brothers can be called: Kazuma - 和馬 - a character for everything Japanese + horse, Sakuma - 咲馬 - blossom + horse, Ryoma - 亮馬 - bright + horse. This final hieroglyph, as it were, unites all the brothers.

The second tradition is to use in the name of the son hieroglyphs from the name of the parent, mainly the father, for continuity in the family. Here I will tell a true, but not quite accurately reflecting this situation, story from my life. When my husband and I were expecting our first child, we thought for a long time about what name to give him. Since the son was born in Japan, they decided to come up with a Japanese name for him. But the problem was that her husband had only one hieroglyph in his name: 学 - Manabu - to teach, to study. In combination with other hieroglyphs, it is not used as a name. I'm a foreigner. The Japanese came up with hieroglyphs for me: 織雅 - Origa - canvas + elegant. But since I do not have Japanese citizenship, these hieroglyphs are not in the documents.

However, this gave us the idea that the character for "elegant" 雅 would be good for a son's name. So he became Ryuga - 龍雅 - dragon + elegant. The second child was also a son. Kōga's beautiful name - 皇雅 - majestic + elegant has already been taken by our newly born nephew. Therefore, we gave the second son the name Taiga - 太雅 - courageous + elegant, following the ancient tradition. In addition, the pronunciation of the name is close to the English tiger, that is, a tiger. It would be possible to include the hieroglyph "tiger" in the name, but it would already be too "brilliant name".

Nowadays, the above traditions are gradually being lost: the brothers are given completely different unrelated names. This approach is considered more modern.

Modern Japanese male names

Nowadays, it is considered modern and elegant to use foreign names. At the same time, not all parents have the courage to give their child a foreign name. Nevertheless, such a percentage exists. Most often, such names are given to children born in an international marriage. Globalization has also contributed to this process. Even a foreign name may be prompted by a desire to make a world-class professional out of a child or, depending on the city of the honeymoon of the spouses.

According to the rules, foreign words, including names, are written using the katakana alphabet. But along with this, there is also a way to select hieroglyphs by sound, as in Chinese. Perhaps this is the legacy of the Meiji restoration, when the Japanese soaked up like sponges new information pouring in from the West. Here is a small list of such borrowed Japanese-English names (see original). http://nisshin-geppo.com/international-name/).

American male names in Japanese:

Kanji (katakana)	Japanese / Russian pronunciation	Meaning
敬 （ケイ）	Kay / Kay	Good
健 （ケン）	Ken / Ken	Strong
丈 （ジョー）	Zō / Joe	Strong
甚 （ジーン）	Zōn / John	The most of the most
暖 （ダン）	Dan / Dan	Warm
弘 （ヒロ）	Hiro / Hiro	Big
勉 （ベン）	Ben / Ben	Exploring
類 （ルイ）	Rui / Louis	Variety
黎 （レイ）	Ray / Ray	Early
論 （ロン）	Ron / Ron	Logical
愛作 （アイザック）	Aisaku / Isaac	love + create
亜蘭 （アラン）	Aran / Alan	Hieroglyph for Asia + orchid
安出 （アンデ）	Ande / Andy	Calm + Exit
英土 （エド）	Edo / Ed	Heroic + Earth
季逸 （キーツ）	Kitsu / Whale	Season + free
健人 （ケント）	Kento / Kent	Strong + man
彩門 （サイモン）	Simon / Simon	Color + gate
嵯夢 （サム）	Samu / Sam	sublime + dream
譲二 （ジョージ）	Joji	Yield + two
澄州 （スミス）	Sumisu / Smith	Yasny + province
登夢 （トム）	Tomu / Tom	Climb + dream
慕歩 （ボブ）	Bob / Bob	cherish + step
編利（ヘンリー）	Henry / Henry	Edit + interest
森洲 （モリス）	Maurice / Maurice	Forest + mainland
悠仁 （ユージン）	Jin / Eugene	Calm + benefactor
玲旺 （レオ）	Reo / Leo	heather + prosperous
礼音 （レオン）	Rayon / Leon	Polite + sound
路月 （ロッキー）	Rocky / Rocky	road + moon
路敏 （ロビン）	Robin / Robin	Road + minimum

Name, character, destiny...

When inventing a name for a child, the Japanese pay great attention to the selection of the correct hieroglyphs ... Through the meaning of these hieroglyphs, they try to give the child certain qualities in the future: kindness, courage, compassion, strength and much more. Also, various objects of nature are sometimes laid in the name: the sea, the sky, animals and plants. So, the sea conveys the breadth of the view, the sky speaks of serenity and endless life, animals endow their wearer with strength and endurance, and plants - with strength and health. Using the example of famous Japanese from different eras, let's trace the connection between their name, character and fate.

In my opinion, the most striking illustration of this principle is the life and fate of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉 - abundance + servant, excellent + ancient), one of the unifiers of Japan and great military and political figures. Coming from a simple peasant family, throughout his life, along with the growth of his personal status, he changed his name, strengthening his position and exalting himself.

So, at birth, he was given the name Hiyoshimaru (日吉丸 - day, sun + old + circle, an indicator of a male name). And the poor peasants did not have surnames. As a child, Hideyoshi also had the nickname "monkey" - Saru 猿. When he grew up, he ran away from his home to be hired as a samurai. The reason was the mistreatment of his stepfather (Hideyoshi's mother remarried). Since then, he began to call himself Kinoshita Kōkichirō (木下 藤吉郎 - the surname means literally "under the tree", and the name is wisteria + old + indicator of a male name).

Ttoyotomi Hideyoshi

There are two versions of the origin of his surname. According to one version, Hideyoshi chose a surname by analogy with the surname of his new overlord Matsushita (松下 - literally "under the pine tree"). According to another, because he signed a contract with another famous unifier of Japan, Oda Nobunaga, while standing under a huge tree. One way or another, but he appropriated the name Hideyoshi to himself only when he significantly advanced through the ranks. The promotion of the son of an obscure peasant in the service of Oda Nobunaga became possible only thanks to the exceptional military talent of Hideyoshi.

The fact is that Nobunaga evaluated his subordinates only by their abilities, not paying attention to their origin. This fact played a major role in the career of the future "great minister". When Nobunaga handed over the lands to him, he again changed his surname from Kinoshita to Hasiba (羽柴 - wings + shrub) taking characters from the surnames of two people he respected: Niwa 丹羽 and Shibata 柴田. Continuing to unite the scattered Japanese principalities, Hideyoshi again changed his surname to Fujiwara (藤原 - wisteria + source). The reason was that the characters Taira 平 - calm, unchanging, Geng 原 - source and Hasi 橋 - bridge were used only in the names of royal vassals. That is, he wanted to become closer to the ruling elite.

When the unification of Japan was completed, Hideyoshi, who became regent-kampaku, received the royal surname Toyotomi from the Emperor himself. And although the Toyotomi family will be interrupted in just one generation, the story of Hideyoshi is a story of greatness and the name plays an important role here. Information taken from the page http://www12.plala.or.jp/rekisi/hideyosi-namae.html

I will give a list of prominent Japanese people of various talents and professions (surnames are borrowed from Wikipedia) and a literal translation of their names:

historical figures

• Miyamoto Musashi — 宮本 武蔵 – castle + root, warrior + wealth- Japanese ronin, considered one of the most famous swordsmen in the history of Japan.
• Sakamoto Ryoma – 坂本 龍馬 – slope + root, dragon + horse- Japanese political and public figure of the Edo period. One of the national heroes of Japan.
• Hirohito 裕仁 – abundance + virtue- Emperor of Japan (Showa 1926 - 1989). Hirohito's time in office was the longest in Japanese history; during his reign, a radical transformation of Japanese society took place.

Cultural figures

• Ken Watanabe — 渡辺 謙 - go over + sideways, horizons- Japanese actor He is best known abroad for his roles as rebel leader daimyo Katsumoto in The Last Samurai (Oscar and Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), General Kuribayashi in Letters from Iwo Jima, and businessman Saito in Inception.
• Takeshi Kitano 北野 武 north + field, warrior is a Japanese film director and actor. Directed by: "Fireworks", "Yakuza Brother", "Zatoichi".
• Hayao Miyazaki 宮崎 駿 castle + peninsula, swift is a Japanese animator. Together with Isao Takahata, he founded an animation studio - "Studio Ghibli". Winner of the Oscar (2003) and the honorary Oscar Award for outstanding achievements in cinema (2014).

• Kitaro 喜多郎 –joy + a lot + indicator of a male name(real name Masanori Takahashi 高橋 正則 - high bridge, correct + law) - Japanese composer, multi-instrumentalist musician, winner of the Grammy Award (2000) for best album in the new age genre.
• Haruki Murakami — 村上 春樹 – village + up, spring + tree is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator.
• Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 – song + river, wide + heavy(real name Ando Hiroshige 安藤 広重 - calm + wisteria, wide + heavy) - one of the most famous and revered masters of Japanese painting and engraving, a representative of the ukiyo-e direction, a master of color woodcuts. Author of at least 5400 engravings. In lyrical chamber landscapes with genre motifs, he conveyed the unsteady states of nature, the atmospheric effects of snow and fog.
• Kenzo Takada 高田 賢三 tall + field, nimble + three- Japanese fashion designer and designer, founder of the Kenzo brand.

Athletes

• Morihei Ueshiba — 植芝 盛平- plant + grass, ardent + unchanged(also known as the Great Teacher) - the founder of Aikido.
• Osamu Watanabe — 渡辺 長武 — cross + side, long + warrior- Japanese freestyle wrestler, Olympic champion, two-time world champion, champion of the Asian Games. One of the greatest wrestlers in history, regardless of weight category. He has never been defeated in his career. With 189 victories in 189 official fights, he was included in the Guinness Book of Records. Moreover, in his entire career he has not lost a single point to anyone.
• Keisuke Honda — 本田 圭佑 – root + field, effective + helper- Japanese football player, midfielder of the Italian club "Milan" and the Japanese national team. Participant of the World Cup 2010, winner and best player Asian Cup 2011.
• Hanyu Yuzuru — 羽生 結弦 – wings + life, bound + string- Japanese figure skater First skater to break 100 points in the short program, 200 points in the free program, and 300 points in total programs.

Scientists

• Hideki Yukawa — 湯川 秀樹 – warm + river, gifted + tree- Japanese theoretical physicist. Nobel Prize in Physics (1949) "For predicting the existence of mesons based on theoretical work on Nuclear Forces (Yukawa Potential).
• Michio Kaku — 加來 道雄 add + freshness, path + male name index- American scientist, specialist in the field of theoretical physics. Known as an active popularizer of science, author of popular science books.

businessmen

• Kiichiro Toyoda — 豊田 喜一郎 – wealth + field, joy + first son is a Japanese businessman. Founder of Toyota.

• Iwasaki Yataro — 岩崎 弥太郎 – rock + peninsula, spread + courageous + male name indicator- Japanese entrepreneur, founder of the industrial and commercial corporation "Mitsubishi".
• Hiroshi Yamauchi — 山内 溥 – mountain + inside, swim across is a Japanese businessman. Former CEO of Nintendo.
• Soichiro Honda — 本田宗一郎 – root + field, sect + first son- Japanese entrepreneur, founder of Honda.
• Konosuke Matsushita — 松下 幸之助 – pine + from below, a man who brings happiness is a Japanese businessman. Founder of Panasonic Corporation (Matsushita Electric).

Translation of Russian names for boys into Japanese

Strictly speaking, there are no translations of Russian names into Japanese. Foreign names in Japan are written using the katakana alphabet. At the same time, the pronunciation noticeably changes due to the discrepancy between the letters of the Russian alphabet and the signs of katakana. For example, in the Japanese alphabet there are no letters "l", "k", "m" or "t", but there are, for example, "ru", "ku", "ma" or "to". That is, to put it simply, their syllables are letters. And not all syllables possible in Russian exist in Japanese. In order not to be unfounded, I will give examples of how Russian men would be called by their Japanese friends:

• Oleg will become "Ore: ggu"
• Alexander and Alexei will most likely be called simply "Arekusu"
• they will call the current president of Russia "Buradmir".

And who are "Pabe: ru", "Konsutanchi: n" and "Barary" you can guess for yourself.

Perhaps only Antons, Boriss, Deniss, Nikitas, Romans, Semyons, Sergeys, Yuris and Yans were lucky. The pronunciation of their names will undergo the least change in Japan. With some experience and skill, you can learn the "Japanese" pronunciation of Russian words. Nevertheless, at the request of the workers, I will give a table of translations of Russian male names into Japanese. This table is compiled on the principle of matching the meaning of names. Names from the same line have approximately same values and completely different pronunciations. However, this hypothetical name matching was a good exercise in Japanese for me. Japanese names are selected using the site: https://b-name.jp/

Russian name	Meaning	Name in Japanese	Writing in hieroglyphs
A
Abram	father of all nations, heavenly father	Aoi	空男生
Adam	first man	Itirō	一郎
Alexander	defender	Mamoru	守
Alexei	defender	Morio	守男
Albert	noble brilliance	Aki	明貴
Anatoly	Oriental	Azuma	東
Andrey	courageous, brave	Isao	勇夫
Anton	engaging	sori	将力
Arkady	blissful	Keishin	恵心
Arnold	soaring eagle	Shunosuke	鷲之介
Arseniy	courageous, strong	Tsuyoshi	強史
Artem	unharmed, healthy	Eiji	栄治
Arthur	bear	Kumao	熊雄
Arkhip	chief of cavalry	Kazuma	主馬
Athanasius	immortal	Toei	時永
B
Bogdan	given by God	Shinto	神人
Boris	fighter	Rikishi	力士
Bronislav	glorious defender	Eiske	栄助
V
Vadim	healthy	Kōga	康我
Valentine	strong, strong, healthy, mighty	dikes	大気
Valery	strong, rich	Kinpei	金兵
Basil	regal	Kōji	皇司
Victor	winner	katsuto	勝人
Vitaly	vital	Shota	生太
Vladimir	Lord of the world	Tsukasa	主
Vladislav	illustrious	Hisashi	栄
Vyacheslav	great, glorious	Takahiro	栄大
G
Gabriel	my power is god	kenshin	健神
Gennady	noble	Yuki	優貴
George	farmer	Minoru	農
Gerasim	honorable, respected	Yoshihito	敬人
Hermann	blood, native	Iekazu	家一
Gleb	favorite of the gods	Kamiya	神友
Gregory	awake, vigilant	Nao	成起
D
David	favorite, long-awaited	Motoyoshi	元好
Daniel	my judge	Satoshi	賢士
Denis	belonging to the god Dionysus, inspired	Jiyuhiro	自由創
Dmitriy	dedicated to the goddess of fertility Demeter	Yutaka	肥
E
Evgeniy	noble, noble	Koki	高貴
Yefim	pious	Kiyoshi	紀誉資
Ivan	fertile	Shigeyoshi	成良
Igor	militant, strong	Masaru	強
Ilya	fortress, impregnability	Takeo	丈夫
TO
Kirill	lord, lord, master	Kazuhiro	主丈
Konstantin	persistent, permanent	Nagahisa	永久
L
a lion	Lion is the king of the animals	Taishi	大獅
Leonid	lion-like	Simon	獅門
Leopold	bold as a lion	Yusi	勇獅
M
Makar	blessed, happy	Sachihito	幸仁
Maksim	greatest, biggest	Kaito	翔大
Matvey	God's man, God's gift	Kimihito	神人
Michael	like God	Kant	神頭
H
Nikita	winner	Masahiro	勝大
Nicholas	conqueror of nations	Masao	勝雄
O
Oleg	holy, sacred	Issei	一聖
P
Paul	small, petty	Syoma	小真
Peter	stone, rock, stronghold	Hōseki	宝石
Plato	broad-shouldered	Hiroki	広樹
Prokhor	dancing	Ysei	踊正
R
Renat	resurrected, resurrected	Naoki	直生
novel	roman, roman	Rōma* *There are no Romans in Japan	郎真
Ruslan	lion, lion	Kazushi	一獅
WITH
Semyon	heard, listening, heard	ganky	現聞
Sergei	clear, venerable, well-born	Seimei	世明
Stanislav	most glorious	Sumiharu	住栄
Stepan	wreath	Satoru	輪
T
Timothy	worshiping God	Takashi	蒼
Timur	iron	Shintetsu	真鉄
Tikhon	lucky, bringing happiness	Yukinori	幸則
F
Fedor	given by God	Shinsei	神成
Felix	happy, sunny	Haruyuki	陽幸
Philip	fond of horses	Aima	愛馬
Thomas	twin	Sōta	双大
E
Edgar	city ​​guard	Itir	市郎
Edward	cares about prosperity, craves wealth	Toyotaka	豊高
Eldar	divine gift	Kamui	神威
Emmanuel	God is with us	Sinnosuke	神乃哉
Eric	nobility, leadership	Ietaka	家貴
Ernest	serious, severe, thorough	Akio	阿基男
YU
Julius	curly, soft, fluffy	Makihito	巻仁
Yuri	farmer	Tamihiko	農彦
I AM
Jan	given by God	Dzinske	神佑
Yaroslav	strong, glorious	Eya	栄哉

Personal names in Japan are the most difficult direction in the Japanese language. No exception here female names. At first, reading the translations, it may seem that there is nothing complicated. In Japanese, the surname is pronounced first, and then the given name. In Russian, as in many Western languages, the first name is pronounced first, and only then the surname. But believe me - this is the smallest difficulty that you encounter when working with Japanese names. Although even such a trifle sometimes confuses people who are poorly familiar with Japanese culture.

In Japanese culture, and in particular personal names, over the past hundred years there have been dramatic changes. This also affected the spelling of names and their meaning. New hieroglyphs and signs for writing names were allowed. The last major change dates back to the nineties of the twentieth century. Then the Parliament of Japan amended the list of permitted characters for writing names. In principle, these signs are amended approximately every five years. But as they say, only a dead language does not change.

The change in attitude towards traditions is especially evident in the modern names of the Japanese. If Japan used to be an extremely traditional society, now it is fading away with every generation. Names from Japanese comics - manga are very popular among modern Japanese names for girls. Manga is one of the Japanese cultural phenomena, comics covering a wide variety of topics for both children and adults. Manga, in fact, is not the usual children's comic, but rather a serious literary and visual work. This cultural phenomenon is known and is already popular all over the world.

Another difficulty is the transliteration of Japanese names for girls. Transliteration of any language causes a lot of controversy, to say nothing of the language of the Land of the Rising Sun. Most often in Russian practice, the Polivanov system is used. It was introduced in the thirties of the twentieth century and since then has been an unofficially approved transliteration system from Japanese to Cyrillic.

Japanese girl names popular in 2009-2011

List of Japanese female names, their spelling and meaning.

Here is a list of female Japanese names compiled by our editors. Of course, these are not all possible female Japanese names, but according to statistics, these are the most popular. Japanese names are the most complex part of the Japanese language and therefore there are so many discrepancies in their translations. Happy viewing.

Pronunciation Amaterasu

Writing 秋 and 明 and 晶 笃子 and 温子 彩花 and 彩华 彩乃 and 绫乃 顺子 and 纯子 和子 and 一子 后子 and 君子 爱美 and 爱海 雅子 and 昌子 直子 and 尚子 晴 and 春 and 阳 遥 and 遥 and 悠 裕 and 寛 and 浩 裕美 and 浩美 恵美 and 絵美

Meaning of the name indigo/love love song love child love beauty bright red color bright beauty autumn/bright/sparkle autumn baby bright/clear sun goddess blue/mallow morning beauty flavor of tomorrow kind child island of apples colorful/design color-flower/flower petals iris flower my color / my design pace/walk/walk safe living. obedient obedient child weaving fragrance beauty victory branch/first blessing harmonious harmonious beauty chrysanthemum honest, noble noble child pure child pure beauty harp sounds happiness/light/peace beautiful child child of the city circle/flower dancing child meaning / sincerity tender beauty true child of the village elegant child elegant beauty true clarity benefit the world blessing beautiful, wise child beautiful child beauty of flowering shining baby beautiful baby of the night handsome generation child beautiful moon budding one hundred blessings forest child obedient / respected obedient tree obedient child above all beauty summer beauty lily/orchid lovely baby meaningful flavor water lily child of cherished beauty favorite/flower baby flower spring/sun distance spring tree spring baby spring beauty gorgeous baby generous/tolerant abundant beauty long-lived child Firefly wisdom wise child thousand springs scattered flowers fragrant baby a thousand generations child of a thousand generations long-lived baby beautiful blessing/ beautiful child blessed prize joyful child

Kotone - F - Koto sound

Kumiko - F - Forever beautiful

Kuri - F - Chestnut

Kuro - M - Ninth son

Kyo - M - Consent (or red)

Kyoko - F - Mirror

Leiko - F - Arrogant

Machi - F - Ten thousand years

Machiko - F - Lucky child

Maeko - F - Honest child

Maemi - F - Sincere smile

Mai - F - Bright

Makoto - M - sincere

Mamiko - F - Baby Mami

Mamoru - M - Earth

Manami - F - The beauty of love

Mariko - F - Child of Truth

Marise - M/F - Endless

Masa - M/F - Straight (human)

Masakazu - M - First son of Masa

Mashiro - M - Wide

Matsu - F - Pine

Mayako - F - Child Maya

Mayoko - F - Baby Mayo

Mayuko - F - Baby Mayu

Michi - F - Fair

Michie - F - Gracefully dangling flower

Michiko - F - Beautiful and wise

Michio - M - Man with the strength of three thousand

Midori - F - Green

Mihoko - F - Baby Miho

Mika - F - New Moon

Miki - M/F - Stalk

Mikio - M - Three woven trees

Mina - F - South

Minako - F - Beautiful child

Mine - F - Brave Protector

Minoru - M - Seed

Misaki - F - Bloom of Beauty

Mitsuko - F - Child of Light

Miya - F - Three arrows

Miyako - F - Beautiful baby March

Mizuki - F - Beautiful moon

Momoko - F - Peach Child

Montaro - M - Big guy

Moriko - F - Child of the Forest

Morio - M - Forest boy

Mura - F - Rustic

Mutsuko - F - Baby Mutsu

Nahoko - F - Baby Naho

Nami - F - Wave

Namiko - F - Child of the Waves

Nana - F - Apple

Naoko - F - Obedient child

Naomi - F - "Beauty First"

Nara - F - Oak

Nariko - F - Sissy

Natsuko - F - Summer child

Natsumi - F - Beautiful summer

Nayoko - F - Baby Nayo

Nibori - M - Famous

Nikki - M/F - Two Trees

Nikko - M - Daylight

Nori - F - Law

Noriko - F - Child of the Law

Nozomi - F - Hope

Nyoko - F - Jewel

Oki - F - Mid Ocean

Orino - F - Peasant Meadow

Osamu - M - Firmness of the law

Rafu - M - Network

Rai - F - Truth

Raidon - M - God of Thunder

Ran - F - Water lily

Rei - F - Gratitude

Reiko - F - Gratitude

Ren - F - Water lily

Renjiro - M - Honest

Renzo - M - Third son

Riko - F - Jasmine Child

Rin - F - Unfriendly

Rinji - M - Peaceful forest

Rini - F - Little Bunny

Risako - F - Child Risa

Ritsuko - F - Child of Ritsu

Roka - M - White wave crest

Rokuro - M - Sixth son

Ronin - M - Samurai without a master

Rumiko - F - Baby Rumi

Ruri - F - Emerald

Ryo - M - Superb

Ryoichi - M - First son of Ryo

Ryoko - F - Baby Ryo

Ryota - M - Strong (obese)

Ryozo - M - Third son of Ryo

Ryuichi - M - First son of Ryu

Ryuu - M - Dragon

Saburo - M - Third son

Sachi - F - Happiness

Sachiko - F - Child of happiness

Sachio - M - Luckily Born

Saeko - F - Baby Sae

Saki - F - Cape (geographical)

Sakiko - F - Baby Saki

Sakuko - F - Baby Saku

Sakura - F - Cherry blossoms

Sanako - F - Baby Sana

Sango - F - Coral

Saniiro - M - Wonderful

Satu - F - Sugar

Sayuri - F - Little lily

Seiichi - M - First son of Sei

Sen - M - Spirit of the tree

Shichiro - M - Seventh son

Shika - F - Deer

Shima - M - Islander

Shina - F - Worthy

Shinichi - M - First son of Shin

Shiro - M - Fourth son

Shizuka - F - Quiet

Sho - M - Prosperity

Sora - F - Sky

Sorano - F - Heavenly

Suki - F - Favorite

Suma - F - Asking

Sumi - F - Purified (religious)

Susumi - M - Moving forward (successful)

Suzu - F - Bell (bell)

Suzume - F - Sparrow

Tadao - M - Helpful

Taka - F - Noble

Takako - F - Tall child

Takara - F - Treasure

Takashi - M - Famous

Takehiko - M - Bamboo Prince

Takeo - M - Like Bamboo

Takeshi - M - Bamboo tree or brave

Takumi - M - Artisan

Tama - M/F - Jewel

Tamiko - F - Child of abundance

Tani - F - From the valley (child)

Taro - M - Firstborn

Taura - F - Many lakes; many rivers

Teijo - M - Fair

Tomeo - M - Cautious person

Tomiko - F - Child of Wealth

Tora - F - Tigress

Torio - M - Bird's tail

Toru - M - Sea

Toshi - F - Mirror reflection

Toshiro - M - Talented

Toya - M/F - House door

Tsukiko - F - Child of the moon

Tsuyu - F - Morning dew

Udo - M - Ginseng

Ume - F - Plum Blossom

Umeko - F - Child of Plum Blossoms

Usagi - F - Rabbit

Uyeda - M - From the rice field (child)

Yachi - F - Eight thousand

Yasu - F - Calm

Yasuo - M - Mirny

Yayoi - F - March

Yogi - M - Yoga Practitioner

Yoko - F - Child of the Sun

Yori - F - Trustworthy

Yoshi - F - Perfection

Yoshiko - F - Perfect child

Yoshiro - M - Perfect Son

Yuki - M - Snow

Yukiko - F - Snow Child

Yukio - M - Cherished by God

Yuko - F - Kind child

Yumako - F - Baby Yuma

Yumi - F - Like a bow (weapon)

Yumiko - F - Arrow Child

Yuri - F - Lily

Yuriko - F - Child of a lily

Yuu - M - Noble blood

Yuudai - M - Great Hero

Nagisa - "coast"

Kaworu - "to smell sweet"

Ritsuko - "science", "attitude"

Akagi - "mahogany"

Shinji - "death"

Misato - "beautiful city"

Katsuragi - "fortress with walls entwined with grass"

Asuka - lit. "love-love"

Soryu - "central current"

Ayanami - "strip of fabric", "wave pattern"

Rei - "zero", "example", "soul"

KENSHIN name means "Heart of the sword".

Akito - Sparkling Man

Kuramori Reika - "Treasure Protector" and "Cold Summer" Rurouni - Wandering Wanderer

Himura - "Burning Village"

Shishio Makoto - True Hero

Takani Megumi - "Love Sublime"

Shinomori Aoshi - "Green Bamboo Forest"

Makimachi Misao - "Ruling the City"

Saito Hajime - "The Beginning of Human Life"

Hiko Seijuro - "Justice Triumphed"

Seta Sojiro - "Comprehensive Forgiveness"

Mirai is the future

Hajime - boss

Mamoru - protector

Jibo - earth

hikari - light

Atarashiki - transformations

Namida - tears

Sora - sky

Ginga - the universe

Eve is alive

Izzy - doctor

Usagi the rabbit

Tsukino - Lunar

Ray - soul

Hino - fire

Ami - rain

Mitsuno - water

Corey - ice, icy

makoto is true

Cinema - air, forest

Minako - Venus

Aino - loving

Setsuna - Guard

Mayo - castle, palace

Haruka - 1) distance, 2) heavenly

Teno - heavenly

Michiru - way

Cayo - sea

Hotaru - light

Tomo is a friend.

Kaori - soft, affectionate

Yumi - "Perfumed Beauty"

Hakufu - Noble Sign

How to name a child?

For future parents in Japan, they release special collections of names - like ours in general - so that they can choose the most suitable for their child. In general, the process of choosing (or inventing) a name comes down to one of the following ways:

1. A keyword can be used in the name - a seasonal phenomenon, a shade of color, a precious stone, etc.

2. The name may contain the wish of the parents to become strong, wise or courageous, for which the hieroglyphs of strength, wisdom and courage are used respectively.

3. you can also go from choosing the hieroglyphs you like the most (in various spellings) and combining them with each other.

4. Recently, it has become popular to name a child, focusing on hearing, i.e. depending on how pleasant the desired name is to the ear. Having chosen the desired pronunciation, they determine the hieroglyphs with which this name will be written.

5. It has always been popular to name a child after celebrities - heroes of historical chronicles, politicians, pop stars, TV series heroes, etc.

6. Some parents rely on various fortune-telling, they believe that the number of features in the hieroglyphs of the first and last name should be combined with each other.

The most common endings for Japanese names are:

Male names: ~aki, ~fumi, ~go, ~haru, ~hei, ~hiko, ~hisa, ~hide, ~hiro, ~ji, ~kazu, ~ki, ~ma, ~masa, ~michi, ~mitsu , ~nari, ~nobu, ~nori, ~o, ~rou, ~shi, ~shige, ~suke, ~ta, ~taka, ~to, ~toshi, ~tomo, ~ya, ~zou

Female names: ~a, ~chi, ~e, ~ho, ~i, ~ka, ~ki, ~ko, ~mi, ~na, ~no, ~o, ~ri, ~sa, ~ya, ~yo

Nominal suffixes

Personal pronouns

Japanese nominal suffixes and personal pronouns

Nominal suffixes

In Japanese, there is a whole set of so-called nominal suffixes, that is, suffixes added in colloquial speech to names, surnames, nicknames and other words denoting an interlocutor or a third person. They are used to indicate the social relationship between the speaker and the one being spoken about. The choice of a suffix is ​​determined by the character of the speaker (normal, rude, very polite), his attitude towards the listener (usual politeness, respect, fawning, rudeness, arrogance), their position in society and the situation in which the conversation takes place (one on one, in the circle of loved ones friends, between colleagues, between strangers, in public). What follows is a list of some of these suffixes (in ascending order of "respect" and their usual meanings.

Tyan (chan) - A close analogue of the "diminutive" suffixes of the Russian language. Usually used in relation to the younger or lower in the social sense, with whom one develops a close relationship. In the use of this suffix, the element of "lisping" is felt. Usually used when referring to adults to children, boys to their beloved girls, girlfriends to each other, small children to each other. The use of this suffix in relation to people who are not very close, equal in position to the speaker, is impolite. For example, if a guy refers to a peer of the same age with whom he does not “twist an affair”, then he shows incorrectness. A girl who addresses a fellow peer with whom she doesn’t “twist an affair” is, in fact, rude.

Kun (kun) - An analogue of the appeal "comrade". Most often used between men or in relation to guys. Indicates, rather, some "official", however, close relations. Say, between classmates, partners or friends. It can also be used in relation to the younger or lower in the social sense, when this circumstance does not need to be emphasized.

Yang (yan) - Kansai analogue of "-chan" and "-kun".

Tti (cchi) - Children's version of "-chan" (cf. "Tamagotti".

Without suffix - Close relationship, but without "lisping". The usual address of adults to teenage children, friends to each other, etc. If a person does not use suffixes at all, then this is a clear indicator of rudeness. Addressing by surname without a suffix is ​​a sign of familiar, but "detached" relationships (a typical example is the relationship of schoolchildren or students).

San (san) - An analogue of the Russian "mister / madam". A general indication of respect. Often used to communicate with strangers, or when all other suffixes do not fit. Used in relation to elders, including older relatives (brothers, sisters, parents).

Han (han) - Kansai equivalent of "-san".

Xi (shi) - "Sir", is used exclusively in official documents after the surname.

Fujin (fujin) - "Lady", is used exclusively in official documents after the surname.

Kohai (kouhai) - Appeal to the younger. Especially often - at school in relation to those who are younger than the speaker.

Senpai (senpai) - Appeal to the elder. Especially often - at school in relation to those who are older than the speaker.

Dono (dono) - Rare suffix. Respectful address to an equal or superior, but slightly different in position. It is now considered obsolete and almost never occurs in communication. In ancient times, it was actively used when samurai addressed each other.

Sensei (sensei) - "Teacher". Used in relation to the actual teachers and professors, as well as to doctors and politicians.

Senshu (senshu) - "Athlete". Used in relation to famous athletes.

Zeki (zeki) - "Sumo wrestler". Used in relation to famous sumo wrestlers.

Ue (ue) - "Senior". A rare and obsolete respectful suffix used for older family members. Not used with names - only with designations of position in the family ("father", "mother", "brother".

Sama (sama) - The highest degree of respect. Appeal to gods and spirits, to spiritual authorities, a girl to her lover, servants to noble masters, etc. It roughly translates into Russian as "respected, dear, venerable."

Jin (jin) - "One of". "Saya-jin" - "one of the Sai".

Tachi (tachi) - "And friends." "Goku-tachi" - "Goku and his friends."

Gumi (gumi) - "Team, group, party." "Kenshin-gumi" - "Team Kenshin".

Japanese names and their meanings

Personal pronouns

In addition to nominal suffixes, Japan also uses many different ways to address each other and refer to oneself using personal pronouns. The choice of a pronoun is determined by the social laws already mentioned above. The following is a list of some of these pronouns.

Group with the meaning "I"

Watakushi - A very polite female version.

Washi - Obsolete polite variant. Does not depend on gender.

Wai (Wai) - Kansai analogue of "washi".

Boku (Boku) - Familiar youth male version. It is rarely used by women; in this case, “non-femininity” is emphasized. Used in poetry.

Ore (Ore) - Not a very polite option. Purely masculine. Kind of cool. ^_^

Ore-sama (Ore-sama) - "Great I". A rare form, an extreme degree of boasting.

Daikou or Naikou (Daikou/Naikou) - An analogue of "ore-sama", but somewhat less boastful.

Sessha - A very polite form. Usually used by samurai when addressing their masters.

Hisyo (Hishou) - "Insignificant." A very polite form, now practically not used.

Gusei (Gusei) - An analogue of "hisyo", but somewhat less pejorative.

Oira (Oira) - Polite form. Commonly used by monks.

Tin (Chin) - special shape, which only the emperor has the right to use.

Ware (Ware) - Polite (formal) form, translated as [I / you / he] “himself”. It is used when it is necessary to especially express the importance of "I". For example, in spells (“I conjure.” In modern Japanese, it is rarely used in the meaning of “I”. It is more often used to form a return form, for example, “forgetting about yourself” - “ware in vasurete”.

[Speaker's name or position] - Used by or with children, usually within a family. Let's say a girl named Atsuko can say "Atsuko is thirsty". Or her older brother, referring to her, can say "Brother will bring you juice." There is an element of "lisping" in this, but such an appeal is quite acceptable.

Group with the meaning "We"

Watashi-tachi - A polite option.

Ware-ware (Ware-ware) - A very polite, formal option.

Bokura - An impolite variant.

Touhou - Common variant.

Group with the meaning "You / You":

Anata (Anata) - General polite option. Also, the usual address of a wife to her husband ("dear".

Anta (Anta) - Less polite option. Usually used by young people. A slight hint of disrespect.

Otaku (Otaku) - Literally translated as "your home". Very polite and rare form. Due to the arrogant use of Japanese informals in relation to each other, the second meaning was fixed - “fan, crazy”.

Kimi - A polite variant, often between friends. Used in poetry.

Kijo (Kijou) - "Mistress". A very polite way of addressing a lady.

Onushi (Onushi) - "Insignificant". An obsolete form of polite speech.

Omae (Omae) - Familiar (when referring to an enemy - insulting) option. Usually used by men in relation to the socially younger (father to daughter, say).

Temae/Temee (Temae/Temee) - Offensive male version. Usually towards the enemy. Something like "bastard" or "bastard".

Onore (Onore) - Offensive variant.

Kisama - Very offensive. Translated with dots. ^_^ Oddly enough, it literally translates as "noble lord."

Japanese names

Modern Japanese names consist of two parts - the surname, which comes first, and the given name, which comes second. True, the Japanese often write their names in "European order" (first name - last name) if they write them in romaji. For convenience, the Japanese sometimes write their last name in CAPITAL letters so that it is not confused with the name (due to the above-described inconsistency).

The exception is the emperor and members of his family. They don't have a last name. Girls who marry princes also lose their last names.

Ancient names and surnames

Before the Meiji Restoration, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames. The rest of the population of Japan was content with personal names and nicknames.

Women of aristocratic and samurai families also usually did not have surnames, since they did not have the right to inherit. In cases where women did have surnames, they did not change them upon marriage.

Surnames were divided into two groups - the surnames of aristocrats and the surnames of samurai.

Unlike the number of samurai surnames, the number of surnames of aristocrats has practically not increased since ancient times. Many of them date back to the priestly past of the Japanese aristocracy.

The most revered and respected clans of aristocrats were: Konoe, Takashi, Kujo, Ichijo and Gojo. All of them belonged to the Fujiwara clan and had a common name - "Gosetsuke". From among the men of this kind, regents (sessho) and chancellors (kampaku) of Japan were appointed, and wives for emperors were chosen from among women.

The following in nobility were the Hirohata, Daigo, Kuga, Oimikado, Saionji, Sanjo, Imaidegawa, Tokudaiji, and Kaoin clans. From among them, the highest state dignitaries were appointed.

So, representatives of the Saionji clan served as imperial stables (meryo no gogen). Then came all the other aristocratic clans.

The hierarchy of nobility of aristocratic families began to take shape in the VI century and lasted until the end of the XI century, when power in the country passed to the samurai. Among them, the clans of Genji (Minamoto), Heike (Taira), Hojo, Ashikaga, Tokugawa, Matsudaira, Hosokawa, Shimazu, Oda enjoyed special respect. A number of their representatives at different times were the shoguns (military rulers) of Japan.

The personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai were formed from two kanji (hieroglyphs) of a "noble" meaning.

The personal names of samurai servants and peasants were often given according to the "numbering" principle. The first son is Ichiro, the second is Jiro, the third is Saburo, the fourth is Shiro, the fifth is Goro, and so on. Also, in addition to "-ro", the suffixes "-emon", "-ji", "-zo", "-suke", "-be" were used for this purpose.

Upon entering the samurai during his youth, he chose a different name for himself than what he was given at birth. Sometimes samurai changed their names throughout adulthood, for example, to emphasize the onset of her new period (promotion or moving to another duty station). The lord had the right to rename his vassal. In the event of a serious illness, the name was sometimes changed to the name of the Buddha Amida in order to appeal to his mercy.

According to the rules of samurai fights, before the fight, the samurai had to give his full name so that the enemy could decide whether he was worthy of such an opponent. Of course, in life this rule was observed much less frequently than in novels and chronicles.

At the end of the names of girls from noble families, the suffix "-hime" was added. It is often translated as "princess", but in fact it was used in relation to all noble young ladies.

For the names of the wives of the samurai, the suffix "-gozen" was used. Often they were called simply by their husband's surname and rank. The personal names of married women were practically used only by their close relatives.

For the names of monks and nuns from the noble classes, the suffix "-in" was used.

Modern names and surnames

During the Meiji Restoration, all Japanese were given surnames. Naturally, most of them were associated with various signs of peasant life, especially with rice and its processing. These surnames, like those of the upper class, were also usually composed of two kanji.

The most common Japanese surnames now are Suzuki, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Saito, Sato, Sasaki, Kudo, Takahashi, Kobayashi, Kato, Ito, Murakami, Onishi, Yamaguchi, Nakamura, Kuroki, Higa.

Men's names have changed less. They also often depend on the "serial number" of the son in the family. The suffixes "-ichi" and "-kazu" meaning "first son" are often used, as well as the suffixes "-ji" ("second son" and "-zo" ("third son").

Most Japanese female names end in “-ko” (“child” or “-mi” (“beauty”). Girls are usually given names that are related in meaning to everything beautiful, pleasant and feminine. Unlike male names, female names are usually written not in kanji, but in hiragana.

Some modern girls do not like the "-ko" ending in their names and prefer to omit it. For example, a girl named "Yuriko" might refer to herself as "Yuri".

According to the law passed during the time of Emperor Meiji, after marriage, the husband and wife are required by law to take the same surname. In 98% of cases, this is the husband's surname. For several years now, an amendment to the Civil Code has been discussed in Parliament, allowing spouses to keep premarital surnames. However, while she can not get the required number of votes.

After death, a Japanese person receives a new, posthumous name (kaimyo), which is written on a special wooden tablet (ihai). This tablet is considered the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased and is used in funeral rites. Kaimyo and ihai are bought from Buddhist monks - sometimes even before a person's death.

The surname in Japanese is called "myoji" (苗字 or 名字), "uji" (氏) or "sei" (姓).

The vocabulary of the Japanese language has long been divided into two types: wago (jap. 和語?) - native Japanese words and kango (jap. 漢語?) - borrowed from China. Names are divided into the same types, although a new type is now actively expanding - gairaigo (jap. 外来語?) - words borrowed from other languages, but components of this type are rarely used in names.

Modern Japanese names are divided into the following groups:

kunnye (consisting of vago)

onny (consisting of kango)

mixed

The ratio of Kun and Onn surnames is approximately 80% to 20%.

The most common surnames in Japan are:

Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 Sato:?)

Suzuki (jap. 鈴木?)

Takahashi (Japanese: 高橋?)

Tanaka (Japanese: 田中?)

Watanabe (jap. 渡辺?)

Ito (Japanese: 伊藤 Itō:?)

Yamamoto (jap. 山本?)

Nakamura (Japanese: 中村?)

Ohayashi (Jap. 小林?)

Kobayashi (Jap. 小林?) (different surnames, but spelled the same and have roughly the same distribution)

Kato (Jap. 加藤 Kato:?)

Many surnames, although they are read according to the on (Chinese) reading, go back to ancient Japanese words and are written phonetically, and not in meaning.

Examples of such surnames: Kubo (jap. 久保?) - from jap. kubo (jap. 窪?) - a hole; Sasaki (jap. 佐々木?) - from the ancient Japanese sasa - small; Abe (jap. 阿部?) - from ancient word ape - to combine, mix. If we take into account such surnames, then the number of native Japanese surnames reaches 90%.

