Naming Children in Japan
It’s quite private things but I have two children, son and daughter.
First presents to them are giving name.
You may be interested in Japanese name when you have children
Sooo I wanna introduce how to name on children in Japan.
Family name
At first, I wanna refer family name. My family name is Sato (佐藤,さとう).
Actually, this family name is one of the most popular names.
According to statistics, 1 person out of 400 person in Japan is Sato.
This is the top 10 family name in Japan.
| Ranking | Name in Kanji | Name in Romaji | Name in hiragana |
| 1 | 佐藤 | sato | さとう |
| 2 | 鈴木 | suzuki | すずき |
| 3 | 高橋 | takahashi | たかはし |
| 4 | 田中 | tanaka | たなか |
| 5 | 伊藤 | ito | いとう |
| 6 | 山本 | yamamoto | やまもと |
| 7 | 渡辺 | watanabe | わたなべ |
| 8 | 中村 | nakamura | なかむら |
| 9 | 小林 | kobayashi | こばやし |
| 10 | 加藤 | kato | かとう |
Until the Meiji Era (1868-1912), ordinary people were not allowed to have family name. Having family name was one of the prestige in that era. I can’t believe that now…
From the Meiji Era (1868-1912), even ordinary people could have family name. People started naming by using the place name they lived like the middle of the rice field (田中, tanaka), by using the job name they had like job of selling the oil (油屋, aburaya).
Sato is said to come from the supporter or servant of Fujiwara family, which had very strong political power in the middle age in Japan.
Given Name
We Japanese usually think given name from the total number of Kanji stroke. There is one rule/belief someone made (I don’t know who exactly) that total number of stoke shows new baby’s character and fate. I believe it is one of superstition but many Japanese follows that rule. My parents followed that actually when they named me.
For example, my name is Ryosuke（亮介, りょうすけ）. My total number of kanji stroke is 39. Base on this rule, man with this number is said to be able to get fortune and prestige. And he can overcome the hard time in the life. In addition, he has the ability of leadership and will be successful in work as a leader. Well… I hope this is matched with current myself. Haha.
The other way to name is giving part of parents’ name. It is also quite common.
Anyway, one does not change given name easily once the name is given by their parents. Parents want to give their children happier name as much as possible. That is what all parents think I believe. No one wants to give name to their children like “devil” or “bad luck”…
Every year given name ranking is informed by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance company.
Here is given name ranking for boy in 2018.
| Ranking | Name in Kanji | Name in Romaji | Name in hiragana |
| 1 | 蓮 | ren | れん |
| 2 | 湊 | minato | みなと |
| 3 | 大翔 | taishi, sora, daiki etc | たいし、そら、だいき etc |
| 4 | 大和 | yamato, daito, hiroto etc | やまと、だいと、ひろと etc |
| 5 | 陽翔 | haruto, yamato etc | はると、やまと etc |
Here is given name ranking for girl in 2018.
| Ranking | Name in Kanji | Name in Romaji | Name in hiragana |
| 1 | 結月 | yuzuki, yuzu | ゆずき、ゆず |
| 2 | 結愛 | yua, yui | ゆあ、ゆい |
| 3 | 結菜 | yuna,yuina, yuuna etc | ゆな、ゆいな、ゆうな etc |
| 4 | 杏 | an, anzu etc | あん、あんず etc |
| 5 | さくら | sakura etc | さくら etc |
*1 Only hiragana is acceptable. No need to use Kanji.
*2 There are some readings for one kanji combination.
Well, we have some time to think about children’s name (within 14 days after birth). What’s your rule or customs in your country for giving name to children?
How was this post about naming children?
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