| Sources | Pronunciation guide |
(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: chkah–ge [tɕì̥.ká.ɡé̞]
Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is most commonly written as 千景, individually meaning “thousand” and “shadow, figure; reflection” (also written as 影). The first kanji can be substituted with 智/知 meaning “wisdom.”
On rare occasions, it can also be written with a chika+ge combination. For the first element, kanji which have the nanori reading chika include 愛 meaning “love” and 和 meaning “harmony, peace.” As for the second element, any kanji with the reading ge can be used, such as 夏 meaning “summer” and 芽 meaning “bud, sprout.”
Popularity:
This name was rarely used before the 1950s and 1960s. By the time it began rising, there were two actresses, first Awashima and then Oogi, who made screen debuts in the first half of the 1950s (and both happened to be members of the Takarazuka Revue at some point of their career).
Percentages for Chikage as a feminine name throughout the 1960s and 1970s were between 0.03% and 0.05% before declining to 0.01% or below by the 1990s and 2000s. At that same time, usage as a masculine usage began to increase, albeit in a snailish pace. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my 2014-20 names research, the gender split had narrowed significantly (as is the case with such names as Chiaki and Chihiro) with average percentages around or near 0.02% for both genders.
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Beyond Sakura and Hiroshi 