For example, the hieroglyph 木 ("tree") is read in kun as ki, but in names it can also be read as ko; The hieroglyph 上 ("up") can be read in kun as both ue and kami. There are two different surnames Uemura and Kamimura, which are spelled the same - 上村. In addition, there are dropping out and merging of sounds at the junction of components, for example, in the surname Atsumi (Japanese 渥美?), the components separately are read as atsui and umi; and the surname 金成 (kana + nari) is often read simply as Kanari.

When combining hieroglyphs, the alternation of the ending of the first component A / E and O / A is typical - for example, 金 kane - Kanagawa (jap. 金川?), 白 shiro - Shiraoka (jap. 白岡?). In addition, the initial syllables of the second component often become voiced, for example 山田 Yamada (pit + ta), 宮崎 Miyazaki (miya + saki). Also, surnames often contain the remainder of the case indicator no or ha (in ancient times it was customary to put them between the given name and surname). Usually this indicator is not written, but read - for example, 一宮 Ichinomiya (ichi + miya); 榎本 Enomoto (e + moto). But sometimes the case indicator is displayed in writing in hiragana, katakana or a hieroglyph - for example, 井之上 Inoue (and + but + ue); 木ノ下 Kinoshita (ki + katakana no + sita).

The vast majority of surnames in Japanese consist of two characters, surnames of one or three characters are less common, and four-digit or more surnames are very rare.

One-component surnames are mainly of Japanese origin and are formed from nouns or medial forms of verbs. For example, Watari (jap. 渡?) - from watari (jap. 渡り crossing?), 　hata (jap. 畑?) - the word hata means "plantation, vegetable garden". Onn surnames consisting of one hieroglyph are much less common. For example, Cho (Jap. 兆 Cho:?) - means "trillion", Ying (Jap. 因?) - "reason".

Japanese surnames consisting of two components, the majority, are called numbers in 60-70%. Of these, most of them are surnames from Japanese roots - it is believed that such surnames are the easiest to read, since most of them are read according to the usual kuns used in the language. Examples - Matsumoto (jap. 松本?) - consists of the nouns used in the language of matsu "pine" and moto "root"; Kiyomizu (Jap. 清水?) - consists of the stem of the adjective 清い kiyoi - "clean" and the noun 水 mizu - "water". Chinese two-component surnames are less numerous and usually have a single reading. Often Chinese surnames contain numbers from one to six (excluding four 四, since this number is read the same as "death" 死 si and they try not to use it). Examples: Ichijo: (Japanese 一条?), Saito: (Japanese 斉藤?). There are also mixed surnames, where one component is read by on, and the other by kun. Examples: Honda (jap. 本田?), hon - "base" (on reading) + ta - "rice field" (kun reading); Betsumiya (jap. 別宮?), betsu - “special, different” (on reading) + miya - “temple” (kun reading). Also, a very small part of the surnames can be read both by ons and by kuns: 坂西 Banzai and Sakanishi, 宮内 Kunai and Miyauchi.

In three-component surnames, Japanese roots are often found phonetically recorded by onami. Examples: 久保田 "Kubota (probably the word 窪 kubo "fossa" is spelled phonetically as 久保), 阿久津 Akutsu (probably the word 明く aku "to open" is spelled phonetically as 阿久). However, the usual three-component surnames consisting of three kun readings are also common. 矢田部 Yatabe, 小野木 Ōnoki There are also three-component surnames with Chinese reading.

Four or more component surnames are very rare.

There are surnames with very unusual readings that look like puzzles. Examples: 十八女 Wakairo - written in characters "eighteen-year-old girl", and read as 若色 "young + color"; The surname denoted by the character 一 "one" is read as Ninomae, which can be translated as 二の前 ni no mae "before the deuce"; and the surname 穂積 Hozue, which can be interpreted as "gathering ears" is sometimes written as 八月一日 " the first day of the eighth lunar month" - apparently on this day the harvest began in ancient times.

Japanese names consist of a family name followed by a given name, and as a rule, Japanese names are written in kanji. However, parents may also occasionally use Japanese hiragana and katakana to write their children's names. Moreover, in 1985, the list of officially allowed characters for writing Japanese names was expanded and now you can use Latin characters (romanji), hentaiganu, manyoganu (syllabic alphabet), as well as special characters and characters like * % $ ^ and the like. But in practice, characters are almost always used to write Japanese names.

In the past, people in Japan were the property of the emperor, and the surname reflected their role in the government. For example, Otomo (大友 "great friend, comrade"). Names were also given to let people know that the person had made some great achievement, contribution, etc.

Before the Meiji Restoration, the common people did not have surnames, and if necessary used the name of the place of birth. For example, a person named Ichiro: could introduce himself as: "Ichiro: from the village of Asahi, Musashi Province. Merchants used the names of their stores or brands. For example, Denbei, the owner of Sagamiya - could introduce himself as "Sagamiya Denbei." Peasants could call themselves after their father (for example, Isuke, whose father was called Genbei, could say: "Iseke, son of Genbei").

After the Meiji Restoration, the government ordered all commoners to come up with a last name as part of a plan to modernize and westernize. Some people chose historical names, others simply invented, for example, fortune-telling, or turned to priests to choose a surname. This explains the fact that there are a lot of different surnames in Japan, both in pronunciation and spelling, and makes it difficult to read.

Japanese surnames are extremely diverse, with an estimated over 100,000 different surnames. Typical, most common Japanese surnames include: Satō (佐藤), Suzuki (铃木) and Takahashi (高桥).

However, Japanese surnames are distributed differently in different regions of Japan. For example, the surnames Chinen (知念), Higa (比嘉), and Shimabukuro (岛袋) are common in Okinawa but not in other parts of Japan. This is due mainly to differences between the language and culture of the Yamato people and Okinawa.

Many Japanese surnames come from the characteristic features of the rural landscape, for example: Ishikawa (石川) means "stone river", Yamamoto (山本) means "mountain base", Inoue (井上) means "above the well".

In general, surnames usually have some patterns and their reading does not cause any particular difficulties, but Japanese names are very diverse both in pronunciation and spelling.

While many typical Japanese names can be easily spelled and read, many parents choose names with unusual characters or pronunciations. Such names do not have an unambiguous reading or spelling.

Especially the tendency to give such names appeared since 1990. For example, the popular name 大翔 for boys is traditionally read as Hiroto, but alternative readings of this name have also appeared: Haruto, Yamato, Daito, Taiga, Sora, Taito, Masato, and all of them have come into use.

Male names often end in –ro: (郎 "son", but also 朗 "clear, light", e.g. Ichiro), -ta (太 "big, fat", e.g. Kenta), contain ichi (一 "first [ son]), ji (二 - second [son]", or 次 "next", eg "Jiro"), or dai (大 "great, big", eg "Daiichi").

In addition, in male names with two hieroglyphs, hieroglyphs-indicators of the male name are often used: 夫 (o) - "husband", 男 (o) - "man", 雄 (o) - "hero", 朗 (ro :) - " cheerful" , 樹 (ki) - "tree", 助 (suke) "helper" and many others.

Japanese female names

Most Japanese female names have an abstract meaning. Usually such characters are used in such names as 美 mi "beauty", 愛 ai "love", 安 en "calm", 知 ti "mind", 優 yu: "tenderness", 真 ma "truth" and others. As a rule, names with similar hieroglyphs are given to girls as a wish to possess these qualities in the future.

There is another type of female names - names with hieroglyphs of animals or plants. Animal names with the characters 虎　 "tiger" or 鹿 "deer" were thought to be healthful, but these names are now considered old-fashioned and almost never used, with the exception of the character 鶴 "crane". Names containing hieroglyphs associated with the plant world are still often used, for example, 花 hana - "flower", 稲 ine - "rice", 菊 kiku - "chrysanthemum", 竹 take - "bamboo", 桃 momo - "peach ", 柳 yanagi - "willow", and others.

There are still names with numerals, but they are very few in number and are quite rare. Such names most likely come from the old tradition of naming the girls of noble families in order of birth. Currently, the commonly used characters for numerals are 千 ti "thousand", 三 mi "three", 五 go "five", and 七 nana "seven".

Quite often there are also names with the meanings of the seasons, natural phenomena, time of day and many others. For example: 雪 yuki "snow", 夏 natsu "summer", 朝 asa "morning", 雲 kumo "cloud".

It happens that syllabic alphabets are used instead of hieroglyphs. At the same time, the record of such a name is constant, unlike words that can be written in different ways (alphabet, hieroglyphs, mixed). For example, if a female name is written in hiragana, then it will always be written that way, although it can be written in a hieroglyph in its meaning.

By the way, it is very fashionable and exotic instead of classic female names to use foreign names: あんな Anna, まりあ Maria, えみり Emiri, れな Rena, りな Rina and others.

An indicator of Japanese female names.

A typical Japanese female name ends with the character -子 (child) - ko. (Maiko, Haruko, Hanako, Takako, Yoshiko, Asako, Naoko, Yumiko, etc.). And currently, about a quarter of Japanese female names end in -ko. Until 1868, this name was used only by members of the imperial family, but after the revolution, this name became quite popular, especially in the middle of the 20th century. However, after 2006, this indicator of a female name ceased to be fashionable due to the emergence of a new fashion for names, and many girls searched for it from the name, and began to call them simply Yumi, Hana, Haru, etc.

The second most used character is 美 mi "beauty" (up to 12%), unlike many other indicators of the gender of the name, it can occur anywhere in the name (Fumiko, Mie, Kazumi, Miyuki).

Also, about 5% of Japanese female names contain the component 江 e "bay" (Mizue, 廣江 Hiroe).

Many other characters are used to indicate that this is a female name, each of which occurs in less than 4% of female names: 代 yo "era", 香 ka "smell", 花 ka "flower", 里 ri "measure of the length of ri" ( often used phonetically), 奈 na is used phonetically, 織 ori "cloth" and others.

However, there are female names consisting of several hieroglyphs that do not have indications that this is a female name. Examples: 皐月 Satsuki, 小巻 Komaki.

Popular Japanese names and their meanings

Since 2005, the Japanese company Benesse Corporation has annually published a ranking of popular Japanese names among newborns. In 2011, from January 1 to May 31, 34,500 people were born, of which 17,959 were boys and 16,541 were girls.

