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Serina (せりな)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: se-rʸee-nah [sé̞.ɾʲì.nà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
A couple of the most popular forms of this name use 芹 (seri) as the first element, referring to a plant known by various names like the Java water dropwort, water celery and Japanese (flat leaf) parsley. It can also be split into two kanji, most of which can be seen, along with na kanji, in the table below:

se (せ) ri (り) na (な)
瀬 “shallows, rapids” 里 “village” 奈 phonetic kanji
世 “generation” 莉 part of 茉莉 (matsuri) “Arabian jasmine” 菜 “greens”
聖 “sacred, holy” 梨 “pear” 那 phonetic kanji
星 “star” 利 “advantage, benefit” 南 “south”
静 “quiet, calm” 理 “reason, logic” 名 “name”
清 “clean, pure, chaste” 璃 part of 瑠璃 (ruri) “lapis lazuli” 夏 “summer”
成 “growth, reach, attainment” 李 “Japanese/Chinese plum” 渚 “beach, shore”
勢 “force, vigour, energy” 吏 “officer” 凪 “calm, lull”
青 “blue” 凛/凜 “cold; dignified” 七 “seven”
晴 “clear, fine” 琳 “jewel” 愛 “beloved”
晟 “clear” 倫 “ethics” 波 “wave”
惺 “realise”

This name may be influenced by foreign names like Celina/Selina and Serena.

Popularity:
Similar to Sonoka, this name started rising in usage in the 1980s. By the start of the Heisei period (1989-2019), it was given to 0.025% of baby girls. When 芹 was selected as a jinmeiyō kanji in March 1990, usage levels continued to rise a bit further, to just over 0.05% in 1992. However, there was a jump in usage in 1993 to over 0.075%, peaking at close to 0.1% in 1997.
Since the peak, usage levels made a general gradual decline with a few occassions of little jumps. By 2009, just under 0.04% of girls received this name, stabilising throughout the 2010s onward.

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

Issei (いっせい)

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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.

Runa (るな)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: ruu-nah [ɾɯ̟́ᵝ.nà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is an adaptation of Latin lūna, which refers to the Moon (and, figuratively, a month or a night), exemplified by the appearance of the kanji 月 (normally read as tsuki) in two-kanji combinations and, occasionally, on its own. More commonly, however, it is written with a ru kanji, like 瑠/琉, part of 瑠璃/琉璃 (ruri) meaning “lapis lazuli,” 留 meaning “stop” or 流 meaning “current, flow,” with a kanji that can be (partially) read as na, such as:

  • 奈, a phonetic kanji
  • 菜 meaning “greens”
  • 那, a phonetic kanji
  • 南 meaning “south”
  • 夏 meaning “summer”
  • 愛 meaning “beloved”
  • 渚 meaning “beach, shore”
  • 七 meaning “seven”
  • 名 meaning “name”
  • 凪 meaning “calm, lull”
  • 捺, a phonetic kanji
  • 花/華 meaning “flower”
  • 絆 meaning “bonds, relationship; tether”
  • 梛, referring to the Asian bayberry
  • 梨 meaning “pear”
  • 叶 meaning “grant, answer”
  • 奏 meaning “playing music”

There are a few other examples out there which pertain to the inclusion of kanji for the sake of image, such as 月姫, 月星, 美月 with the added kanji meaning “princess,” “star” and “beauty” respectively.

Popularity:
For the next couple of decades after the Second World War, Runa snailishly increased in usage from being an extreme rarity to just under 0.03% by the start of the Heisei period (1989-2019). From 1992, its increase began to steepen which led to the name entering the top 100 by 1997 and already ranking within the top 50 by the new millennium.
For the next decade and some portion of the early 2010s, the name maintained its relevance in the top 50 list with percentages not dropping below 0.45%, though not breaking the top 20 either. Since the mid-2010s, it has lost a little bit of its lustre. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my preliminary 2014-20 names research however, it is still ranking at the bottom half of the top 100 with average percentages above the 0.3% range, though with percentages occasionally dropping below it.

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

Chise (ちせ)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female
Pronunciation: chse [tɕí̥.sè̞] (on its own)

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name combines a chi kanji, usually 千 meaning “thousand” or 知/智 meaning “wisdom,” with one that can be (partially) read as se, such as 世 meaning “generation,” 惺 meaning “realise,” 瀬 meaning “shallows, rapids,” 勢 meaning “force, vigour, energy,” 星 meaning “star” or 聖 meaning “sacred, holy.”

Popularity:
Overall usage of this name, stretching back to the late Edo period (1603-1868), is uncommon with percentage levels not topping 0.1% at any given time. Regarding Heisei period (1989-2019) popularity, the percentage of baby girls receiving this name tended to hover inside the 0.02-3% range for some of the time, though it did occasionally drop below 0.02% and rise above 0.03%.

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

Seishirō (せいしろう)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: se:–shee–ro: [sè̞é̞.ɕí.ɾó̞ː]
Variant transliterations: Seishiro, Seishirou

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The second element of this name is usually written as 四郎 (shirō), a birth order suffix indicating a fourth son, though they can be replaced with other shi kanji, like 志 meaning “will, aim, goal,” 士, referring, in this case, to a man or samurai, 史 meaning “history” or 司 meaning “office,” and rō kanji, such as 朗 meaning “cheerful” or 良 meaning “good.”
As for the first element, any kanji with the reading sei can be used and these include:

  • 誠 meaning “truth, reality”
  • 清 meaning “clean, pure, chaste”
  • 晴 meaning “clear, fine”
  • 正 meaning “exact, precise”
  • 政 meaning “rule, government”
  • 星 meaning “star”
  • 聖 meaning “sacred, holy”
  • 成 meaning “growth, reach, attainment”
  • 征 meaning “conquest”
  • 世 meaning “generation”
  • 静 meaning “quiet, calm”
  • 勢 meaning “force, vigour, energy”
  • 盛 meaning “prosperous”
  • 晟 meaning “clear”

Popularity:
This name has been (very uncommonly) used in the Edo period (1603-1868), based on a few counts found from villager (2 villager men named 清四郎) and merchant data (1 merchant named 政四郎). Continuing to be used in 0.05%+ percentage levels in the 19th century portion of the Meiji period (1868-1912), the name already started decreasing in popularity by the Taishō period (1912-1926).
By the start of the Heisei period (1989-2019), it was given to less than 0.01% of baby boys, though it would slowly creep back up above the mark in the 2000s. It jumped in usage in 2009 to over 0.04%, thanks to Katō Seishirō who was, at the time, a child actor in his breakthrough role as both the child form of Naoe Kanetsugu and Kanetsugu’s first son in the taiga drama ‘Tenchijin’. Based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my preliminary 2014-9 names research, the average percentage in that time frame dropped a bit to around 0.03%.

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

Hikari (ひかり)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: khkah–rʸee [çì̥.ká.ɾʲí]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is derived from 光 (hikari) meaning “light; ray, beam, glow” (as a feminine name, it is most commonly used phonetically). Other kanji used in relation or expanded from the noun include 輝 meaning “brightness, brilliance,” 陽 meaning “day; sun,” 晃/煌 meaning “brilliant, bright, dazzling,” 燈 meaning “light, lamp,” 星 meaning “star,” 彩 meaning “colour,” so on and so forth. These single kanji can also be suffixed with a ri kanji, which can be seen in the table below that shows ways to write a 3-kanji combination:

hi (ひ) ka (か) ri (り)
日/陽 see above 花/華 “flower” 里 “village”
妃/姫 “princess” 香/郁 “fragrance” 梨 “pear”
比 phonetic kanji 加 “addition” 莉 part of 茉莉 (matsuri) “Arabian jasmine”
緋 “scarlet” 佳 “beautiful, good” 理 “reason, logic”
柊 “false holly” 夏 “summer” 利 “advantage, benefit”
飛 “fly, soar” 果 “fruit” 吏 “officer”
斐 “figure, design” 歌 “song” 俐 “clever”
枇 part of 枇杷 (biwa) “loquat” 可 “acceptable, fair”
翔 “fly, soar”
嘉 “praise, esteem”

