青空

Aozora (あおぞら)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Generally unisex
Pronunciation: ah-o–zo-rah [à.ó̞.zó̞.ɾà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is taken from 青空 (aozora) meaning “blue sky.” The first kanji can be substituted with 蒼, 碧 or 葵, the third one referring to a mallow or other plants belonging to the mallow family, e.g. the hollyhock, and also a wild ginger, and the second kanji can be substituted with one that either shares its meaning or relates to sora, e.g. 天.

Popularity:
Overall usage of this name is rare with only just over 10 examples found on PDFs through search results and on FamilySearch and overall percentage from telephone book data calculated at less than 0.001% for both genders (usage tends to skew towards younger people). Except for any combinations with 葵 as the first kanji, all others tend to be most commonly read as just Sora.

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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.

Haruto (はると)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

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.