World-Wide Wednesday: Japanese Names

Inochi (Life)

Once a month, I will venture into international waters and find "exotic" and "foreign" names that are common in that particular native land.  For this first installment of "World-Wide Wednesday" where I find interesting name choices from around the world, I thought I'd focus on Japanese names.

Authentic Japanese names can be so wonderful! Its a shame that some Japanese immigrants to the US feel the need to "Americanize" their name, or choose a boring, English name like Jerry or Lee.  However, there are many that keep the name their parents gave them.

I read that it is traditional to have a big celebratory feast for the infant on its "Oshichiya" or its seventh day of life. They hang on the wall a very special "Shodo," or name plaque, that has the child's name inscribed in Japanese characters on very special paper.

Clearly, they take baby-naming very seriously! How many of us even had a celebratory feast when we were born, or when our children were born?

Meaning in names is very important. The Japanese use kanji characters that will mean things like "to soar," "great," and "big" for boys; and girls will receive characters meaning "beauty," "love," and "flower" among others.

In the past, it was very common and traditional for girls to have the kanji character "ko" meaning "a child" on the end of their names. Some of Japan's recent female royals were named Michiko, Kiko and Masako. However, this naming trend is almost completely gone now.

Many baby girls are receiving names that end with "ka" or "na" now instead of "ko".  Names like Haruka, Hina, Honoka, Ayaka, Yuuna, Momoka and Haruna. Western-sounding names have been trendy too, as well as shorter names like Hina, Yui and Miyu.

Another trend for girl names is to use Hiragana characters instead of kanji because it is softer and offers popular names like Sakura, Kokoro, Hikari and Hinata. There is a greater naming diversity in Japan today.

For boys, many of them receive endings like -to, -ki, and -ta. Popular names include Haruto, Yuuki, Souta, Kaito and Haruki.

Japanese names can be so diverse because you could ultimately choose from thousands of kanji characters and mix and match them to create a name.

Here are the 50 most popular Japanese boy's names in 2012:

1. Haruto
2. Yuto
3. Sota
4. Yuki
5. Hayato
6. Haruki
7. Ryusei
8. Koki
9. Sora
10. Sosuke, Riku
12. Soma
13. Ryota, Rui
14. Kaito, Haru
17. Kota, Yusei
19. Yuito
20. Yuma, Ren
22. Takumi, Minato
24. Eita, Shota
26. Daiki, Hiroto
28. Kosei, Takeru, Hinata
31. Toma, Manato, Ryuki, Rikuto
35. Aoto, Ibuki, Tatsuki, Haruma, Yamato, Ryuto
41. Taisei, Yuta
43. Itsuki, Soshi, Taiga
46. Kosuke, Shoma, Yushin, Ryuga, Ryo, Rento


And these are the 50 most popular Japanese girl's names in 2012:

1. Yui
2. Rio
3. Yuna
4. Hina
5. Koharu, Hinata
7. Mei
8. Mio
9. Saki
10. Miyu
11. Kokona
12. Haruka
13. Rin
14. Akari, Yuna
16. Honoka, Momoka
18. Aoi, Ichika, Sakura
21. Himari, Yume
23. Airi, Sara, Nanami
26. Ayaka, Yuka
28. Riko
29. Noa, Mao, Yua
32. Ayane, Hiyori, Misaki, Yuzuki, Rina
37. Sana, Ria, Ruka
40. Kanon, Kaho, Hana
43. Karin, Risa
45. Shiori, Fuka, Rino
48. Anna, Natsuki, Nana, Reina

Click here for a longer list of names that are popular in Japan for both genders.

Whether you have any Japanese blood or not, which of these names do you like best?

Note: If I have gotten any information wrong, please let me  know. I did some research, but I'm not Japanese, nor have I ever been to Japan. No offense intended. Just naming fascination! