Sources | Pronunciation guide |
(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: rah-ee-to [ɾá.ì.tò̞]
Etymology and/or ways to write:
Normally, this name follows a rai+to kanji combination, some of the kanji used shown in the table below:
rai (らい) | to (と) | |
來/来/徠 “arrival” | 斗 “the Dipper” | |
頼 “request, favour; trust” | 翔/飛 “fly, soar” | |
礼 “gratitude; manners; gift” | 人 “person” | |
蕾 “bud” | 叶 “grant, answer” | |
雷 “lightning, thunder” | 音 “sound” | |
麗 “lovely, beautiful” | 都 “metropolis” | |
萊/莱 “goosefoot” | 大 “big, large” | |
良 “good” | 偉 “greatness” | 虎 “tiger” |
羅 “thin silk, gauze” | 杜 “shrine grove” | |
采 part of 采配 (saihai) “order, command” | ||
心 “heart, mind” | ||
門 “gate” |
You may notice that Raito also transcribes to the English word light. It is indeed the case that, sometimes (especially among babies born from the Heisei period (1989-2019) onwards), kanji either related to the word or otherwise used for image conjuring are used, like 光 meaning “light; ray, beam, glow,” 月 meaning “moon,” 輝 meaning “brightness, brilliance” and 煌 meaning “glitter, sparkle.” While single kanji are used for this name, they are more likely to be combined with a to kanji or another kanji with some sort of connection to light, examples of the latter being 煌月, 輝星 and 月輝.
Popularity:
In use since at least the 1920s, much of its usage is concentrated on those born in the Heisei period onwards. In 1990, it was only given to around 0.005% of boys, remaining stable until the late 1990s when it began to rise in usage. By the late 2000s, well over 0.12% of boys received this name.
Based on my 2014-20 names research, by 2014, it already ranked in the top 100 with 0.253% of boys receiving this name and peaking at 0.332% and ranking 74th in 2015. By 2020, it fell to around 0.104%, just above the top 200 threshold (when combined with Baby Calendar rankings data, the 2020 percentage increased to just below 0.12%).
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