良

Kayo (かよ)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: kah-yo [ká.jò̞]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
Most of the kanji used for this name can be seen in the table below:

ka (か) yo (よ)
佳 “beautiful, good” 代/世 “generation”
香/郁/馨 “fragrance” 与/與 “gift, award”
華/花 “flower” 余 “remainder, remnant”
加 “addition” 誉 “honour”
賀 “congratulation” 葉 “leaf”
夏 “summer” 陽 “day; sun”
果 “fruit” 依 “reliance, dependence”
圭 “angle, edge” 良 “good, excellent”
嘉 “praise, esteem”
歌 “song”

Popularity:
By the latter part of the Edo period (1603-1868) when female usage were usually written in a phonetic script, usage of this name was uncommon with the average percentage (adding data from Tsunoda and Collazo) at over 0.18%. Usage levels would largely stabilise until the 1910s when it began falling down a bit in usage to less than 0.1% by the 1930s.
By the 1950s, it would rise back up above 0.1% and occasionally enter and drop out of the top 100 during the 1950s and 1960s. Rising in usage from the late 1960s, it would peak in usage in the 1970s with percentages above 0.5% and top out above 50th place before falling out of the top 100 again by the late 1980s.
Since then, usage of this name gradually declined to the point that by 2009, it already fell below 0.05%. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data and my 2014-21 names research, usage levels in that time frame only peaked within the 0.02% range.

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

Koyoi (こよい)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: ko-yo–ee [kò̞.jó̞.í]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name comes from the poetic word 今宵 (koyoi) meaning “this evening, tonight.” The word itself is a combination of 此 (ko) meaning “this” and 宵 (yoi) meaning “evening.”
As for other ways to write this name, the first kanji can be substituted with other ko kanji, like 小 meaning “small,” 心 meaning “heart, mind” or 瑚, part of 珊瑚 (sango) meaning “coral.” Less often, the second kanji can be replaced with the adjective 良い/善い/好い (yoi) meaning “good, excellent.”

Popularity:
Overall usage of this name is very rare with most of its bearers born in the Heisei period (1989-2019) onwards. Percentages in that time frame usually max out at 0.001% but can sometimes rise a tad over the mark.

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Furano (ふらの)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: fuu-rah-no [ɸɯ̟́ᵝ.ɾà.nò̞]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is derived from the place name 富良野 (Furano), used in such places in the Hokkaidō’s Kamikawa subprefecture as the city of Furano and Mount Furano. The place name itself comes from the Ainu language, though there are differing opinions on the etymology.
The first two are laid out by Batchelor with the focus on the first word huru meaning “hill.” The two terms used here are huru-(an)-nu-kotan (with the superlative/intensifying particle an, plural suffix nu with the meaning of “an abundance of” and kotan “village, place, city, town,” the last word cut out in the borrowing) and huru-nu-i (probably mistakenly transcribed as huranu-i with plural suffix combined with i meaning “place”). These terms seem to respectively refer to Mount Furano and the Tokachi Volcanic Group to which the mountain belongs to.
The final theory on its etymology is laid out by the city of Furano with the focus on hura meaning “smell.” The term used for this is hura-nu-i which, on this post, is transcribed with the meaning of “place of abundance of smell” and it’s likely referring to sulfuric fumaroles near Mount Tokachi which sources the River Furano.

As far as the given name is used, it is mostly written with hiragana, sometimes replacing the final kana の (no) with a kanji that has this reading, mainly 乃, referring to the possessive particle. Occasionally, full kanji combinations can be seen, kanji in use for this name (some with shortened readings) including 芙 (fu), part of 芙蓉 (fuyō), referring to the Confederate rose, 風 (fu) meaning “wind,” 蕗 (fu), referring to the (giant) butterbur, 良 (ra) meaning “good” and 蘭 (ra) meaning “orchid.”

Popularity:
Much like Kyara, usage of this name is rare and fairly recent with most females bearing this name born from the Heisei period (1989-2019) onwards. Most of the time, percentages at any given time float around 0.001% or below, though it occasionally rises to around 0.002%.

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

Kaera (かえら)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: kah-e-rah [ká.è̞.ɾà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
At the moment, the most popular forms of this name contain 楓/椛, shortened from kaede which refers to a maple tree, combined with a ra kanji, like 來/徠/来 meaning “arrival,” 蘭 meaning “orchid” or 良 meaning “good.” The first element can also be split into two kanji, a ka kanji like 夏 meaning “summer”, 華/花 meaning “flower” or 香 meaning “fragrance,” and an e kanji, such as 笑/咲 meaning “smile,” 瑛 meaning “crystal” or 絵 meaning “picture, drawing.”

Popularity:
Popularised by pop rock singer, lyricist, fashion model and television presenter Kimura Kaela from 2004, the name first peaked at over 0.004% in 2007, when the name was mainly written in hiragana and katakana. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my 2014-20 names research, the average percentage from 2017-2020 is well over 0.01%.

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

Raito (らいと)

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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%).

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

Jirō (じろう)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: jee-ro: [dʑí.ɾò̞ː]
Variant transliterations: Jiro, Jirou, Jiroh

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is most commonly written as either 二郎 or 次郎, combining 二 (ji) meaning “two” or 次 (ji) meaning “next” and 郎 (rō) meaning “son.” In effect, these combinations are typically used for a second (二郎) or next (次郎) son. Other kanji in use for this name include 治 (ji) meaning “cure; management,” 仁 (ji) meaning “benevolence, compassion, humanity,” 慈 (ji) meaning “mercy, affection,” 朗 (rō) meaning “cheerful” and 良 (rō) meaning “good.”

