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Hisui (ひすい)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

(Main) gender: Generally unisex
Pronunciation: khee-suu-ee [çí.sɨ̀ᵝ.ì]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name can be written as 翡翠, which refers to the jade gem, however it is far more often written with other kanji, which include:

hi (ひ) sui (すい)
姫/妃 “princess” 彗 part of 彗星 (suisei) “comet”
陽 “day; sun” 粋 “chic, smart, stylish, refined”
飛 “fly, soar” 瑞 “youth, freshness, purity”
一 “one” 吹 “blow, puff, emit”
氷 “ice​”
燈 “light, lamp”
斐 “figure, design”

Popularity:
This name has been in use since the 1980s, though it didn’t rise above 0.01% for girls until the 2010s. There are indications from Baby Calendar ranking data and my preliminary 2014-9 names research that it may have peaked at nearly 0.02% for girls at some point in the late 2010s. For boys, percentages were on par with the girls in the 1990s and 2000s, that being below 0.005%, though compared to the girls, percentages for boys have largely been stable in the 2010s.

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

More single kanji with interesting readings

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

This is a continuation to a name list that I’ve posted back in August which explores 10 single-kanji names with readings that I find interesting. Like last time, these five masculine and feminine choices are taken from my preliminary 2014-8 names research.
With that out of the way, let’s jump into the list, starting with:

  1. 想 (Nozomu) – for this first male name on the list, this reading comes from the verb 望む (nozomu) meaning “to desire; to wish for, expect; to see,” perhaps from the way someone wishes for an idea to come true
  2. 旦 (Hinode) – the reading for this next name comes from 日の出 (hinode) meaning “sunrise” with the kanji in question meaning “daybreak, dawn”
  3. 昊 (Oozora) – this next reading comes from 大空 (oozora) which literally means “big sky,” expanded to refer to the heavens, the blue or the firmament
  4. 樹 (Ritsu) – this reading comes from 立 (ritsu) meaning “stand, rise,” the verb 立つ (tatsu) also giving way to such readings as Tatsuki and Tatsuru
  5. 波 (Naru) – for the final male name on this list, this reading seems to be borrowed from Hawaiian nalu meaning “wave, surf” with both nami (the native Japanese reading) and nalu generally sharing the initial syllable
  6. 優 (Kokoro) – this first female name on the list has a reading which comes from 心 (kokoro) meaning “mind, heart, spirit,” intersecting well with the kanji in question, which has the meaning of “gentle, elegant”
  7. 怜 (Toki) – it seems as if this reading comes from 時 (toki) meaning “time” and one may think it is from the way one builds up their intelligence over time – regarding Onjōji Toki (園城寺 怜) from manga and anime ‘Saki’, from what I can tell, it may stem from her being able to predict one turn into the future in mahjong
  8. 晴 (Sayaka) – this next reading comes from the adjective 明/清か (sayaka) meaning “clear, fresh, bright,” referring to the fine weather
  9. 月 (Yue) – for this next female name, it is a Japanese approximation of Mandarin 月 (yuè)
  10. 朋 (Yukari) – this final female name on this list has a reading which comes from 縁 (yukari) meaning “connection, affinity,” seemingly referring to a bond or relationship between friends

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.

Arata (あらた)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: ah-rah-tah [á.ɾà.tà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is mainly used as 新 meaning “new, fresh, novel,” though a ta kanji can be added after, like 太 meaning “plump, thick,” 大 meaning “large, big,” 汰 meaning “wash, scour” or 多 meaning “many, much.” With this set-up, 新 can be replaced with 荒 meaning “rough, wild, raw” or it can be split into two kanji with an a kanji like 亜 or 阿 and a ra kanji like 羅 meaning “thin silk, gauze” or 良 meaning “good.”

Popularity:
Among older generations, this name had seen fairly moderate usage with an estimate of between 0.012-.016% of men having this name being recorded in telephone book data.
Regarding Heisei period (1989-2019) popularity, it was uncommon at first with 0.048% of boys being given this name in 1990. It then rise slightly to around 0.117% in 2000 and then stabilised for most of the 2000s. By the 2010s, Arata rose in popularity, leading to the placing of this name in the top 50 over the last several years.

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

Sayaka (さやか)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: sah-yah-kah [sá.jà.kà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The name ultimately comes from the adjective 明/清か (sayaka) meaning “clear, fresh, bright,” the kanji being used for this name as well.
Other combinations for this name include:

sa+ya (さ+や) ka (か)
沙/砂 “sand” 也 phonetic kanji 加 “addition”
紗 “gauze”* 耶 phonetic kanji 香 “fragrance”
彩 “colouring”* 矢 “arrow” 花/華 “flower”
早 “early”* 弥 “increase” 佳 “beautiful, good”
爽 “fresh”** 夏 “summer”
佐 “help” 可 “acceptable, fair”
咲 “blossom” 翔 “fly, soar”

* can be used on its own
** can be used with a ya kanji

Popularity:
The name has been in use since at least the Taishō period (1912-1926), though it only started rising in popularity after the Second World War, becoming popular from the 1980s to the early 2000s.
In 1990, it was given to 1.022% of girls, placing it in the top 20. The popularity of Sayaka peaked in 1992 with over 1.1% of girls being given this name in that year. Though it remained in the top 20 through to 2000, the name started to drop in popularity from around 0.775% in 2000 to around 0.261% in 2007. The name left the top 100 by the early 2010s.

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

Aoba (あおば)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: ah-o-bah [á.ò̞.bà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
As a word, it is written as 青葉, which refers to fresh, green leaves, individually made up of 青 (ao), now generally meaning “blue,” and 葉 (ha) meaning “leaf.” The first kanji that is used to mean “green” is now only used in certain things (e.g. traffic lights) and up until relatively recently in Japan’s history, 青 referred to both blue and green and the word for green that is in use today, 緑 (midori), was considered a shade of 青.
Other first element kanji that can be used include 蒼/碧 which carries the same meaning as 青 or 葵, which refers to a mallow or other plants belonging to the mallow family, e.g. the hollyhock, and also a wild ginger. 羽, which means “feather,” or 波, which means “wave,” can be also used as second element kanji.

Popularity:
This name seems to have been in use since at least the early 20th century, but has seen most of its usage being concentrated on persons born in the 1990s onward.
In 1990, it was given to just 0.004% of girls with no boys named Aoba being recorded in the Heisei period (1989-2019) data.
Usage picked up a little bit by 2000 with around 0.019% of girls and around 0.009% of boys receiving this name in that year, but rose further (in general) in the decade with around 0.050% of girls and over 0.03% of boys receiving the name by 2009.

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