strength

Sōta (そうた)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: so:-tah [só̞ò̞.tà]
Variant transliterations: Sota, Souta, Sohta

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The second element of this name is most commonly written as 太 meaning “plump, thick,” with other ta kanji in use including 大 meaning “large, big,” 汰 meaning “wash, scour” and 多 meaning “many, much.” Second element kanji that are used more recently have ta as part of a reading (be it Sino-Japanese, native or name) and they include:

  • 泰 meaning “quiet, peaceful; great, excessive”
  • 空/天 meaning “sky”
  • 詩 meaning “poem”
  • 龍/竜 meaning “dragon”
  • 達 meaning “reach, arrive, attain”
  • 樹 meaning “tree”

As for the first element, any kanji with the reading sō can be used, most of them including:

  • 颯* meaning “sudden, quick”
  • 蒼 meaning “blue”
  • 壮 meaning “vibrancy, strength, bravery”
  • 創 meaning “making, building; start, origin, beginning”
  • 聡 meaning “wise”
  • 奏 meaning “playing music”
  • 爽 meaning “fresh”
  • 想 meaning “conception, idea, thought”
  • 湊 meaning “harbour, port”
  • 草 meaning “grass”
  • 早 meaning “early”
  • 宗 meaning “sect”
  • 綜 meaning “rule, synthesise”
  • 惣/総 meaning “whole, all”
  • 相 meaning “appearance, look”
  • 崇 meaning “respect”

* 楓, meaning “maple,” is also occasionally used for its similarity to 颯

Popularity:
This name was already in use by the Meiji period (1868-1912), though it was very uncommon at the time, becoming very rare before World War II. It would not start increasing again until the 1970s and 1980s.
By 1990, it was given to over 0.07% of boys, gradually increasing to over 0.25% by 1996 before jumping a tad more steeply to over 0.75% by 2000 and over 1.35% by 2004. Around that time, Sōta was already ranking within the top 10. Since the mid-2010s, Sōta is consistently ranked in 2nd place with an average of over 1.5%, well behind the top ranking boy name Haruto.

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Haato (はあと)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: hah:-to [háà.tò̞]
Variant transliteration: Hāto

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is an adaptation of the English word heart, the kanji 心 used for this name either on its own or prefixed with a kanji that either extends its image, like 強, from classical adjective 強し (tsuyoshi, modern tsuyoi) meaning “strong, potent, tough; brawny, powerful; firm, solid,” or 温, from stem atata- (e.g. adjective 温かい (atatakai)) referring to warmth, consideration and kindness, or (partially) contains the reading ha, like 遥 meaning “far off, distant,” 羽 meaning “feather,” 波 meaning “wave,” 葉 meaning “leaf” or 覇 meaning “domination.”
More commonly though, it is suffixed with a to kanji, such as 斗, referring to the Chinese constellation known as the Dipper, 都 meaning “metropolis,” 人 meaning “person,” 土 meaning “earth, soil, dirt” or 登 meaning “ascent.” The 心+to combination is less common for this name than the ha+a+to combination, kanji with the reading a including 亜 and 愛 meaning “love, affection.”

Popularity:
In use since around the 1990s, the name is a rarely used one for boys, having been given to less than 0.005% of boys every year in the Heisei period (1989-2019) despite sharing the first and last moras with late Heisei and Reiwa favourite Haruto.

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Tsuyoshi (つよし)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: tsuu-yo-shee [tsɨ́ᵝ.jò̞.ɕì]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is derived from the classical adjective 強し (tsuyoshi, modern tsuyoi) meaning “strong, potent, tough; brawny, powerful; firm, solid.” There are many kanji in use that have some sort of link ranging from shared meanings to connotations brought on by the adjective’s meanings. Most of them include:

剛 毅 健 豪 壮 力 勝
堅 烈 侃 雄 魁 幹 巌

A shi kanji can be added after a single kanji, like 志 meaning “will, aim, goal” (also in use as a single kanji), 史 meaning “history,” 士 meaning “warrior; samurai” or 司 meaning “office.” Alternatively, the first element can be split into two, with a tsu kanji like 津 meaning “harbour, haven” and a yo kanji like 代/世 meaning “generation.” One other way of writing this name is to combine a tsu kanji with one having the nanori reading yoshi, such as 喜 meaning “delight, pleasure.”

