[history & culture]Origin of Japanese People’s Names!

Konichiwa!

Today, I would like to guide you guys to the knowledge for origin of Japanese people’s names!

As people from specific ethnic group like Indian and Native American do, Japanese people have special meaning for their names.

But the biggest difference between Native American and Japanese names is that; while some group of letters (=words ) express its meaning in Native American’s names, each letters has meaning in Japanese names.

some parents write the babies name like this!

 

In today’s article,
I’m going to cover the first name of Japanese names.

So, here are some examples.

"AI"

 

There is a girl whose name is Ai.

Ai often being written like this in Japanese : 愛

(If you cannot see Chinese letters on your computer/phone, see the picture below.)

Well, this Chinese character, Ai means “love” in Japanese.

So without saying, this girl’s name means “love.” J

Ai is beautiful, and one of the most simple names in Japan.

So, let’s talk about more complicated one - my name!

 My name is Eriko, and I use three letters to express my name in Chinese letters like this: 衣里子 and each letter has the sound like this “E RI KO.”

"Eriko"

 

Then, first letter “衣” means “cloth, especially, the soft material worn by angels”, and the second letter “里”　means “old home town” in Japanese. And the third letter “子” means “child.” This letter is often used in Japanese girls’ name to make the entire name sound comfortable.

SO! Did you get what my name means??

Well, I don’t think so! Haha.

Actually, those Chinese letters in the meaningless names like mine are phonetic equivalents that are put to express the original meaning the sound already had when my parents came up with this name “ERIKO.”

If you are interested in my name’s story, take a look at another article:

http://erikoyaybeejapanlife.blogspot.jp/2012/08/columstory-of-my-name.html
 

Since I’m a girl, I always tend to forget boys’ stuff…lol

Well, here’s a boy name’s example for you!

Daiki!

Daiki (DAI KI) is one of the frequently used Japanese boys’ name and it may be express like this in Chinese letters : “大輝” (There are plenty of other ways to express this name though!)

"Daiki"

Then, the first letter “大(Dai)” means “big” and the second one “輝(Ki)” means, “shine” in Japanese.

So this name may be including his family’s wish for this boy: “grow to be a big shinny man.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those examples are just a tip of the iceberg!

So if you got any chance to talk to Japanese when you are traveling in here, try asking them about their names. Many of them might have some interesting stories for you!

And I think I have a funny story for my name, too. My parents were unique.

So if you are interested, stop by at this article:http://erikoyaybeejapanlife.blogspot.jp/2012/08/columstory-of-my-name.html

 

Bye!

ERIKO