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Yoshimasa (よしまさ)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

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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Tadaomi (ただおみ)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: tah-dah-o-mʸee [tà.dá.ò̞.mʲì]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
For the second element, it is almost always used as 臣 (omi) meaning “retainer, attendant.” As for the first element, it is derived from stem 直 (tada) meaning “straight(forward), direct” or 只/唯 (tada) meaning “ordinary, common, usual.” In this case, it is most commonly written as 忠 meaning “loyalty, devotion, fidelity, faithfulness,” but other kanji used here include 正 meaning “exact, precise” and 匡 meaning “correct; save.”

Popularity:
Ever since its usage as an adulthood name among the upper class before the Meiji period (1868-1912), in this case stretching as far back as the early Heian period (794-1185), Tadaomi has always been a very uncommonly used name with percentages not topping over 0.02% at any given time. Compared to its usage in the first half of the 20th century, it is very rarely used as a baby name today.

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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.

Masayuki (まさゆき)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

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.

Shōhei (しょうへい)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: sho:–he: [ɕò̞ó̞.hé̞ː]
Variant transliterations: Shohei, Shouhei

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The second element is most often used as either 平 (hei) meaning “even, flat” or 兵 (hei) meaning “soldier, army.” As for the first element, it can be written as:

  • 翔 meaning “fly, soar”
  • 祥 meaning “blessedness, (good) omen”
  • 将 meaning “commander, general”
  • 昇 meaning “ascent, climbing”
  • 昌 meaning “prosperous”
  • 正 meaning “exact, precise”
  • 奨 meaning “advice, encouragement​”
  • 章 meaning “chapter”
  • 勝 meaning “victory, win”
  • 頌 meaning “praise, hymn”
  • 昭/照 meaning “shine”
  • 匠 meaning “workman, artisan; craft”
  • 渉 meaning “crossing, passage”
  • 彰 meaning “clear”
  • 晶 meaning “sparkle, crystal”

Popularity:
Names ending in -hei did exist in the Edo period (1603-1868), though Shōhei is not recorded in either the merchant data or the villager data provided by Collazo. However, just under half of all men with this name recorded in Japanese passenger lists were born in the pre-20th century portion of the Meiji period (1868-1912), making this name a slightly common name at that time.
The name became very uncommon to rare by the 1930s and it would not rise back up in popularity until the mid-1970s. For a while from that point on, it was uncommon, rising only to over 0.1%, before rising further in the mid-to-late 1980s. By the start of the Heisei period (1989-2019) in 1989, over 1.1% of baby boys born in that year received this name, placing it within the bottom section of the top 10. Just as it peaked, its popular usage started tumbling down with only over 0.14% of boys being given this name by 2000, by then already out of the top 100. Since the late 2000s, percentage levels have been steady at over 0.05%.

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

Shōta (しょうた)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: sho:-ta [ɕó̞ò̞.tà]
Variant transliterations: Shota, Shouta

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The second element of this name is mainly written as 太 (ta) meaning “plump, thick,” 大 (ta) meaning “large, big,” 汰 (ta) meaning “wash, scour,” 多 (ta) meaning “many, much” or 泰 (ta) meaning “quiet, peaceful; great, excessive.” As for the first element, any kanji with the on’yomi reading shō can be used, such as:

  • 翔 meaning “fly, soar”
  • 将 meaning “commander, general”
  • 祥 meaning “blessedness, (good) omen”
  • 正 meaning “exact, precise”
  • 章 meaning “chapter”
  • 彰 meaning “clear”
  • 勝 meaning “victory, win”
  • 昇 meaning “ascent, climbing”
  • 渉 meaning “crossing, passage”
  • 奨 meaning “advice, encouragement​”
  • 昭 meaning “shine”
  • 昌 meaning “prosperous”
  • 晶 meaning “sparkle, crystal”

Popularity:
Throughout the early-to-mid 20th century, usage of this name was rather uncommon, though it began seeing small increases in the 1970s. However, it wasn’t until around 1981 that the name started seeing a spike in its popularity with 翔太 becoming its main form. At the time of writing, the cause could not be determined, even with the rise of 翔太 being one clue to narrow down, though it should be worth noting that Shō began rising at around the same time with 翔 becoming the main form as well.
By 1990, it was charting within the top 10 with well over 1.5% of baby boys receiving this name in that year. Since around that time, it began to fall down in popularity and recent survey data from Baby Calendar, Meiji Yasuda Life and Tamahiyo suggest that by 2018, Shōta had left the top 50 with 0.345% of baby names in the BC data being given this name in 2019. By the looks of things, it is set to leave the top 100 at some point in the early or middle part of the 2020s.

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