comfortable

Issei (いっせい)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: ees-se: [ís.sè̞ː]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
For the first element of this name, any kanji with the reading ichi or itsu is used, mainly 一/壱 (ichi) meaning “one,” but also 逸 (itsu) meaning “ease, comfort” or 稜 (itsu) meaning “angle, edge.” In rare, modern-day contexts, this can also apply to kanji that are partially read as ichi/itsu, e.g. 樹 meaning “tree,” taken from the nanori reading itsuki.
As for the second element, any sei kanji can be used, such as:

  • 生 meaning “life, living”
  • 成 meaning “growth, reach, attainment”
  • 誠 meaning “truth, reality”
  • 星 meaning “star”
  • 晴 meaning “clear, fine”
  • 晟 meaning “clear”
  • 惺 meaning “realise”
  • 正 meaning “exact, precise”
  • 聖 meaning “sacred, holy”
  • 世 meaning “generation”
  • 誓 meaning “oath, vow”
  • 清 meaning “clean, pure, chaste”
  • 盛 meaning “prosperous”
  • 勢 meaning “force, vigour, energy”

The reading issei can also be found in words such as 一斉 meaning “simultaneous, all at once​,” 一世 meaning “generation, lifetime; the age/day​​” (literally “first generation”) and 一声 which refers to a voice, cry or shout.

Popularity:
Usage of this name was rather uncommon for much of the 20th century with percentages peaking at no more than 0.02% before the 1970s. From that point on, its general track was upwards, reaching over the 0.1% by the second half of the 1990s.
Since then, it is still sticking onto the 0.1% range albeit going up and down on occasions, barely making it above 0.2% (and peaking several 10ths of a percent below the top 100) for a year or two. Combining Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my own 2014-20 names research, the 2020 percentage is averaged out at over 0.175%.

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.