Popularity:
From the 1910s to the 1950s, Tsuyoshi seemed to have mainly stuck in the lower half of the top 100, though by the 1960s, it rose to its decadal peak of over 0.725%, placing it within the top 20. It started decreasing in the 1970s and 1980s, accelerating by the Heisei period (1989-2019). According to my preliminary name research for the period between 2014-8, just over 0.01% of boys were given this name, sharing its fate with some other names popular in the mid-20th century.

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Chikara (ちから)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: chkah–rah~chkah-rah [tɕì̥.ká.ɾá]~[tɕì̥.ká.ɾà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
The main kanji and form for this name is 力 which means “strength, power.” Though rarely used, other kanji for this name that relates to that meaning in some form include 能 meaning “talent, gift,” 拳 meaning “fist” and 矢 meaning “arrow.”
The second most common form is 主税, which had been used as a hyakkanna (see Yohē for description and links on hyakkanna) – the office in which the title comes from is the Tax Bureau under the Ministry of Popular Affairs, 主税寮 (Shuzei-ryō/Chikara no ryō), in charge of the rice tax. It is made up of 主 meaning “head, master” and 税 meaning “tax.” The second kanji can be cut out or it substituted with 悦, which actually has a different meaning of “joy, delight,” though it’s more to do to its similarity with 税. The name can also be written as 主計, which actually references another office under the aforementioned ministry, 主計寮 (Shukei-ryō/Kazue no tsukasa), in charge with the handicraft tax and the tax paid to avoid forced labour. The second kanji, 計, means “plan; measurement.”
For a different spin on Chikara, it can be written with one or two kanji that can be read as chika combined with a kanji that can be read as ra, like 良 meaning “good,” 羅 meaning “thin silk, gauze” or 楽 meaning “comfort, ease.” For the first element, 力 can be used but also:

  • 周 meaning “circumference”
  • 親 meaning “close, familiar, intimate”
  • 誓 meaning “oath, vow”
  • 近 meaning “near, close”
  • 恭 meaning “respect, revere”

As a two-kanji first element:

chi (ち) ka (か)
千 “thousand” 佳 “beautiful, good”
智/知 “wisdom” 嘉 “praise, esteem”
賀 “congratulation”
加 “addition”
香 “fragrance”

Popularity:
The popularity of Chikara was at its highest in the first three decades of the 20th century with the name ending at the bottom end of the top 100 by decade at that time. The percentage for those first three decades would have been over 0.2% per decade.
The name became more uncommon by the 1960s, being given by no more than 0.1% of boys since then, its popularity lessened further in the Heisei period (1989-).

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

Rikiya (りきや)

Posted on by maybeitisdaijirou

Sources Pronunciation guide

(Main) gender: Male
Pronunciation: rʸee-kʸee-yah [ɾʲí.kʲì.jà]

Etymology and/or ways to write:
This name is consisted of (mainly) 力 meaning “strength, power” and a ya kanji like 也, 哉, 矢 meaning “arrow” or 弥/彌 meaning “increase.” 也 is used as a phonetic kanji but can refer to archaic auxiliary verb なり (nari) meaning “to be.” The first element can be split into two kanji, shown in the table below:

ri (り) ki (き)
理 “reason, logic” 樹 “tree”
里 “village” 輝 “brightness, brilliance”
利 “advantage, benefit” 貴 “precious, valuable”
吏 “officer” 希/稀 “rare;” part of 希望 (kibō) “hope, wish, aspiration”
璃 part of 瑠璃 (ruri) “lapis lazuli” 喜 “delight, pleasure”
梨 “pear” 季 “season”
立 “stand, rise” 紀 “account, chronicle”
生 “vitality”
基 “origin”
起 “rise”
己 6th heavenly stem in Chinese calendar
城 “castle”

Popularity:
Pre-WWII usage of this name was very uncommon, though it did begin to see a slow and gradual rise in the second half of the 20th century. In 1990, it was given to around 0.042%, rising to a peak of 0.096% in 1995 before dropping down in popularity, being given to only around 0.013% of boys by 2007.

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