excel

Hidetora (ひでとら)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: khee-de-to-rah [çì.dé̞.tò̞.ɾà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The second element of 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. 彪 is a more recently used kanji, which can refer to a small tiger or otherwise the stripes of a tiger.
As for the first element, it is derived, via a sound shift, from the imperfective and continuative form of the verb 秀でる (hiideru) meaning “to excel, surpass.” From old Japanese 秀づ (hiidzu), it stems from a combination of 穂 (ho), shifted to hi, meaning “ear/head (of plant); point, tip” and verb 出づ (idzu) meaning “to come out.” 英, meaning “wisdom, brilliance,” is another kanji used in relation to the derivation as is 日出, in this case a shortening of hinode meaning “sunrise.”

Popularity:
Before the 21st century, this name was in rare to very rare use with around 0.0002% of males recorded in telephone book data bearing this name. Throughout the first half of the 1990s, usage levels peaked at 0.001% but beginning in 1996, it started to rise above it.
By 2000, it was given to 0.006% of boys. Throughout the 2000s, the name would more often than not rise above 0.01% with a decadal peak of just over 0.02% in 2009. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my 2014-21 names research, by the second half of the 2010s, average usage levels had gone back down below 0.01%.

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

Yoshimasa (よしまさ)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: yo-shee-mah-sah [jò̞.ɕí.mà.sà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The first element 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 義 meaning “morality, justice, honour,” 慶/喜/欣/悦 meaning “delight, pleasure,” 芳 meaning “fragrance, aroma” and 祥 meaning “blessedness, (good) omen.”
As for the second element, it is derived from either 正 (masa) meaning “exact, precise,” as a name also written as 将 (hence the usage of 政 meaning “rule” and 真/眞 meaning “pure, true”) or the verb 勝る/優る (masaru) meaning “to excel, surpass, exceed; to outweigh” (hence the usage of 昌 meaning “prosperous” and 雅 meaning “refinement, elegance”).

Popularity:
Before the Meiji period (1868-1912), this name was used as an adulthood name among the upper class with over 20 examples of its full or partial usage found in the Japanese Wikipedia dating as far back as the early Heian period (794-1185).
As far as post-Edo period (1603-1868) usage is concerned, it is uncommon among the overall population with percentages peaking above 0.2% at times, particularly in the first half of the Meiji period. By the 1990s, it dropped to below 0.05%, falling further to within the 0.01% range by the 2010s.

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Hideyo (ひでよ)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: khee-de–yo [çì.dé̞.jó̞]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The second element of this name is mostly written as 代/世 (yo) meaning “generation.” In this case, the former is mainly feminine while the latter is mostly masculine.
As for the first element, it is derived, via a sound shift, from the imperfective and continuative form of the verb 秀でる (hiideru) meaning “to excel, surpass.” From old Japanese 秀づ (hiidzu), it stems from a combination of 穂 (ho), shifted to hi, meaning “ear/head (of plant); point, tip” and verb 出づ (idzu) meaning “to come out.” 英, meaning “wisdom, brilliance,” is another kanji used in relation to the derivation as is 日出, in this case a shortening of hinode meaning “sunrise.”

Popularity:
Much of its usage occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the female-to-male ration in that time frame being in the 70s/30s. Percentage wise, at one point, it peaked at just under 0.1% as a feminine name and under 0.03% as a masculine name. As is the case, the name fell in usage by the late Shōwa period (1926-1989) and subsequently became a rarity.

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Hideru (ひでる)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: khee-de–ruu [çì.dé̞.ɾɯ̟́ᵝ]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The name is a shortening of the verb 秀でる (hiideru) meaning “to excel, surpass,” from Old Japanese 秀づ (hiidzu) which itself combined 穂 (ho), shifted to hi, meaning “ear/head (of plant); point, tip” and verb 出づ (idzu) meaning “to come out.” Although it is mainly written as 秀, it can also be written with a combination of a hi kanji, e.g. 日 meaning “day; sun,” and a kanji that can be read as teru, e.g. 輝 meaning “brightness, brilliance.”

Popularity:
Overall usage of this name is extremely rare with less than 20 examples found on FamilySearch and in PDFs grabbed through search engine results. As of yet, no evidence of recent usage among babies born in the second half of the 2010s is found.

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

Masayuki (まさゆき)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: mah-sah-yuu-kʸee [mà.sá.jɯ̟̀ᵝ.kʲì]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The first element of this name is derived from either 正 (masa) meaning “exact, precise” or the stem of the verb 勝る/優る (masaru) meaning “to excel, surpass, exceed; to outweigh” while the second is mainly written as either 之/行 meaning “way, travel” or 幸 meaning “good luck, happiness.” Other kanji in use for the first element include:

  • 雅 meaning “refinement, elegance”
  • 昌 meaning “prosperous”
  • 政 meaning “rule”
  • 真/眞 meaning “pure, true”
  • 将, see 正
  • 晶 meaning “sparkle, crystal” (may be used for similarity to 昌)
  • 理 meaning “reason, logic”
  • 誠 meaning “truth, reality”

Popularity:
The name saw some usage as an adult name among the upper class before the Meiji period (1603-1868), counting over 25 examples from the Kamakura (1185–1333) to the Edo (1603-1868) periods on the Japanese Wikipedia, two of which also included on the English version (Hoshina and Sanada).
Heading into the latter half of the Meiji period, the name was already within the top 100 among the wider population. This would last well into the early 1990s with a general peak in popularity from the 1950s to the 1970s with percentages at 0.6% or over. By 2000, less than 0.1% of boys received this name and usage of Masayuki slowly fell over the years and decades. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my preliminary 2014-9 names research, the average percentage for that time frame is calculated at only over 0.03%.

