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Chiaki (ちあき)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Generally unisex
Pronunciation: chee-ah-kʸee [tɕí.à.kʲì]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
One of the widely used kanji combinations for this name is 千秋, individually made of 千 (chi) meaning “thousand” and 秋 (aki) meaning “autumn.” When read in its Sino-Japanese form senshū, it acquires the meaning of “thousand years” (a synonym of Chitose). Regarding other ways to write this name, for the first element, 智/知, meaning “wisdom,” and 稚, meaning “young, new,” can be used as substitutes. As for the second element, kanji shown in the bullet point list are, in one way or another, connected to the stem 明/顕 (aki) meaning “clear, obvious” and they include:

  • 彰/彬, same meaning as the stem
  • 晶 meaning “sparkle, crystal”
  • 晃/煌 meaning “brilliant, bright, dazzling”
  • 暁/曙 meaning “dawn, daybreak”
  • 昭 meaning “shining, bright”
  • 瑛 meaning “crystal”
  • 陽 meaning “day; sun”
  • 昌 meaning “prosperous”
  • 章 meaning “chapter”
  • 輝/耀 meaning “brightness, brilliance”
  • 聡 meaning “wise”
  • 聖 meaning “sacred, holy”
  • 映 meaning “reflection”

The second element can also be split into two kanji, combining an a kanji like 亜, 安 meaning “quiet, peaceful” or 愛 meaning “love, affection,” with a ki kanji, such as 紀 meaning “account, chronicle,” 希, either meaning “rare” or part of 希望 (kibō) meaning “hope, wish, aspiration,” 樹 meaning “tree” or 貴 meaning “precious, valuable.”

Popularity:
The name had been uncommonly used in the early 20th century and it was more often used on males as opposed to females which would end up being the case throughout the latter half of the century. It ranked in the top 100 as a feminine name from the 1960s through to the mid-1990s with percentages ranging between 0.3% and 0.5% in that time frame whereas it remained stable in usage as a masculine name with percentages within the 0.02-3% range.
As the new century rolled, Chiaki had already left the girls’ top 100. By 2007, it was given to only around 0.05% of girls, further tightening the gender gap with boy usage still remaining stable. However, that was set to change in the 2010s with an increase in usage as a masculine name. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my preliminary 2014-9 names research, the average percentage for baby boys in that time frame has been over 0.13% (ranking outside of the top 100 but within the top 200 on BC) compared to over 0.05% for girls.

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

Hikari (ひかり)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: khkah–rʸee [çì̥.ká.ɾʲí]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is derived from 光 (hikari) meaning “light; ray, beam, glow” (as a feminine name, it is most commonly used phonetically). Other kanji used in relation or expanded from the noun include 輝 meaning “brightness, brilliance,” 陽 meaning “day; sun,” 晃/煌 meaning “brilliant, bright, dazzling,” 燈 meaning “light, lamp,” 星 meaning “star,” 彩 meaning “colour,” so on and so forth. These single kanji can also be suffixed with a ri kanji, which can be seen in the table below that shows ways to write a 3-kanji combination:

hi (ひ) ka (か) ri (り)
日/陽 see above 花/華 “flower” 里 “village”
妃/姫 “princess” 香/郁 “fragrance” 梨 “pear”
比 phonetic kanji 加 “addition” 莉 part of 茉莉 (matsuri) “Arabian jasmine”
緋 “scarlet” 佳 “beautiful, good” 理 “reason, logic”
柊 “false holly” 夏 “summer” 利 “advantage, benefit”
飛 “fly, soar” 果 “fruit” 吏 “officer”
斐 “figure, design” 歌 “song” 俐 “clever”
枇 part of 枇杷 (biwa) “loquat” 可 “acceptable, fair”
翔 “fly, soar”
嘉 “praise, esteem”

Popularity:
From the Meiji period (1868-1912) to the middle third of the Shōwa period (1926-1989), Hikari was very uncommonly used though more spread out in terms of gender usage. Usage started to increase, especially for girls, in the 1980s. In 1990, it was given to over 0.17% of girls compared to just over 0.01% of boys, increasing to well over 0.27% for girls by 1994, by then within the bottom quarter of the top 100.
Percentage levels then stabilised somewhat throughout the rest of the 1990s and stretching into the early 2010s with relatively little upswing and downfall. Starting in 2015, usage began increasing again to the point that Hikari has been ranking within the top 30 for girls for the past few years on multiple surveys with percentage levels within the 0.6% range. As for its usage on baby boys, based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my preliminary 2014-9 names research, the average percentage is over 0.04%.

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

Sora (そら)

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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.