Popular Japanese names for men

№	Name hieroglyphs	Name reading	The meaning of the hieroglyphs of the name	Number of boys	% boys
1	大翔	Hiroto	big + flying	119	0,66
2	蓮	Ren	lotus	113	0,63
3	悠真	Yuma	calm + honest	97	0,54
4	颯太	So:ta	dashing + big, fat, great	92	0,51
5	蒼空	Sora	blue sky	84	0,47
6	翔太	Sho:ta	flying + big, fat, great	79	0,44
7	大和	Yamato	big + peaceful, soft, gentle	73	0,41
8	陽斗	Haruto	solar + measure of capacity, ladle	79	0,44
9	陸	Riku	dry land	64	0,36
10	陽翔	Haruto	sunny, positive + flying	64	0,36

Popular Japanese female names

№	Name hieroglyphs	Name reading	The meaning of the hieroglyphs of the name	Number of girls	% girls
1	結衣	Yui	tie+clothes	109	0,66
2	葵	Aoi	mallow, marshmallow, geranium, etc.	104	0,63
3	結愛	Yua	connect + love	102	0,62
4	凛	Rin	majestic; imposing	100	0,60
5	陽菜	hina	sunny, positive + vegetable, greenery	99	0,60
6	結菜	Yuina	connect, form, finish + vegetable, greens	99	0,60
7	さくら	Sakura	Sakura	74	0,45
8	愛菜	mana	love + vegetable, greens	74	0,45
9	咲希	saki	bloom + rarely, desire	71	0,43
10	優奈	Yu:on	excellent, graceful, friendly + phonetic NA	66	0,40

Japanese nicknames/nicknames/nicknames

From each name, one or more diminutive names can be formed by adding the nominal suffix -chan or -kun to the stem. There are two types of name stems. One consists of a full name, for example Taro: -chan (Taro:), Kimiko-chan (Kimiko) and Yasunari-chan (Yasunari).

Another type of stem is an abbreviation for the full name. Ta:-chan (Taro:), Kii-chan (Kimiko), Ya:-chan (Yasunari), Ko:-kun, Ma:-kun, Sho:-chan, etc. The second type of abbreviation has a closer relationship (for example, between friends).

There are other ways to form short names, for example, a girl with the name Megumi can be called Kei-chan, since the character that begins the name Megumi (恵) can also be read as Kei.

The common Japanese practice of creating abbreviations, which is to combine the first two syllables of two words, is sometimes applied to names (usually celebrities).

For example, Kimura Takuya (木村 拓哉), a famous Japanese actor and singer, becomes Kimutaku (キムタク). This is sometimes applied to foreign celebrities as well: Brad Pitt, whose full name in Japanese is Buraddo Pitto (ブラッド ピット) is rather known as Burapi (ブラピ), while Jimi Hendrix is ​​shortened to Jimihen (ジミヘン). Another slightly less common method is to double one or two syllables in a person's name. For example, Mamiko Noto, may be called MamiMami.

Japanese names in Chinese

As a rule, Japanese names are written in hieroglyphs. And the hieroglyphs, like many other things, the Japanese borrowed from the Chinese. Those. Japanese and Chinese will read the same hieroglyph differently. For example, 山田太郎 (Yamada Taro:) the Chinese will read something like "Shantien Tailang", and 鳩山由紀夫 (Hatoyama Yukio) - "Jiushan Youjifu". That's why the Japanese don't understand their names when they read them in Chinese."

Reading Japanese names and surnames

Reading names in Japanese is very difficult. Hieroglyphs of one name can be read in different ways and at the same time the pronunciation of one name can be written down too different ways... For more information about the features of reading Japanese names, you can

Japanese nominal suffixes

In Japan, when referring to a person, it is customary to use a surname or a given name (usually the Japanese refer to each other by their surname) to use nominal suffixes, more about them in brief written

Names and Surnames of Japanese Emperors

Japanese emperors do not have surnames, and their lifetime Japanese names are tabooed and not used in official Japanese documents, and instead the emperor is addressed by a title without a name. When an emperor dies, he receives a posthumous name, which consists of two parts: the name of the virtue that glorifies him and the tenno title: "emperor". For instance:

During the life of the emperor, it is also not customary to address him by name, since in general it is not polite to address him by name, and even more so to the emperor, and various titles are used instead. For example, as a child, Akihito had a title - Tsugu-no-miya (Prince Tsugu). Such titles are mostly used as long as the person is an heir or has not received a special name.

Japan is a unique country. What is behind these words? A special, unlike anything nature, culture, religion, philosophy, art, lifestyle, fashion, cuisine, the harmonious coexistence of high technology and ancient traditions, as well as the Japanese language itself - is as difficult to learn as it is fascinating. One of the most important parts of the language are names and surnames. They always carry a piece of history, and the Japanese ones are doubly curious.

Decode name

Why do we, foreigners, know all this? Firstly, because it is informative and interesting, because Japanese culture has penetrated into many areas of our modern life. It is very exciting to decipher the names of famous people: for example, the cartoonist Miyazaki - "temple, palace" + "cape", and the writer Murakami - "village" + "top". Secondly, all this has long and firmly become part of

Fans of comics (manga) and animation (anime) simply love to take various Japanese names and surnames as pseudonyms. Sump and other online games also make extensive use of such aliases for player characters. And no wonder: such a nickname sounds beautiful, exotic and memorable.

These mysterious Japanese names and surnames

The Land of the Rising Sun will always find something to surprise an ignorant foreigner. It is noteworthy that when recording or formally introducing a person, his last name comes first, and then his first name, for example: Sato Aiko, Tanaka Yukio. For the Russian ear, this sounds unusual, and therefore it can be quite difficult for us to distinguish Japanese names and surnames from each other. The Japanese themselves, in order to avoid confusion when communicating with foreigners, often write down their surname in capital letters. And it really makes things easier. Fortunately, it is customary for the Japanese to have only one given name and one surname. And such a form as a patronymic (patronymic) is absent from this people at all.

Another unusual feature of Japanese communication is the active use of prefixes. Moreover, these prefixes are most often attached to the surname. European psychologists say that there is nothing more pleasant for a person than the sound of his name - but the Japanese, apparently, think otherwise. Therefore, names are used only in situations of very close and personal communication.

What attachments are available

• (surname) + dignity - universal polite address;
• (surname) + sama - an appeal to members of the government, directors of companies, clerics; also used in stable combinations;
• (last name) + sensei - an appeal to martial arts masters, doctors, as well as professionals in any field;
• (surname) + kun - an appeal to teenagers and young men, as well as an elder to a younger or a superior to a subordinate (for example, a boss to a subordinate);
• (name) + chan (or chan) - an appeal to children and among children under 10 years old; appeal of parents to their offspring of any age; in an informal setting - to beloved and close friends.

How often are Japanese names and surnames used? Surprisingly, even family members rarely call each other by their first names. Instead, special words are used that mean "mother", "dad", "daughter", "son", "older sister", "younger sister", "big brother", "little brother", etc. To these words prefixes "chan (chan)" are also added.

Women's names

Girls in Japan are most often called by names that mean something abstract, but at the same time beautiful, pleasant and feminine: "flower", "crane", "bamboo", "water lily", "chrysanthemum", "moon" and so on. similar. Simplicity and harmony - that's what distinguishes Japanese names and surnames.

Female names in many cases contain the syllables (hieroglyphs) "mi" - beauty (for example: Harumi, Ayumi, Kazumi, Mie, Fumiko, Miyuki) or "ko" - child (for example: Maiko, Naoko, Haruko, Yumiko, Yoshiko, Hanako , Takako, Asako).

Interestingly, some girls in modern Japan consider the “ko” ending unfashionable and omit it. So, for example, the name "Yumiko" turns into the everyday "Yumi". And friends of this girl are turning "Yumi-chan."

All of the above are quite common female Japanese names in our time. And the names of the girls are also distinguished by amazing poetry, especially if you translate an exotic combination of sounds into Russian. Most often they convey the image of a typical Japanese rural landscape. For example: Yamamoto - "the base of the mountain", Watanabe - "to cross the neighborhood", Iwasaki - "rocky cape", Kobayashi - "small forest".

A whole poetic world is opened by Japanese names and surnames. Women's pieces are especially similar to haiku pieces, surprising with their beautiful sound and harmonious meaning.

Male names

Men's names are the most difficult to read and translate. Some of them are formed from nouns. For example: Moku ("carpenter"), Akio ("handsome"), Ketsu ("victory"), Makoto ("truth"). Others are formed from adjectives or verbs, for example: Satoshi ("smart"), Mamoru ("protect"), Takashi ("high"), Tsutomu ("try").

Very often, Japanese male names and surnames include characters that indicate gender: “man”, “husband”, “hero”, “assistant”, “tree”, etc.

Often used This tradition originated in the Middle Ages, when there were many children in families. For example, the name Ichiro means "first son", Jiro means "second son", Saburo means "third son", and so on up to Juro, which means "tenth son".

Japanese boy names and surnames can be created simply on the basis of the hieroglyphs available in the language. In the days of the imperial dynasties, great importance was attached to how to name yourself and your children, but in modern Japan, preference is given simply to what you like in sound and meaning. At the same time, it is absolutely not necessary for children from the same family to have names with a common hieroglyph, as was traditionally practiced in the imperial dynasties of the past.

All Japanese male names and surnames have two features in common: the semantic echoes of the Middle Ages and the difficulty of reading, especially for a foreigner.

Common Japanese surnames

Surnames are distinguished by a large number and variety: according to linguists, there are more than 100,000 surnames in the Japanese language. For comparison: there are 300-400 thousand Russian surnames.

The most common Japanese surnames at present are: Sato, Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Saito, Kudo, Sasaki, Kato, Kobayashi, Murakami, Ito, Nakamura, Oonishi, Yamaguchi, Kuroki, Higa.

An interesting fact: Japanese names and surnames have different popularity, depending on the area. For example, in Okinawa (the country's southernmost prefecture), the surnames Chinan, Higa, and Shimabukuro are quite common, while very few people carry them in the rest of Japan. Experts attribute this to differences in dialects and culture. Thanks to these differences, the Japanese, by the name of their interlocutor alone, can tell where he comes from.

Such different names and surnames

In European culture, certain traditional names are characteristic, from which parents choose the most suitable for their baby. Fashion trends often change, and one or the other becomes popular, but rarely does anyone come up with a unique name on purpose. In Japanese culture, things are different: there are many more singular or rare names. Therefore, there is no traditional list. Japanese names (and surnames too) are often formed from some beautiful words or phrases.

Name poetry

First of all, female names are distinguished by a pronounced poetic meaning. For instance:

• Yuri - "Water Lily".
• Hotaru - "Firefly".
• Izumi - "Fountain".
• Namiko - "Child of the Waves".
• Aika - "Song of Love".
• Natsumi - "Summer Beauty".
• Chiyo - "Eternity".
• Nozomi - "Hope".
• Ima - "Gift".
• Rico - "Jasmine Child".
• Kiku - "Chrysanthemum".

