Female and male Japanese names and their meanings

The cultural traditions of Japan for a long time developed independently of the phenomena alien to them, which occurred in European and Asian countries. Thanks to this, a special, absolutely different world view was formed here, which, in turn, served as the creation of original architectural ensembles, objects of everyday life, clothing and even names. It is Japanese names and their meanings that are the main topic of this article. We will consider in detail how children are named in Japan, how names are transferred to them, and we learn the only correct way of translating Russians into Japanese.

As in Japan were given names: a bit of history

The history of the creation of names in Japan has its roots in those times when the society still did not have a clear class division. It is only known how in the later period Japanese names were created. Men, for example, carried in themselves information about the order in which the family was born sons, but women were more diverse. By the 3rd century BC, a state began to form in the state, in which the division in terms of the degree of prosperity and the position held in the society was clearly visible. The names of those who were close to the ruling elite necessarily contained a particle of udzi or udji, and the component of the name "be" was peculiar to people who had to do dirty and very hard work every day.

It is worth noting that the Japanese girls' names rarely contained the above-mentioned components that rank them among a certain category of the population. In most cases, parents presented their daughters with names that combined abstract concepts such as love, good, light and color, as well as the names of animals and plants.

Structure of the female Japanese name

Ironically, female Japanese names have not changed much since ancient times. Parents also give one of them to their daughter based on what qualities they want to see in her. Therefore, the names of girls and women are most easily translated from the Japanese language. This feature also makes it easy to understand the meaning invested in them.

All without exception the Japanese names of girls consist of several parts:

• Basic, including an abstract meaning (color, feeling, etc.);
• An additional, consisting of the name of an animal or plant;
• Indicative, which most often has the meaning of age, height, or appearance.

Ancient and modern female names in Japan

As already mentioned above, the Japanese names of girls have changed little over the past 5 centuries. However, paying a tribute to fashion, many women prefer to "reduce" their names by removing the last, indicative component. Most often, modern Japanese girls get rid of the suffix "ko", which translates as "child". At the same time, such components as "ka", meaning "flower", and "e" - the era became popular. It is worth noting that such a reduction has little effect on Japanese names, and their meanings in this case do not change their meaning.

The importance of women's names

To fully understand how the female name is formed in Japan, it is enough to consider several common examples in which all the necessary components are present. For starters, we will list a few of them, the structure of which contains the names of plants and fruits. The meaning of Japanese women's names belonging to this group is most often the "sweetness", the need and the external beauty of the child. Here you can rightly include the names of Anzu ("apricot"), Kaede ("maple leaf"), Michie ("graceful flowing flower"), Nana ("apple"), Umeko ("plum flower child").

Modern female Japanese names are also often formed using the names of various natural phenomena: Kasumi ("foggy or misty"), Arahsi ("whirlwind, storm"), Tsuyu ("morning dewdrop"). In addition, in Japan, daughters are often called according to the time of their birth: Akiko ("the child of autumn"), Haruko ("spring child"), Yayoi ("born in March"). Often the name for the girl is a completely abstract concept: Asuka ("the fragrance of the future"), Kiyoko ("purity, innocence"), Mariko ("child of truth"), Nozomi ("hope"), Yoshiko ("perfection"), Yori ( "confidence").

Most popular Japanese names for girls

Women's Japanese names and their meanings, in which there is a lot of meaning, still play a big role today. Nowadays, they are chosen according to the principle of euphony and influence on the fate of the girl. The most popular female names in Japan in recent years are: Kichi, which means "beautiful", Maemi - "genuine smile", Machi - "ten millennia", Sorano - "heavenly", and Tomiko - "the child of wealth". In addition, the names that are consonant with European are gaining popularity: Gin - "silvery", Mika - "new moon", Riko - "child from the flower of jasmine", and Tani - "born in the valley".

Structure of the male Japanese name

The importance of male Japanese names today has a profound meaning, which includes information about the type of activity of the child's ancestors. Just like in the deep past, they must contain information about how the boy was born in order. In the name of the firstborn there is an element "kadzu", and in the second and third child - "ji" and "dzo" respectively. What else do the Japanese names include? Men's, unlike women's, are not so melodic and simple in pronunciation. Nevertheless, there are many elements in their composition that denote human qualities: character, abilities, external data.

Japanese masculine names: value

Let's get acquainted with several groups of names, for which various phenomena or abilities are characteristic. As mentioned above, the sequence of birth is important for the Japanese. The first sons are often named Taro (firstborn) or Ichiro (if a girl was born before the boy). The second male child is called Kenji and so on. In large families, the name Goro (the fifth) and even Shichiro (the seventh) comes up.

Very often male Japanese names and their meanings are tied to any forces: Daiki is the "great tree", Katsuo is the "victorious child", Mashiro is "wide," Raidon is the "commander of thunder," Takeshi is "brave." Also very popular are the names that carry information about the nature or abilities of the child: Benjiro - "enjoying the world", Hikaru - "shining," Kanaye - "zeal," Masa - "straight or straight", Toshiro - "talented" Saniiro is "wonderful." The smallest spread in Japan were male names, which denote natural phenomena, plants and animals: Roka - "crest wave", Yudsuki - "crescent" and Udo - "ginseng".

Beautiful names for Japanese boys

Parents, regardless of the country in which the child is born, always try to give the baby a name that will caress the ears. This also applies to male names in Japan. The list of the most beautiful, and therefore popular in this state, values is quite extensive. So, let's get acquainted with the most beautiful, in the opinion of the Japanese themselves, masculine names: Akajo - "smart man", Joshajto - "good, kind person", Setoshi - "wise, clear-minded", Makoto - "true, real man". Recently, very popular are those that are the characters of various films, anime and comics: Sota - "big", Ren - "lotus", Haruto - "solar", Riku - "earthly firmament".

Russian names in Japanese: how to translate your name

Modern youth very often seeks to take a creative pseudonym or simply a second name that will more clearly characterize them as a person. Often in this capacity, aliases with Japanese roots are used. It is due to the fact that their sound is always more melodic than that of the European ones. A literal translation of a name into Japanese in this case is not always possible, especially if one wants to preserve the already existing meaning.

It should be noted that the Japanese themselves use the Katakana alphabet to designate their own names of foreigners, each hieroglyph of which indicates a certain syllable. European or Russian names written with the help of this alphabet do not carry a semantic load, but only convey their sound.

For the writing of Japanese names, hieroglyphs of Hiragan's syllabic alphabet are used, which not only denote their pronunciation, but also have a special meaning. In most cases, Russian names, written with the help of Hiragana, represent a completely dissonant combination (in the opinion of the Japanese themselves) or even are indecent expressions.

If you want to translate your name into Japanese, and also write it with the hieroglyphs of Hiragana, it is better to begin to learn its meaning in Roman, Greek, Latin, Hebrew or other languages. Only by setting the parameters included in the name (character traits, external characteristics, names of animals, birds and plants), you can start translating each component into Japanese. Translated in this way names can be written with Hiragana signs without loss or distortion of meaning, but the sound component will be completely changed.