Natsuki (なつき)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: nah-tskʸee [nà.tsɨ̥́ᵝ.kʲí]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
There are two main ways of writing this name, the first being 月 or 槻, meaning “moon” and “Japanese zelkova tree” respectively, following a na kanji, such as:

  • 奈 or 那, both phonetic kanji
  • 菜 meaning “greens”
  • 七 meaning “seven”
  • 渚 meaning “beach, shore”
  • 梛, referring to the Asian bayberry tree
  • 和 meaning “calm, gentle”
  • 南 meaning “south”
  • 苗 meaning “(rice) seedling, young plant”
  • 波 meaning “wave”
  • 楠, referring to the camphor tree

The second main way is 夏, 捺, the first meaning “summer” and the second a phonetic kanji that is otherwise referring to the stamping or applying/affixation of a seal, or phonetic writings of Natsu followed by a ki kanji, most including:

  • 希/稀 meaning “rare” or part of 希望 (kibō) meaning “hope, wish, aspiration”
  • 輝/暉 meaning “brightness, brilliance”
  • 樹/木 meaning “tree”
  • 葵, referring to a mallow (e.g. hollyhock) or a wild ginger; part of 向日葵 (himawari) “sunflower”
  • 姫 meaning “princess”
  • 妃 meaning “empress, queen”
  • 生 meaning “vitality”
  • 来/來 meaning “arrival”
  • 綺, either meaning “thin silk” or part of 綺麗 (kirei) meaning “pretty; clean”
  • 貴 meaning “precious, valuable”
  • 己, referring to the 6th heavenly stem in Chinese calendar
  • 季 meaning “season”
  • 毅 meaning “strong”
  • 紀 meaning “account, chronicle”
  • 基 meaning “origin”
  • 規 meaning “standard”

Other ways to write this name include a na+tsu+ki combination (tsu kanji including 津 meaning “harbour, haven,” 都 meaning “metropolis” and 月) and a very rare usage of 懐, from the continuative form of the verb 懐く (natsuku) meaning “to become emotionally attached/take (to).”

Popularity:
This name has been in use since at least the latter half of the Meiji period (1868-1912), however it was in rare use (also more mixed in terms of gender, though slightly masculine leaning). The name first began to see small increases as a masculine name in the 1960s and 1970s, though the latter decade was when it started to increase a tad more steeply as a feminine name.
By 1990, it was already within the top 50 for girls with percentage at over 0.62% (for boys, it was at over 0.07%). Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, percentages flip flopped around the 0.6% line, sometimes being given to over 0.5% of girls, other times at over 0.6%, maintaining its position in the top 50 throughout, even as it started to drop more generally in the mid to late 2000s. By 2009, over 0.43% of girls and over 0.08% of boys received this name.
Based on Baby Calendar rankings data and my preliminary 2014-9 names research, Natsuki is now out of the top 50 but still ranks within the top 100 for girls with over 0.3% of girls receiving this name each year. For boys, there has been a slight increase compared to the 2000s with percentages ranging from 0.14% up to over 0.2% in any given year in that time period.

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

Daiya (だいや)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: dah-ee-yah [dá.ì.jà]

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

dai (だい) ya (や)
大 “big, large” 也 phonetic kanji*
奈 phonetic kanji 弥 “increase”
橙 “bitter orange” 哉 phonetic kanji
太 “plump, thick” 椰 “(coconut) palm”
野 “field”

* can refer to archaic auxiliary verb なり (nari) meaning “to be”

There are other kanji used for this name which are irregular, used on its own or as a first/second element kanji, such as 煌 meaning “glitter, sparkle,” 輝/耀 meaning “brightness, brilliance” or 宝 meaning “treasure,” suggesting an influence from the borrowing ダイヤ (daiya), a shortening of ダイヤモンド (daiyamondo), from the English word diamond.

Popularity:
While it has seen (very rare) usage in the Meiji period (1868-1912), it didn’t see a real increase in usage until the Heisei period (1989-2019). In 1990, it was given to over 0.010% of boys, increase to over 0.03% by 2000 and over 0.07% by 2004, though it dropped back down to over 0.01% by the end of the 2000s. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data and my preliminary 2014-9 names research, it has since rose a little bit to over 0.03-4% in that time period.

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

Kagura (かぐら)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: kah-guu-rah [ká.ɡɯ̟̀ᵝ.ɾà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name comes from the word 神楽 (kagura), referring to ancient Shintō music and dancing, derived via sound shifts from a combination of 神 (kamu), an old compounded form of kami, referring to a spirit or essence, and 座 (kura), referring to a seat or a high place. That compound was used to refer to the place used to call down the kami to earth with a miko acting as its medium.
Other kanji in use for this name include:

1st element 2nd element
楽* see above 羅 “thin silk, gauze”
華 “flower” 空 “sky”
輝 “brightness, brilliance” 良 “good”
馨/芳 “fragrance” 倉 “warehouse, storehouse”
嘉 “praise, esteem” 椋 “scabrous aphananthe/muku tree”
榎 “Japanese hackberry”

* also used as a 2nd element kanji

Popularity:
Much of its usage is concentrated on people born since the start of the Heisei period (1989-2019). In 1990, it was given to, at most, 0.001% of girls and boys, remaining that way for much of the 1990s. By 2009, over 0.004% of girls and over 0.002% of boys received this name. According to Baby Calendar rankings data and my preliminary 2014-9 names research, usage continued to increase (at least for girls) in that time period, being used by over 0.01% of girls (boy usage is likely stagnant).