However, among the male names you can find beautiful meanings:

• Keitaro - "Blessed".
• Toshiro - "Talented".
• Yuki - "Snow";.
• Yuzuki - "Crescent".
• Takehiko - "Bamboo Prince".
• Raydon - "God of Thunder".
• Toru - "Sea".

Family poetry

There are not only beautiful Japanese names. And last names can be very poetic. For instance:

• Arai - "Wild Well".
• Aoki - "Young (green) tree."
• Yoshikawa - "Lucky River".
• Ito - "Wisteria".
• Kikuchi - "Pond with chrysanthemums."
• Komatsu - "Little Pine".
• Matsuura - "Pine Bay".
• Nagai - "Eternal well".
• Ozawa - "Little swamp".
• Oohashi - "Big Bridge".
• Shimizu - "Pure water".
• Tiba - "Thousand leaves".
• Furukawa - "Old River".
• Yano - "Arrow on the Plain".

bring a smile

Sometimes there are funny Japanese names and surnames, or rather, funny-sounding for the Russian ear.

Among these, masculine names can be noted: Bank, Quiet (emphasis on "a"), Usho, Joban, Sosi (emphasis on "o"). Among women, it’s funny for a Russian-speaking person to sound: Hey, Wasp, Ori, Cho, Ruka, Rana, Yura. But such funny examples are extremely rare, given the rich variety of Japanese names.

As for the surnames, it is more likely to find a strange and difficult to pronounce combination of sounds here than a funny one. However, this is easily compensated by numerous funny parodies of Japanese names and surnames. Of course, they are all invented by Russian-speaking jokers, but there is still some phonetic similarity with the originals. For example, such a parody: Japanese racer Toyama Tokanawa; or Tokhripo Tovizgo. Behind all these "names" a phrase in Russian is easily guessed.

Interesting facts about Japanese names and surnames

In Japan, there is still a law that has been preserved since the Middle Ages, according to which a husband and wife must have the same surname. Almost always this is the husband's surname, but there are exceptions - for example, if the wife is from a noble, famous family. However, so far in Japan it does not happen that spouses have a double surname or each has their own.

In general, in the Middle Ages, only Japanese emperors, aristocrats and samurai had surnames, and ordinary people were content with nicknames, which were often attached to names. For example, the place of residence, or even the name of the father, was often used as a nickname.

Japanese women in the Middle Ages also often did not have surnames: it was believed that they did not need anything, because they were not heirs. The names of girls from aristocratic families often ended in "hime" (which means "princess"). Samurai wives had names ending in gozen. Often they were addressed by the surname and title of the husband. But personal names, both then and now, are used only in close communication. Japanese monks and nuns from the nobility had names ending in "in".

After death, every Japanese acquires a new name (it is called "kaimyo"). It is written on a sacred wooden tablet called "ihai". The nameplate is used in burial rites and memorial rituals, as it is considered the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased person. People often acquire kaimyo and ihai u during their lifetime. In the views of the Japanese, death is not something tragic, but rather one of the stages on the path of an immortal soul.

Learning more about Japanese names and surnames, you can not only learn the basics of the language in a peculiar way, but also better understand the philosophy of this people.

The modern Japanese name in its composition follows the tradition characteristic of Chinese, Korean and a number of other cultures. According to this tradition, a Japanese name consists of a family name or surname followed by a personal name. Names in Japan are most often written in kanji, which have different pronunciations in different cases.

All modern Japanese have a single surname and a single given name; they do not have a patronymic. The only exception is the imperial family, whose members have only a first name without a surname.

The Japanese pronounce and write their last name and first name in reverse order than is customary in the West. Last name comes first, then first name. However, in Western languages, Japanese names are written in the order familiar to Europeans - the surname follows the given name.

Often Japanese names are created independently from existing characters. As a result, this country has a large number of unique, non-recurring names. More traditional are surnames, which by their origin often belong to toponyms. Thus, there are more names in Japanese than surnames. The difference between female and male names is expressed in the use of component names characteristic of each species and their structure. It should be noted that reading Japanese names is perhaps the most difficult element in the Japanese language.

Transcription of Japanese names

Most often, in other languages ​​that use the Latin or Cyrillic alphabet, Japanese names are written according to their transcription, as well as ordinary Japanese text, according to the rules of a particular system - for example, romaji, the Polivanov system. Not less common is the recording of Japanese names in non-standard transliteration, for example, “shi” is used instead of “si”, and “ji” instead of “ji”, which is explained by an attempt to transliterate from the Latin spelling of the name according to the romaji system. For example, the name and surname Honjou Shizuka by Russian-speaking readers in most cases is read as Honjo "at Shizu" ka, and not Honjou Shizuka.

In Latin and Cyrillic transcription, Japanese names most often go in the usual order for Europeans - first the first name, then the surname, i.e. Yamada Taro is usually written as Tarou Yamada. This order is found in news feeds, magazines and journalistic publications. Less commonly, the Japanese spelling order is used, but in this case, the surname in Latin spelling is written in full capital letters. The Japanese traditional order of indicating the surname and name can be found in professional linguistic publications.

Sometimes you can find the Latin spelling of the name using standard Latin abbreviations of the name to the initial. Vowel lengths in Japanese have different lengths, which may be shown in transliteration in a spelling way (eg Tarou Yamada) or may not be shown at all (eg Taro Yamada). In Cyrillic writing, vowel length is usually not shown. The exception is educational publications, where the length of vowels is shown in brackets after writing in hieroglyphs and is indicated by a colon.

In Japanese, the relationship of interlocutors to each other is expressed by a suffix that is added after the name. So, san is typical for respectful neutral communication, kun is used in a conversation between two men, a classmate or work colleagues of equal rank, and tyan is an analogue of diminutive suffixes in Russian. The last suffix is ​​usually used in close acquaintance, when referring to girls or children.

Most Japanese refer to each other by their last names. Only in the circle of friends and good acquaintances is it possible to address by name without a suffix, in other cases such an appeal will be considered familiar.

As mentioned above, the choice of a name in Japan is not limited by anything, names can be created from any hieroglyphs allowed for this. Of course, many Japanese use popular names that take into account certain traditions.

Female Japanese names

Most Japanese names are easy to read and write, but there is a trend among parents to choose characters with unusual spellings or readings. It is for this reason that a large number of interpretations of both the meaning and reading of Japanese names have appeared. This trend has been actively manifested since the end of the 20th century.

This phenomenon was especially active in women's names. It is for this reason that the popularity of a particular female name is not as stable as that of a male one. For the past 20 years, Misaki and Sakura have continued to stay in the top 10, but they have been squeezed out by names such as Hina, Aoi, Rin and Yui, who have not been in the top five most popular female names in the last 100 years.

Japanese girl names have a clear and understandable meaning and are easy to read. Most of the female names are composed of the main component and the indicator, although there are names that do not have an indicative component. Depending on the value of the main component, it can be divided into several types.

• Many female names fall into the group of names with an abstract meaning. These names are based on components meaning "love", "calm", "tenderness" and others. Such names are given as a wish to possess certain qualities in the future (Kiyoko, Michi).
• The next group of names are names that have animal or plant components in their composition. In the past, girls were often given similar names. It was believed to promote health. However, today the fashion for names with animal components has passed. Only the component denoting "crane" is still popular. And the hieroglyphs associated with the world of flora do not go out of fashion to this day. Very often you can find names with components denoting "chrysanthemum" or "bamboo" (Sakura, Hana, Kiku).
• It is very rare to find names with numerals that take their roots in the ancient tradition of naming girls from noble families in order of birth (Nanami, Anko).
• You can also find names that have in their composition a component with the meaning of seasons, time of day, etc. (Yuki, Kasuma)
• Fashion for foreign names (Anna, Maria and others).

Beautiful Japanese names. The greatest changes have occurred among female names. New signs and hieroglyphs were added to record the name, the view on the general use of female names changed - more European-sounding names began to appear that resemble European names, although they are traditionally written in hieroglyphs and compiled according to traditional Japanese traditions. Examples would be the names - Naomi, Mika, Yuna.

At present, beautiful Japanese names contain less and less animal or plant components, and more and more abstract concepts and aspirational meanings have begun to be used. good qualities, future success (Haruto, Hina, Yuna, Yamato, Sora, Yua). Although the name Sakura does not leave the top ten most popular female names, the female name Aoi (mallow) and the male name Ren (lotus) are firmly in the top five.

The previously common name component with the ending “-ko”, which literally means “child”, has become considered unfashionable, out of date, therefore it is used less and less, although it has not completely lost its position (Asako, Yumiko, Takako).

Male Japanese names

Male names are incredibly difficult to read. It is in them that non-standard readings of nanori and rare readings are used, sometimes some components change in a non-standard way. So, the names Kaoru, Shigekazu and Kungoro have the same hieroglyph in their composition, but in each individual name it is read differently. Also, the same component of yoshi names, which is very common in Japan, can be written with 104 different characters or their combinations. It happens that only its bearer can read the name correctly.

Often one-component names come from verbs or adjectives. For example, Kaoru comes from the verb “to smell sweet”, and Hiroshi comes from the adjective “wide”. Male names that include two hieroglyphs use the hieroglyph denoting the male name as the second hieroglyph, showing also the way the name is read. Three-component names have a similar two-component index (Katsumi, Macao, Naoki, Sora).

Time does not stand still, and modern trends have made their own adjustments. Now, among the male names, traditional ones continue to prevail, but now they have different reading options. Popular male names in 2005 were such names as Sho, Shota, Hikaru, Tsubasa, Yamato, Takumi and various variations of the name Hiroto.

The traditional male name Hiroto now has alternative readings and "romanized" transcriptions. In the Russian version of pronunciation and recording, these are as if completely different and not at all close, not similar names, because the whole thing is in writing the hieroglyph and voicing it. Modern twins for the name Hiroto - Haruto, Yamato, Daito, Taiga, Sora, Taito, Masato, all of them are used in modern times along with their progenitor.

Most often, male names are divided into the following groups, but these are only the most basic ones.

• The name contains the "-ro" component, which is interpreted as "son" (Ichiro, Shiro, Saburo). But also this part of the name is assigned the meaning of “light”, “clear”, which can add various shades to the meaning of the name.
• The "-to" component is considered masculine and is very rare among female names. Means either "person" (Yuto, Kaito), or "fly", "soar" (Hiroto).
• The "-dai" component means "big, great". Used only in male names (Dai, Daichi, Daisuke, Daiki).
• Desirable names are popular, in which the boy is credited with masculine features, future successes and a wonderful life (Takeshi, Niboru, Ken).
• Traditional Japanese names are related to natural phenomena, seasons, natural materials(Kita, Montaro, Kohaku, Akiyama).

