爽

Sachi (さち)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

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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Sonoka (そのか)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: so-no-kah [só̞.nò̞.kà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The first element is taken from 園(薗)/苑 (sono) meaning “garden, orchard, park.” It can also be split into two kanji, the second part written as either 乃/之 (no), referring to the possessive particle, or 野 (no) meaning “field.” Most kanji for the first part can be seen in the table below alongside some of the ones used for the second element:

so (そ) ka (か)
素 “plain” 佳 “beautiful, good”
想 “conception, idea, thought” 香/郁/薫/馨 “fragrance”
早 “early” 花/華 “flower”
初 “first, new” 加 “addition”
颯 “sudden, quick” 夏 “summer”
蒼 “blue” 果 “fruit”
奏 “playing music”* 歌 “song”
爽 “fresh”

* also used for the second element

Popularity:
The name started rising in usage in the 1980s, though usage levels at the beginning of the Heisei period (1989-2019) were within the 0.01% range. It rose to over 0.03% in 1994 and 1995, dropping slighty out in 1996 before peaking at around 0.045% in 1997. By 1999, it fell back down below 0.02%, largely remaining within the 0.01% range since then.

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Sono (その)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: so-no [só̞.nò̞]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is derived from 園(薗)/苑 (sono) meaning “garden, orchard, park.” Nowadays, it is more common to be written with 2 kanji, so kanji used including 想 meaning “conception, idea, thought,” 蒼, generally meaning “blue,” 爽 meaning “fresh,” 奏 meaning “playing music,” 颯 meaning “sudden, quick” or 素 meaning “plain.” As for the second element, it is mainly written as 乃 (no), referring to the possessive particle, but it can also be written as 野 (no) meaning “field.”

Popularity:
By the latter half of the Edo period (1603-1868), usage of Sono, which was mainly written phonetically, had grown to be somewhat common with percentage levels, when combining data from Tsunoda and Collazo, at around 0.55%, placing it within the bottom section of the top 50. Like other names of this type, it began to fall down in popularity in the latter half of the Meiji period (1868-1912), becoming rarely used by the 1930s.
Regarding Heisei period (1989-2019) popularity, it was given to around 0.002-3% of girls throughout much of the 1990s, slowing rising to over 0.005% by 2000 before making a more steep rise to over 0.015% by 2004. Since the late 2000s, percentages remain stable at around the 0.02% mark.

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Risa (りさ)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: rʸee-sah [ɾʲí.sà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
Though it has been in use before the 20th century as mentioned again later on, in recent decades, the name’s usage is seemingly inspired by the pan-European name Lisa. Most of the kanji used for this name is shown in the table below:

ri (り) sa (さ)
梨 “pear” 紗 “gauze”
理 “reason, logic” 沙/砂 “sand”
里 “village” 咲 “blossom”
莉 part of 茉莉 (matsuri) “Arabian jasmine” 彩/采 “colouring”
凛/凜 “cold; dignified” 佐 “help”
利 “advantage, benefit” 桜 “cherry (tree, blossom)”
璃 part of 瑠璃 (ruri) “lapis lazuli” 爽 “fresh”
李 “Japanese/Chinese plum” 早 “early”
吏 “officer” 幸 “good luck, happiness”
浬 “nautical mile”
琳 “jewel”
鈴 “bell”
怜/伶 “clever, smart”

Popularity:
This name has been in use as far back as the early Edo period (1603-1868), the earliest example I can find belonging to one of the concubines of Tokugawa Iemitsu. Based on data from Tsunoda and Collazo, the average percentage of women bearing this name in the latter part of the period is over 0.17%, placing it below the top 150.
As with most feminine name of the period, it fell down in popularity through the first half of the 20th century. However, it started rising again in the 1960s and it started to become somewhat of a popular name by the 1980s with a peak period between 1990 and 1996. By then, percentages were 1% or above and Risa ranked within the lower half of the top 20. Since then however, it dropped down in popularity, falling off the top 50 by 2007 (the percentage being around 0.39%) and the top 100 by the mid-2010s (Baby Calendar, however, still has Risa ranking in the top 100 until 2019).

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.

Sōta (そうた)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: so:-tah [só̞ò̞.tà]
Variant transliterations: Sota, Souta, Sohta

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The second element of this name is most commonly written as 太 meaning “plump, thick,” with other ta kanji in use including 大 meaning “large, big,” 汰 meaning “wash, scour” and 多 meaning “many, much.” Second element kanji that are used more recently have ta as part of a reading (be it Sino-Japanese, native or name) and they include:

  • 泰 meaning “quiet, peaceful; great, excessive”
  • 空/天 meaning “sky”
  • 詩 meaning “poem”
  • 龍/竜 meaning “dragon”
  • 達 meaning “reach, arrive, attain”
  • 樹 meaning “tree”

As for the first element, any kanji with the reading sō can be used, most of them including:

  • 颯* meaning “sudden, quick”
  • 蒼 meaning “blue”
  • 壮 meaning “vibrancy, strength, bravery”
  • 創 meaning “making, building; start, origin, beginning”
  • 聡 meaning “wise”
  • 奏 meaning “playing music”
  • 爽 meaning “fresh”
  • 想 meaning “conception, idea, thought”
  • 湊 meaning “harbour, port”
  • 草 meaning “grass”
  • 早 meaning “early”
  • 宗 meaning “sect”
  • 綜 meaning “rule, synthesise”
  • 惣/総 meaning “whole, all”
  • 相 meaning “appearance, look”
  • 崇 meaning “respect”

* 楓, meaning “maple,” is also occasionally used for its similarity to 颯

Popularity:
This name was already in use by the Meiji period (1868-1912), though it was very uncommon at the time, becoming very rare before World War II. It would not start increasing again until the 1970s and 1980s.
By 1990, it was given to over 0.07% of boys, gradually increasing to over 0.25% by 1996 before jumping a tad more steeply to over 0.75% by 2000 and over 1.35% by 2004. Around that time, Sōta was already ranking within the top 10. Since the mid-2010s, Sōta is consistently ranked in 2nd place with an average of over 1.5%, well behind the top ranking boy name Haruto.

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