| Sources | Pronunciation guide |
(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: sah-chee [sá.tɕì]
Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is derived from 幸/倖 (sachi) meaning “good luck, happiness.” The word itself (also applying to its bound/original form satsu) was originally used with relation to hunting (thus it is speculated to have a possible relation to Korean 살 (sal) meaning “arrow”) and the current meanings may have been adopted from the Chinese source.
Other single kanji used in relation to the ideas of good luck and happiness include 祥 meaning “blessedness, (good) omen” and 福 meaning “good fortune, happiness, blessing, good luck.” The aforementioned kanji can also be used as part of a 2-kanji combination on either element. The second element is mainly written as either 智/知 (chi) meaning “wisdom” or 千 (chi) meaning “thousand,” but can also be written as 茅, from chigaya which refers to cogon grass, or 稚 (chi) meaning “young, new.” As for the first element, it can be written as:
- 紗 meaning “gauze”
- 沙/砂 meaning “sand”
- 早 meaning “early”
- 佐 meaning “help”
- 咲 meaning “blossom”
- 彩/采 meaning “colouring”
- 桜/櫻 meaning “cherry (tree, blossom)”
- 嵯, part of 嵯峨 (saga) meaning “high and steep, precipitous”
- 瑳 meaning “polish, shine”
- 左 meaning “left”
- 小 meaning “small”
- 冴 meaning “clarity; skilfulness”
- 裟, part of 袈裟 (kesa), referring to robes of fully ordained Buddhist monks and nuns
- 爽 meaning “fresh”
- 才 meaning “ability, gift, talent”
Popularity:
Usage of this name since the latter part of the Edo period (1603-1868) is uncommon. Percentage wise, it generally stayed within the 0.1% range, from the late Edo period through to the 1930s and then from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s.
Regarding current popularity, it has fallen to below 0.1% since the mid-1990s, though it only occasionally drops below 0.05%. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my 2014-21 names research, the average percentage from 2017-21 is just over 0.075%.
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Beyond Sakura and Hiroshi 