天

Takara (たから)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male, can be female as well
Pronunciation: tah-kah–rah [tà.ká.ɾá]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The name is derived from 宝/財 (takara) meaning “treasure.” How it is derived is uncertain. Both Ōtsuki and Yamada give a shift from 力 (chikara), meaning “strength, power,” as one of the derivations, though Ōtsuki lists out a couple of other derivations, like:

  • a combination of 田 (ta) meaning “rice field” and kara, written as 自, likely 柄 (kara) meaning “quality, characteristic”
  • a combination of 田 (ta) and 税 (chikara) meaning “tax”
  • a derivation of 高い (takai), written in source as 貴い, meaning “high”

Robbeets has a similar theory to the last derivation, being that the word/name is derived from the stem taka– with what she refers as a “collective bound noun” suffix –ra/ら, likely referring to the nominalising/pluralising suffix used in other words/names like Sakura and Katsura.
宝/財, alongside other kanji related to 高, like 貴/尊 meaning “precious, valuable,” 空/天 meaning “sky” or 孝 meaning “filial piety,” and 鷹, which refers to a hawk, can be suffixed with either a –ra kanji, such as 良 meaning “good,” 来/來 meaning “arrival” or 楽/樂 meaning “comfort, ease,” or a kanji that can be read as kara, e.g. 柄 or 空.

Popularity:
In use since the Meiji period (1868-1912), usage of this name is pretty uncommon. In the early 20th century, it was a rare, mostly masculine name, but fast forward to the 1990s and 2000s and feminine usage picked up a bit. In 1990, it was given to around 0.005% of boys and around 0.001% of girls, rising to over 0.01% for both genders by 2000 before dropping back down to 0.005% or below by 2009. Now, according to my preliminary 2014-9 names research and Baby Calendar rankings data, usage of this name is seemingly very similar to what happened in the early 20th century – over 0.02% of baby boys are receiving this name with few instances of baby girl Takaras.

If you would like to add in your thoughts about this name, please share them in the comments below.

Sora (そら)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male, can be female as well
Pronunciation: so-rah [só̞.ɾà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name stems from the word 空 (sora) meaning “sky,” as a name also written as 昊, 宙, 天 and 穹. 大空 and 青空 (also, and more popularly, 蒼空 and 碧空) are also used, normally read as oozora and aozora and meaning “(literally) big sky, heavens, firmament, the blue” and “blue sky” respectively. The first kanji for aozora can also be used as a single kanji.
As far as other 2-kanji combinations go, the single kanji mentioned at the beginning are used as both a first and second element kanji. Other kanji in use for this type of combinations are shown in the table below:

so (そ) ra (ら)
奏 “playing music” 来/來 “arrival”
爽 “fresh” 良 “good”
想 “conception, idea, thought” 咲 “blossom”
颯 “quick, sudden” 楽 “comfort, ease”
壮 “vibrancy, strength, bravery” 桜 “cherry (tree, blossom)”
創 “making, building; start, origin, beginning” 愛 “love, affection”
星 “star”
翔 “fly, soar”
蘭 “orchid”
頼 “request, favour; trust”
礼 “gratitude; manners; gift”
麗 “lovely, beautiful”
大 “large, big”
虎 “tiger”

Image-based kanji combinations are not out of the question for Sora, most of which include:

  • 夏空, the first kanji meaning “summer”
  • 叶空, the first kanji meaning “grant, answer”
  • 希空, the first kanji meaning “rare” or part of 希望 (kibō) meaning “hope, wish, aspiration”
  • 輝空, the first kanji meaning “brightness, brilliance”
  • 幸空, the first kanji meaning “good luck, happiness”
  • 澄空, the first kanji meaning “lucidity, transparency”
  • 星空 – see the table above for 星
  • 美空, the first kanji meaning “beauty”
  • 夢空, the first kanji meaning “dream”
  • 優空, the first kanji meaning “gentle, elegant”

Simply put, the sky really is the limit for this name!

Popularity:
Although in use since at least the early 20th century, the name started to see its first signs of an increase in popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1990, it was given to just over 0.01% of both boys and girls. By the mid-1990s, the increase gets steeper, the percentages increasing to over 0.08% for boys and over 0.04% for girls by 1996, over 0.3% and over 0.12% by 2000 and over 0.84% and over 0.32% by 2007.
By then, Sora began to maintain its position within the boys’ top 20 and the lower half of the girls’ top 100, though over the past few years, the name flip flops out and back in the boys’ top 20, based on data from Baby Calendar, Tamahiyo and Meiji Yasuda Life.

If you would like to add in your thoughts about this name, please share them in the comments below.

Aoi (あおい)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: ah-o–ee [à.ó̞.í]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The most commonly used form of this name is 葵, which refers to a mallow or other plants belonging to the mallow family, e.g. the hollyhock, and also a wild ginger (the form mainly used for females, but is sometimes used on males as well). It is generally thought to derive from the stem of verb 仰ぐ (aogu) meaning “to look up to, respect, revere; to seek; to depend/rely on” combined with 日 (hi) meaning “day,” in reference to its heliotropism. It can also be written as 碧, 蒼 or 青, from the adjective which nowadays has the general meaning of “blue,” but also meant “green” until recently and is still used to refer to that colour in certain things today (e.g. traffic lights and leaves). Compared to 葵, this way of writing Aoi is mainly used for males with some feminine usage. 藍, shifted from ai meaning “indigo,” is also occasionally used.
These single kanji can occasionally follow an a kanji, such as 愛 meaning “love, affection” or 彩 meaning “colour,” 明 meaning “bright” or 亜 (向葵 is also used, stemming from 向日葵 (himawari), which refers to a sunflower). It is more likely however that these single kanji are suffixed with a kanji that can be read as i, some of which include:

  • 生 meaning “live, exist”
  • 唯/惟 meaning “only”
  • 衣 meaning “clothing”
  • 依 meaning “reliance, dependence”
  • 彩 see above
  • 海 meaning “sea, ocean”***
  • 一/壱 meaning “one”*
  • 士 meaning “warrior; samurai”*
  • 叶 meaning “grant, answer”
  • 音 meaning “sound”
  • 空/天 meaning “sky”***
  • 愛 meaning “beloved”**
  • 李 meaning “Japanese/Chinese plum”
  • 泉 meaning “(natural) spring, fountain”
  • 大 meaning “large, big”*
  • 陽/日 see above
  • 心 meaning “heart, mind”
  • 維 meaning “tie, rope”
  • 結 meaning “tie, bond”**

* mostly used on males
** mostly used on females
*** mostly follows a kanji for “blue” in reference to the sea/sky’s colour

Popularity:
In use since at least the second half of the Meiji period (1868-1912), the name didn’t start seeing an increase in usage until the 1970s. By 1990, over 0.24% of girls and over 0.01% of boys received this name, placing Aoi just below the top 100 for girls. As time goes on, usage for both genders increase to the point that the name has, for the most part, maintained its position within the girls’ top 10 and stayed within the boys’ top 100 since the late 2000s.
Based on survey data from Baby Calendar, Tamahiyo and Meiji Yasuda Life as well as my preliminary 2014-9 names research, average percentages for that time period were at well over 1.1% for girls and over 0.7% for boys, the boys’ average percentage, in particular, on the up compared to the early third of the decade where Aoi sometimes ranked within the lower section of the top 50 but mostly ranked below it (meaning that percentages back then may have peaked at over 0.4%).

If you would like to add in your thoughts about this name, please share them in the comments below.