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

Kisaki (きさき)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: kʸsah-kʸee~kʸsah–kʸee [kʲì̥.sá.kì]~[kʲì̥.sá.kí]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is derived from 后/妃 (kisaki) (the latter the more commonly used as a name) meaning “empress, queen.” Regarding its etymology, Ōtsuki and Yamada both posit that the word is a sound shift from a combination of 君 (kimi), referring to a monarch or ruler, and 幸 (saki) meaning “good luck, happiness.”
It is more common, however, to combine a ki kanji with one that can be read as saki, the latter usually 咲 meaning “blossom” but also 幸 and 早 meaning “early,” as well as a split sa+ki element (sa kanji including 沙/砂 meaning “sand,” 紗 meaning “gauze” and 彩 meaning “colouring”). 妃*/后 can also be combined with a ki kanji, which include:

  • 希/稀 meaning “rare” or part of 希望 (kibō) meaning “hope, wish, aspiration”
  • 葵, referring to a mallow (e.g. hollyhock) or a wild ginger; part of 向日葵 (himawari) “sunflower”
  • 季 meaning “season”
  • 姫 meaning “princess”
  • 綺, either meaning “thin silk” or part of 綺麗 (kirei) meaning “pretty; clean”
  • 貴 meaning “precious, valuable”
  • 紀 meaning “account, chronicle”
  • 生 meaning “vitality”
  • 輝 meaning “brightness, brilliance”
  • 樹 meaning “tree”
  • 吉 meaning “good fortune, good luck”

* 妃 is also used in ki+saki combinations

Popularity:
Much of its usage is concentrated on those born from the 1980s onward. In 1990, it was given to around 0.006% of girls, slowly increase to over 0.01% by 1996, then rising a bit steeper to over 0.02% by 2000. Since the late 1990s, yearly percentages for Kisaki remain around the 0.02-4% range, indicating that it is a somewhat uncommon name for a baby girl.

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

Currently sunny names for boys

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

The kanji 陽, meaning “sun,” has been one of the most popular first element kanji for a while now, so for today’s name list, we will be taking a look at some of the popular names with that kanji in use among babies right now. The results are taken from data stemming from Tamahiyo, Meiji Yasuda Life, Baby Calendar and my own 2014-8 names research.
To start things off, we have:

  1. 陽翔 – the most popular name on the list, it is most commonly read as Haruto, the second kanji meaning “fly, soar” – other second kanji include 斗, referring to the Chinese constellation known as the Dipper, and 人 meaning “person” and other readings include Hinato, Akito and Hiroto (for 陽翔, Hinata and Haru are other readings exclusive to this writing)
  2. 陽太 – this next name is most popularly read as Hinata, the second kanji meaning “plump, thick” – that can be substituted with 大 meaning “large, big” and other readings include Yōta, Haruta and Haruto (for 陽大, Akihiro, Yōdai, Haruhi and Haruma can be used, among others)
  3. 陽向 – though, as a word, it is normally written with 日, the name, most commonly read as Hinata, refers to a sunny spot or place – it can also be written as Hyūga, referring to Hyūga Province, which corresponds to modern-day Miyazaki Prefecture, and, more recently, the city of Hyūga in that prefecture
  4. 陽 – this single-kanji name is most popularly read as Haru with other readings including Yō, Hinata, Akira, Aki, Asahi and Akari
  5. 陽輝 – this next name on the list is most commonly read as Haruki (though Asahi is also used for this particular writing), the second kanji meaning “brightness, brilliance” – other second kanji used include 希/稀, either meaning “rare” or part of 希望 (kibō) meaning “hope, wish, aspiration,” 生 meaning “vitality,” 紀 meaning “account, chronicle” and 樹 meaning “tree”
  6. 陽真 – most often read as Haruma, the second kanji for this name means “truth” with other kanji including 馬 meaning “horse” and 麻 meaning “hemp, flax”
  7. 陽葵 – this next name is more often used on girls with the most popularly used reading Himari (click on link for more info) – some readings used for boys include Hinata, Haruki and Yoshiki
  8. 陽介 – this name is most commonly read as Yōsuke and the second kanji, also used as 佑, 祐 and 輔, among others, means “help”
  9. 陽琉 – the final name on this list is read as Haru with the second kanji, also used as 瑠, being part of 瑠璃/琉璃 (ruri) meaning “lapis lazuli” – 流 is also used, meaning “current, flow”

What do you think? If you would like to add in your thoughts or other suggestions for this list, please share them in the comments below.