Popularity:
From the Meiji period (1868-1912) to the middle third of the Shōwa period (1926-1989), Hikari was very uncommonly used though more spread out in terms of gender usage. Usage started to increase, especially for girls, in the 1980s. In 1990, it was given to over 0.17% of girls compared to just over 0.01% of boys, increasing to well over 0.27% for girls by 1994, by then within the bottom quarter of the top 100.
Percentage levels then stabilised somewhat throughout the rest of the 1990s and stretching into the early 2010s with relatively little upswing and downfall. Starting in 2015, usage began increasing again to the point that Hikari has been ranking within the top 30 for girls for the past few years on multiple surveys with percentage levels within the 0.6% range. As for its usage on baby boys, based on Baby Calendar rankings data as well as my preliminary 2014-9 names research, the average percentage is over 0.04%.

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

Nanase (ななせ)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Female, can be male as well
Pronunciation: nah-nah-se [ná.nà.sè̞]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
For the first element of this name, 七, referring to the numeral seven, is the main kanji used (虹, normally read as niji with the meaning “rainbow,” is an uncommon substitute, referring to its seven colours). Mainly a feminine occurrence, a na kanji, like 奈, 那 or 菜 meaning “greens,” can be combined with the kanji repeating marker 々, another na kanji or a repear of the first one.
As for the second element, any kanji that can be read as (or otherwise shift to) se is used. They include:

  • 星 meaning “star”
  • 瀬 meaning “shallows, rapids”
  • 聖 meaning “sacred, holy”
  • 生 meaning “live, living”
  • 彩 meaning “colouring”
  • 雪 meaning “snow”
  • 惺 meaning “realise”
  • 晟 meaning “clear”
  • 青 meaning “blue”
  • 彗, part of 彗星 (suisei) meaning “comet”
  • 咲 meaning “blossom”
  • 世 meaning “generation”

Popularity:
Rising in usage in the 1980s and 1990s, the name was originally given to over 0.02% of girls in the early 1990s with the rise gradually steepening for the next few years until around late 1995 when influence from rock and pop singer Aikawa Nanase led the name to its first peak, percentages for the next several years from 1997 ranging between 0.09% and 0.10%. At the same time, usage for boys grew to just under 0.01% by 2000.
Since the early 2000s, usage of this name dropped for both genders and by 2009, over 0.04% of baby girls received this name along with around 0.005% of boys. However, based on my preliminary 2014-9 names research combined with Baby Calendar rankings data, the name has been on the rise again with average percentages at well over 0.08% for girls and 0.01% for boys.

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

Sora (そら)

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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.

Rui (るい)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male, can be female as well
Pronunciation: ruu-ee [ɾɯ̟́ᵝ.ì]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
Single kanji in use for this name include 塁 meaning “fortress, stronghold,” 類 meaning “kind, sort, type, class,” 累 meaning “implication, involvement​” and 涙 meaning “tear(s); sympathy.” A ru/ryū kanji like 琉/瑠, part of 琉璃/瑠璃 (ruri) meaning “lapis lazuli,” 流 meaning “current, flow” and 留 meaning “stop” can be used as single kanji, though they are more likely to be part of a 2-kanji combination, the i kanji in use including:

  • 生 meaning “live, exist”
  • 衣 meaning “clothing”
  • 伊, a phonetic kanji
  • 偉 meaning “greatness”
  • 唯/惟 meaning “only”
  • 依 meaning “reliance, dependence”
  • 海 meaning “sea, ocean”
  • 維 meaning “tie, rope”
  • 一/壱 meaning “one”
  • 聖 meaning “sacred, holy”
  • 星 meaning “star”
  • 愛 meaning “beloved”
  • 以, a phonetic kanji
  • 葵, referring to a mallow (e.g. hollyhock) or a wild ginger; part of 向日葵 (himawari) “sunflower”
  • 碧 meaning “blue”
  • 李 meaning “Japanese/Chinese plum”
  • 泉 meaning “(natural) spring, fountain”
  • 芽 meaning “bud, sprout”
  • 色 meaning “colour”
  • 心 meaning “heart, mind”
  • 威 meaning “power, authority, might”
  • 良 meaning “good”
  • 郁 meaning “cultural progress”

Male usage of this name can be influenced by foreign names that can be rendered as Rui in Japanese, such as the French name Louis and the Portuguese name Ruy.

Popularity:
By the late Edo period (1603-1868), Rui was already in use as a somewhat slightly uncommon feminine name with percentages, based on Tsunoda and Collazo, ranging somewhere between 0.1% and 0.25%. As with most short feminine names popular in that period, the name began to decrease in popularity in the latter half of the Meiji period (1868-1912) and it didn’t start going back up until the 1970s in which, by then, it began to gain a bit of traction as a masculine name but not enough to overtake feminine usage.
Moving on to Heisei period (1989-2019) popularity, in 1990, it was given to just under 0.06% for girls and over 0.025% for boys. The name rose steadily for girls, reaching to over 0.14% by 2007 before generally flattening in the late 2000s and 2010s. As for boys, usage started to increase more steeply in 1993, rising to over 0.05% by 1994, over 0.06% by 1996 and over 0.13% by 2000. The start of Rui’s rise as a masculine name seems to be influenced by former football player and manager Ruy Ramos who was a member of the Japan team that won the 1992 Asian Cup and played 4 matches in the competition (originally from Brazil, he gained Japanese citizenship in 1989).
By 2007, it was ranking within the top 50 with over 0.5% of boys receiving this name and, based on data from Baby Calendar, Tamahiyo and Meiji Yasuda Life, it remains in the boys’ top 50 ever since.

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

Ryūsei (りゅうせい)

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Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: rʸuu:-se: [ɾʲɨ́ᵝɨ̀ᵝ.sè̞ː]
Variant transliterations: Ryusei, Ryuusei

Etymology and/or ways to write:
Here are most of the kanji used for this name:

ryū (りゅう) sei (せい)
琉/瑠 part of 琉璃/瑠璃 (ruri) “lapis lazuli” 聖 “sacred, holy”
龍/竜 “dragon” 生 “life, living”
隆 “prosperous” 星 “star”
流 “current, flow” 成 “growth, reach, attainment”
颯 “sudden, quick” 誠 “truth, reality”
柳 “willow” 惺 “realise”
晴 “clear, fine”
正 “exact, precise”
世 “generation”
晟 “clear”
征 “conquest”
清 “clean, pure, chaste”
政 “rule, government”
勢 “force, vigour, energy”
盛 “prosperous”

This name also makes a reference to the words 流星 meaning “meteor, falling star” and 隆盛 meaning “prosperity.”

Popularity:
The name was already in use in the late 19th century, though back then, it was mostly concentranted in Okinawa with usage in the main islands not starting to increase until the Heisei period (1989-2019). In 1990, it was given to less than 0.035% of boys, increasing to well over 0.2% by 1996 and over 0.425% by 2000 before generally dropping down a bit for much of the 2000s, down to over 0.35% by 2007.
The name rose back up to over 0.43% by 2009 and, based on Tamahiyo and Meiji Yasuda Life data, peaked in 2012 at 7th with over 1.1% of boys receiving this name. The name charted below the top 30 the previous year and the peak is explainable – much of 2012 (and 2000 for that matter) was the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar and with it come increases for names containing 龍/竜 (or 辰) (compare Tatsumi and Tatsuya/Ryūya). These sets of data, alongside my preliminary 2014-9 names research, suggest that Ryūsei is still within the top 100 as of 2019 but is ranking in the lowest fifth, being given to less than 0.4% of boys.

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