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

Hidekazu (ひでかず)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: khee-de-kah-zuu [çì.dé̞.kà.zɨ̀ᵝ]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
As far as the make-up of this name goes, the first element is derived, via a sound shift, from the imperfective and continuative form of the verb 秀でる (hiideru) meaning “to excel, surpass.” From old Japanese 秀づ (hiidzu), it stems from a combination of 穂 (ho), shifted to hi, meaning “ear/head (of plant); point, tip” and verb 出づ (idzu) meaning “to come out.” Other kanji relating to the verb include 英 meaning “wisdom, brilliance” and 栄 meaning “glory, prosperity.” Also in use for the first element is 日出, in this case a shortening of hinode meaning “sunrise.”
As for the second element, it is derived from 数 (kazu) meaning “number, amount.” Other kanji related to this noun include 和 meaning “sum; harmony, peace” and 一/壱 meaning “one.”

Popularity:
Hidekazu is an somewhat uncommonly used masculine name, never entering the top 100 as a birth name at any given time – it has been used as an adult name among the upper class before the Meiji period (1868-1912) though there are only 2 or 3 examples found on Japanese Wikipedia.
The general peak period for this name stretched from just after the Second World War to the early 1980s where average percentages were within the 0.1% range. We can’t really say the same for its usage among baby boys today as Baby Calendar rankings data reveal that at least one baby boy in their database from 2017-2019 has this name and my preliminary 2014-9 names research hasn’t found a single Hidekazu as of yet.

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

Saeru (さえる)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: sah-e–ruu [sà.é̞.ɾɯ̟́ᵝ]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is derived from the verb 冴える (saeru) meaning “to be clear, bright, vivid; to be clear-headed, alert; to master (a skill), excel at.” 冴 can also be suffixed with a kanji that can be read as ru, e.g. 来, from the verb 来る (kuru) meaning “to come, arrive.”

Popularity:
Compared to all of the other names that’s been covered on Beyond Sakura and Hiroshi, Saeru is one of the rarest names to have for a person. FamilySearch only has 2 records for this name and telephone book data has 18 people who’s name is written as 冴, most of whom presumably named Sae.

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

Shuri (しゅり)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: shuu-rʸee [ɕɨ́ᵝ.ɾʲì]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
Most kanji used for this name include:

shu (しゅ) ri (り)
朱 “vermilion” 里 “village”
珠 “gem, jewel” 莉 part of 茉莉 (matsuri) “Arabian jasmine”
柊 “false holly” 理 “reason, logic”
主 “head, master” 梨 “pear”
守 “protection” 璃 part of 瑠璃/琉璃 (ruri) “lapis lazuli”
修 “discipline” 利 “advantage, benefit”
秋 “autumn” 李 “Japanese/Chinese plum”
秀 “excellence” 吏 “officer”
宗 “sect” 凛/凜 “cold; dignified”
集 “collection, compilation” 瑠/琉 part of 瑠璃/琉璃 (ruri)
周 “circumference” 俐 “clever”
琳 “jewel”
浬 “nautical mile”

Popularity:
Much of Shuri’s usage is concentrated on persons born since the Heisei period (1989-2019). Around 0.001% of boys were given this name in 1990 compared to over 0.02% for the girls, rising to over 0.02% for boys and over 0.12% for girls by 2000. Percentages for both genders dropped a bit by the late 2000s, though, based on Baby Calendar data and my preliminary 2014-8+2019 names research, it generally stabilised for girls, staying over or just below the 0.1% range, though it has risen quite a bit for boys at over 0.02%.

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

Hideki (ひでき)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: khee-de-kʸee [çí.dè̞.kʲì]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
For the first element, it can be used as 英 meaning “wisdom, brilliance,” 秀 meaning “excellence,” 栄 meaning “glory, prosperity,” 日出, shortened from hinode meaning “sunrise” or 豪 meaning “strong, hard.” As for the second element, it can be used as:

  • 樹 meaning “tree”
  • 紀/記 meaning “account, chronicle”
  • 輝/暉 meaning “brightness, brilliance”
  • 貴 meaning “precious, valuable”
  • 生 meaning “vitality”
  • 希/稀 meaning “rare” or part of 希望 (kibō) meaning “hope, wish, aspiration”
  • 基 meaning “origin”
  • 喜 meaning “delight, pleasure”
  • 規 meaning “standard”
  • 毅 meaning “strong”
  • 己, referring to the 6th heavenly stem in Chinese calendar
  • 起 meaning “rise”
  • 城 meaning “castle”
  • 季 meaning “season”

Popularity:
Regarding the post-Edo period popularity of this name, it was rather uncommonly used up until the 1940s – for much of the first half of this decade, Tōjō Hideki was Prime Minister of the country. The name soon increased in popularity and peaked in the 1960s with over a percent of boys being given this name in that decade, placing the name in or near the top 10.
Come 1990 and Hideki was already out of the top 100 with over 0.155% of boys being given this name in that year and, soon enough, it became very uncommonly used – around 0.014% of boys were given this name by 2007.

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