Popularity:
As far as post-Meiji Restoration usage of this name goes, it rose throughout the Meiji period (1868-1912), peaking in the 1910s at the end of that period heading into the Taishō period (1912-1926). By then, percentage levels for that decade were near 1% and since that time, its usage gradually fell. By the end of World War 2, it would have already left the top 100, dropping to less than 0.1% by the 1970s and a fraction of that by the second half of the 1990s.

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

Ryōgo (りょうご)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: rʸo:-go [ɾʲó̞ò̞.ɡò̞]
Variant transliterations: Ryogo, Ryougo

Etymology and/or ways to write:
Most of the kanji used here are included in the table below:

ryō (りょう) go (ご)
亮/瞭 “clear” 吾 phonetic kanji*
凌 “endurance” 悟 “enlightenment”
涼 “cool, refreshing” 伍/五 “five”
諒 “truth” 梧 “Chinese parasol tree”**
良 “good” 冴 “clarity; skilfulness”
稜 “angle, edge” 護 “protection”
遼 “far off, distant” 虎 “tiger”
綾 “figure, design”
陵 “(big) hill”
椋 “scabrous aphananthe/muku tree”

* can refer to the formal/literary 1st person pronoun
** more likely than not used owing to similarity to 悟

Popularity:
Usage began to rise in the 1990s (before then, it was a rarely used name), going up from less than 0.01% in 1990 to just under 0.04% by 2000. Its usage began declining in the late 2000s though, based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my preliminary 2014-9 names research, percentages did rise back up to over 0.03% in the second half of the 2010s.

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

Tora (とら)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Generally unisex, currently male
Pronunciation: to-rah [tó̞.ɾà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name comes from the word referring to a tiger, written as 虎. When written as 寅, it refers to the sign of the tiger in the Chinese zodiac. A more recent single kanji for this name is 彪, which can refer to a small tiger or otherwise the stripes of a tiger.
As far as 2-kanji combinations go, 刀良 and 戸良 are mostly found in examples from before the 20th century, 刀 (to) and 戸 (to) meaning “sword; knife” and “door” respectively and 良 (ra) meaning “good.” Kanji used more recently include 十 meaning “ten,” 人 meaning “person” and 叶 meaning “grant, answer” for the first element, and 羅 meaning “thin silk, gauze” and 楽 meaning “comfort, ease” for the second element.

Popularity:
This name has been in use as a feminine name since at least the Nara period (710-794). Back then and for centuries afterwards, feminine name were, for the most part, suffixed with 賣/女 (-me). Usage of this name for females has, to some extent, been common for more than 1,000 years and has been especially popular among those born in the year of the Tiger. Regarding Edo period (1603-1868) popularity, data from Tsunoda regarding its usage in the early part of the period puts the average percentage at over 1% (most of the sources come from Kyūshū with one from the north of Honsh, though Tora is commonly used in all sources, so the popularity is spread out). The average percentage for the latter part, based on Tsunoda and Collazo, is just under 0.95%, within the top 20.
Like most feminine name of the olden days, it began dropped in popularity throughout the first half of the 20th century and it’s at this time that birth name masculine usage began to very slowly increase. Since the 2000s, usage of this name has been mostly masculine with percentages in the second half of the 2010s at just under 0.01% according to my preliminary 2014-9 names research combined with Baby Calendar rankings data.

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

Yoshiko (よしこ)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: yo-shko [jó̞.ɕì̥.kò̞]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The second element of this name is usually 子 (ko) meaning “child.” As for the first element, it usually comes from the classical adjective 良し/善し/好し (yoshi, modern yoi/ii) meaning “good, excellent” (can also be written as 吉, 佳 or 宜), though it can also come from 由 (yoshi) meaning “reason, cause.” Other kanji related to the adjective include:

  • 芳 meaning “fragrance, aroma”
  • 美 meaning “beauty”
  • 嘉 meaning “praise, esteem”
  • 淑 meaning “graceful, modest”
  • 喜/歓/欣 meaning “delight, pleasure”
  • 義 meaning “morality, justice, honour”
  • 祥/禎 meaning “blessedness, (good) omen”
  • 儀 meaning “ceremony; matter, affair”
  • 優 meaning “gentle, elegant; excellence, superiority”
  • 仁 meaning “benevolence, compassion, humanity”
  • 与/與 meaning “gift, award”
  • 能 meaning “talent, gift”
  • 寿/壽 meaning “congratulations; longevity”
  • 楽/樂 meaning “comfort, ease”
  • 誉/譽 meaning “honour”

The first element can also be written phonetically or with two kanji, a yo kanji like 代/世 meaning “generation,” 与/與 or the single kanji above and a shi kanji, such as 志 meaning “will, aim, goal” or 史 meaning “history.”

Popularity:
Like most names ending in -ko, the name started seeing increasing usage by the latter half of the Meiji period (1868-1912) and became very popular early on. By the 1900s, it was already a top 10 name with percentages at over 1.5%. That increased to over 2%, lasting from the 1910s to the 1940s, in some years leading Yoshiko to be the most popular girl name.
By the 1960s, it was still fairly popular (at just under 1%) though it was already dropping down in popularity. By 1990, less than 0.1% of girls received this name, ranking outside the top 200. Today, it is an extremely rare baby name.

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

Takara (たから)

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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.