Noa (のあ)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: no-ah [nó̞.à]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
Here are most of the kanji used for this name:

no (の) a (あ)
乃/之 phonetic kanji* 愛 “love, affection”
希/望/稀 “desire, wish, hope” 空 “space, room”
叶 “grant, answer” 蒼/碧 “blue”
音 “sound” 彩 “colour”
野/埜 “field” 歩 “step”
祈 “prayer” 亜/亞 phonetic kanji
能 “talent, gift” 杏 “apricot”
心 “heart, mind” 葵 “hollyhock; wild ginger;” part of 向日葵 (himawari) “sunflower”
夢 “dream” 綾 “figure, design”
和 “calm, gentle” 綺 “thin silk;” part of 綺麗 (kirei) “pretty; clean”
暖 “warmth” 羽 “feather”
和 “harmony, peace”
麻 “hemp, flax”
吾 phonetic kanji**
天 “sky; heaven”
秋 “autumn”
明 “bright”
絢 “gorgeous, brilliant”
朱 “vermilion”
茜 “Japanese madder”
藍 “indigo”

* can refer to the possessive particle
** can refer to the formal/literary 1st person pronoun

Masculine usage of this name may be inspired by the Biblical name Noah.

Popularity:
This name is mostly used on people born in the Heisei period (1989-2019) onwards. In 1990, it was given to only over 0.005% of girls and very little in the way of usage for boys. The name slowly increased in usage in the mid-1990s, though by 1997, the increase started to steepen.
By 2000, over 0.26% of girls and over 0.015% of boys received this name, increasing to over 0.33% for the girls and just under 0.03% for the boys by 2007. By then, Noa was already ranking within the girls’ top 100. Based on survey data from Baby Calendar, Meiji Yasuda Life and Tamahiyo and my preliminary 2014-9 names research, over 0.5% of girls received this name for most years in the 2010s (a couple of years do fall below that mark). As for the boys, my research, coupled with BC rankings data, suggests that the percentage for the middle and latter parts of the 2010s is largely at 0.05% or above.

If you would like to add in your thoughts about this name, please share them in the comments below.

Takane (たかね)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Generally unisex
Pronunciation: tah-kah–ne [tà.ká.né̞]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The first element of this name is a stem of the adjective 高い (takai) meaning “high, tall.” 鷹, which refers to a hawk, can also be used for this name. Other kanji which either share or expands upon the adjective’s meanings include:

  • 貴/尊 meaning “precious, valuable”
  • 岳 meaning “peak; mountain”
  • 崇 meaning “respect”
  • 天 meaning “sky”
  • 敬 meaning “reverence, respect”
  • 孝 meaning “filial piety”
  • 隆 meaning “prosperous”
  • 聖 meaning “sacred, holy”
  • 陵 meaning “(big) hill”

It can also be split into two kanji, a ta kanji, e.g. 多 meaning “many, much,” combined with a ka kanji, e.g. 嘉 meaning “praise, esteem.” As for the second element, any ne kanji can be used, such as 音 meaning “sound,” 嶺/峰 meaning “peak, summit,” 根 meaning “root,” 寧 meaning “tranquillity,” 祢/禰 meaning “ancestral shrine” or 子, referring to the sign of the Rat.
The name coincides with the words 高嶺/高根 (takane), referring to a high peak, and 高音 (takane), referring to a high-pitched tone or soprano.

Popularity:
Overall usage for this name is rare. Telephone book data has just under 500 people whose writings in their names have any one of the combinations used for the name Takane and assuming they are all read as that, percentages for both men and women are likely to be at between 0.001% and 0.002%.
Regarding Heisei period (1989-2019) popularity, based on data from Namae Jiten, Baby Calendar and my preliminary 2014-9 names research, percentages range from 0.001% to 0.003% per year.

If you would like to add in your thoughts about this name, please share them in the comments below.

Amane (あまね)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: ah-mah–ne [à.má.né̞]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name comes from the root of classical adjective 普し/周し (amaneshi) meaning “wide, extensive, universal” and adverb 普く/周く (amaneku) meaning “widely, extensively, universally.” As a single kanji, the name can also be written as 弥 meaning “increase.”
These kanji can also be used in multi-kanji combinations, the more common being 2-kanji combinations. The first element of that kind of combination can be used as 天 (ama) meaning “sky; heaven,” 海 (ama), the kanji meaning “sea, ocean” but refers to female (海女) or male (海人/海士) diving fishers, or 雨 (ama) meaning “rain” (the first and last kanji having bound forms of ame and are cognates). The second element can be any kanji with the reading ne, such as 音 meaning “sound,” 寧 meaning “tranquillity,” 嶺/峰/峯 meaning “peak, summit” or 祢 meaning “ancestral shrine.” For 3-kanji combinations, the first element can be split into two, with an a kanji, e.g. 亜 and 天, and a ma kanji, such as 舞 meaning “dance,” 万 meaning “ten thousand” and 茉, part of 茉莉 (matsuri) which refers to the Arabian jasmine.

Popularity:
Though we have Nishi Amane (also called Shūsuke) as our Meiji period (1868-1912) example, usage of this name didn’t really increase until the 1990s. Less than 0.005% of girls and boys were given this name in 1990. That increased to over 0.01% for the girls by 1996.
1998 is when its popularity had a significant boost, resulting to over 0.11% of girls receiving this name by the next year. This was seemingly caused by the television drama ‘WITH LOVE’ (aired from April to June of 1998) where one of the main characters has this name (written as 雨音). Since the late 2000s, usage of this name for both genders has remained relatively steady. According to my preliminary 2014-8 names research, over 0.08% of girls and over 0.03% of boys received this name in that time period.

If you would like to add in your thoughts about this name, please share them in the comments below.

Haruto (はると)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: hah-ruu-to [há.ɾɯ̟̀ᵝ.tò̞]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
Currently, the most popular form of this name is 陽翔, made up of 陽 meaning “day, sun” and 翔 meaning “fly, soar.” Excluding alternative forms of kanji, from my research, there are well over 2,500 combinations of Haruto, so it is impossible for me to go over every kanji I’ve found without taking an extremely huge chunk of the article, so I am going over some of the kanji used for this name.
For the first element, among other themes, there are 3 main ones where the kanji are grouped in, with overlap for some:

  • Related/connotated to 遥か/遙か (haruka) “far off, distant”:
    • Shared meanings: 悠 and 遼
    • 大* meaning “large, big”
    • 治 meaning “govern, manage”
    • 永* meaning “long”
    • 浩 meaning “spacious, vast, wide”
  • Related/connotated to 晴れ (hare) “clear/fine weather”:
    • 啓/開 meaning “opening”
    • 青/蒼, generally meaning “blue”
    • 天 meaning “sky”
    • 明 meaning “bright”
    • 日 meaning “day”
  • Related/connotated to 春 (haru) “spring”:
    • 暖/温 meaning “warmth”
    • 桜 meaning “cherry (tree, blossom)”
    • 華/花 meaning “flower”

There are instances of Haruto being written with a single kanji, such kanji including 悠, 晴 and 暖. As for the second element*, some of the kanji used there include:

  • 斗, referring to the Chinese constellation known as the Dipper
  • 人 meaning “person”
  • 仁 meaning “benevolence, compassion, humanity”
  • 音 meaning “sound”
  • 登 meaning “ascent”
  • 都 meaning “metropolis”
  • 士 meaning “warrior; samurai”
  • 叶 meaning “grant, answer”
  • 飛 meaning “fly, soar”

Popularity:
Although it has been in use since at least the Meiji period (1868-1912), for over a century it had been an uncommonly used name. Throughout much of the 1990s, Haruto had been on a steady climb, rising from over 0.02% in 1990 to over 0.09% in 1996, though by 1998, the steady climb had turned into a steep jump into popularity. What prompted this jump is the birth of the son of Amuro Namie, now retired from the music and entertainment business, which, when looking at the context, is no surprise given her star power at the time.
By 2004, it was already given to more than a percent of boys, doubling to well over 2% by the end of the 2000s. By then, Haruto became the top Japanese boy name, which it has been now for the last 10 years or so and will remain on top for a while as we head forward into the current Reiwa period.

If you would like to add in your thoughts about this name, please share them in the comments below.