List of Japanese names with descriptions

List of Japanese names with meanings

Ai (Ai) - love

Ayaka - colorful flower

Aiko - beloved child

Aina (Aina) - loving

Akemi - dazzlingly beautiful

Aki (Aki) - born in autumn

Akiko (Akiko) - autumn child

Akira (Akira) - smart, quick-witted

Akihito - bright, friendly

Akiyama - autumn mountain

Amaya (night rain)

Ami (Ami) - beautiful Asian

Amida is the Japanese name for Buddha Amitabha.

Anzu - apricot

Anko (Aneko) - older sister

Aoi (Aoi) - pink mallow

Arisu (Arisu) - noble (Japanese analogue of the name Alice)

Atsuko (Azuko) - a kind child

Ayame - iris

Ayana - beautiful sounding

Bachiko - happy child

Botan (Botan) - long life, longevity

Gin / Gin (Gin) - silver

Goro - fifth son

Daiki - great tree, great radiance

Daisuke - great help

Izumi - fountain

Ima (Ima) - now

Isamu - peppy

Itsu (Etsu) - delightful, charming

Ichiro (Ichiro) - the first son

Ishi - stone

Yoko (Yuko) - bright / sunny child

Yori - trustworthy

Yoshi - reeds

Kagami - mirror

Kazuko (Kazuko) - a harmonious child

Kazuo - the man of the world

Kaze - wind

Kazuki - hope for the world

Kazuya (Kazuya) - harmonious, cheerful

Kaito (Kaito) - elusive

Kameko (Turtle child) (symbol of longevity)

Kana - diligent

Kano (Kano) - male power, opportunity

Kasumi (Kasumi) - haze, fog

Katashi (hardness)

Katsu (Katsu) - victory

Katsuo (Katsuo) - victorious child

Katsuro - victorious son

Keiko - blessed child, happy child

Ken (Ken) - strong, healthy

Kenji - strong second son

Kenshin - the heart of the sword

Kenta (Kenta) - healthy and bold

Kiyoko - purity

Kiyoshi (quiet)

Kiku (Kiku) - chrysanthemum

Kimiko (child of noble blood)

Kin - gold

Cinema (Kino) - air, forest

Kita - North

Kichiro (Kichiro) - a lucky son

Koko - stork

Koto (Koto) - the name of the national musical instrument of the Japanese - "koto", melodic

Kohaku - amber

Kohana - small flower

Kumiko - forever beautiful

Kuri - chestnut

Mai (Mai) - bright, leaf, dance

Maiko (Maeko) - an honest child

Makoto (Makoto) - sincere, true, truthful

Mami (Mami) - true beauty

Mamoru - earth, protector

Manami - the beauty of love

Marise - infinity

Matsuo - pine

Maemi (sincere smile)

Midori - green

Mika - first sound, three trees

Mina (Mina) - beauty

Mira (Mirai) - treasure

Misaki - flowering of beauty, beautiful flowering

Miu (Miu) - a beautiful feather

Mizuki - beautiful moon

Mitsuko - child of light

Michi (Michi) - fair, road

Miya (Miya) - three arrows

Montaro - mountains

Momoko (Peach Child)

Nami (Nami) - wave

Nana (Nana) - apple, seven

Nanami - seven seas

Naoki - straight tree

Naoko - obedient child, honest child

Naomi (Naomi) - beautiful

Nara - oak

Nariko - sissy, thunder

Natsuko - summer child

Natsumi - beautiful summer

Niboru - famous, rising

Nikki - new hope

Nori (Nori) - law, ceremony, rite

Nyoko - gemstone

Oki (Oki) - the middle of the ocean

Osamu (observant of the law)

Reiko - grateful child, thanksgiving child

Renzo - third son

Ryo (remote reality)

Ryota - obese, fat

Riko - child of jasmine, child of reason

Riku (Riku) - land, land

Rin (Rin) - unfriendly, cold

Rini (Rini) - little bunny

Modern Japanese names can be compared with names in many other cultures of the world. All Japanese have last name and first name(no patronymic), with the exception of the Japanese imperial family, whose members do not have a surname. The family name (family name) and given name (personal name) is a common practice in East and Southeast Asia, including Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, and some other cultures.

Names in Japan often created independently from existing characters, so the country has a huge number of unique names. Surnames are more traditional. There are more names in Japanese than surnames.

Male and female names differ due to their characteristic components and structure.

Before the Meiji Restoration surnames were only among aristocrats and samurai. The rest of the population of Japan used only personal names and nicknames. Women of aristocratic and samurai families also usually did not have surnames, since they did not have the right to inherit.

Personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai formed from two kanji (hieroglyphs) of noble meaning.

Personal names of samurai servants and peasants often given according to the principle of numbering. The first son is Ichiro, the second is Jiro, the third is Saburo, the fourth is Shiro, the fifth is Goro, and so on.

At the end of the names of girls from noble families the suffix "-hime" (princess) was added. It was used in relation to all noble girls.

For the names of the wives of the samurai the suffix "-gozen" was used. Often they were called simply by their husband's surname and rank.

Personal names of married women practically used only by their close relatives.

For the names of monks and nuns from the noble estates, the suffix "-in" was used.

Most Japanese female names end in "-ko" ("child") or "-mi" ("beauty"). Girls are usually given names associated with everything beautiful, pleasant and feminine. Some modern girls do not like the ending "-ko" in their names and prefer to omit it. For example, a girl named "Yuriko" might refer to herself as "Yuri".

After death, the Japanese gets a new one, posthumous name(kaimyo), which is written on a special wooden tablet (ihai). This tablet is considered the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased and is used in funeral rites. Kaimyo and ihai are bought from Buddhist monks, sometimes even before the person dies.

During the Meiji Restoration, all Japanese were given surnames.

The most common Japanese surnames are:

Watanabe, Ito, Kato, Kobayashi, Kudo, Kuroki, Murakami, Nakamura, Saito, Sato, Sasaki, Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka, Oonishi, Higa, Yamaguchi, Yamamoto.

Japanese female names

Azumi- safe place to live

Azami- thistle flower

Ai- love

Aki- autumn, bright

Akiko– autumn child or smart child

Akira- bright, clear, dawn

Amea- evening rain

Arisa- majestic

Asemi- morning beauty

And I– colorful, woven silk

Izumi- fountain

Yoko– ocean child, confident child

Yoshi- fragrant branch, good bay

Kam- turtle (symbol of long life)

Kay- respectful

Kiku– chrysanthemum

Kimi is an abbreviation for names beginning with "Kimi"

Kimiko- beautiful child, dear child, ruling child

kin– golden

kyoko- child of the capital

Koheku– amber

Kumiko- beautiful, long-lived

Miwa– beautiful harmony, three rings

Midori– green

Mizuki- beautiful moon

Miya- quiet

Mika- beautiful fragrance

Miki – beautiful tree, three trees

Miko- beautiful child, blessing

Minori- beautiful harbor

mineco- beautiful child

Miho- beautiful bay

Michi- trail

Michiko- the child is on the right track

Mommo- peach

Momo- a hundred blessings, a hundred rivers

Momoko– baby peach

Moriko- forest child

May– dance

Meiko- child's dance

Maine- true

Mariko- real reason

Mesa– shorthand for names beginning with "Maes"

Naoki- tree

Naomi- beauty

Nobuko- devoted child

Nori is an abbreviation for names beginning with "Nori"

Noriko- child of principles

Neo– honest

Neoko- an honest child

Ohara- thoughtful

Ran- water lily

Ray- polite

Ren- water lily

rica– rated flavor

Rico– jasmine

rioko- good child

Ruri- Emerald

Sake– cape

Sora- sky

Suzu- call

Sacker– cherry blossom

Tomiko (Temiko)- rich

Tomoko- friendly, wise child

Toshi– emergency

Toshiko- priceless child

Thacker- treasure

fuji– wisteria

Fumiko- a child who kept beauty

Hideko- gorgeous baby

hikeru- light, bright

Hiro- widespread

Hiroko- generous child

Hiromi- beauty

Hoshi- star

Hena- favorite, or flower

Chica– wisdom

Cho- butterfly

Shizuka- quiet

Shika- gentle deer

Eika- love song

Eiko- beloved child, child of love

Aimee- the beauty of love

Amy- smile

Emiko- smiling child

Erie- lucky prize

Yuka– fragrant, friendly sunrise

Yuki- snow

Yukiko- snow baby

Yuko- helpful child

Yumi bow, useful beauty

Yumiko- a beautiful, useful child

Yuri– lily

Yuriko- little lily, dear child

Yasu- calm

Yasuko- an honest child, a peaceful child

Our new book "Name Energy"

Oleg and Valentina Svetovid

Our email address: [email protected]

At the time of writing and publication of each of our articles, nothing of the kind is freely available on the Internet. Any of our information product is our intellectual property and is protected by the Law of the Russian Federation.

Any copying of our materials and their publication on the Internet or in other media without indicating our name is a violation of copyright and is punishable by the Law of the Russian Federation.

When reprinting any site materials, a link to the authors and the site - Oleg and Valentina Svetovid - required.

Japanese names. Japanese female names and their meaning

Attention!

Sites and blogs have appeared on the Internet that are not our official sites, but use our name. Be careful. Fraudsters use our name, our email addresses for their mailing lists, information from our books and our websites. Using our name, they drag people into various magical forums and deceive (give advice and recommendations that can harm, or lure out money for magical rituals, making amulets and teaching magic).

On our sites, we do not provide links to magical forums or sites of magical healers. We do not participate in any forums. We do not give consultations by phone, we do not have time for this.

Note! We are not engaged in healing and magic, we do not make or sell talismans and amulets. We do not engage in magical and healing practices at all, we have not offered and do not offer such services.

The only direction of our work is correspondence consultations in writing, training through an esoteric club and writing books.

Sometimes people write to us that on some sites they saw information that we allegedly deceived someone - they took money for healing sessions or making amulets. We officially declare that this is slander, not true. In all our lives, we have never deceived anyone. On the pages of our site, in the materials of the club, we always write that you need to be an honest decent person. For us, an honest name is not an empty phrase.

People who write slander about us are guided by the basest motives - envy, greed, they have black souls. The time has come when slander pays well. Now many are ready to sell their homeland for three kopecks, and it is even easier to engage in slandering decent people. People who write slander do not understand that they are seriously worsening their karma, worsening their fate and the fate of their loved ones. It is pointless to talk with such people about conscience, about faith in God. They do not believe in God, because a believer will never make a deal with his conscience, he will never engage in deceit, slander, and fraud.

There are a lot of scammers, pseudo-magicians, charlatans, envious people, people without conscience and honor, hungry for money. The police and other regulatory agencies are not yet able to cope with the increasing influx of "Cheat for profit" insanity.

So please be careful!

Sincerely, Oleg and Valentina Svetovid

Our official websites are: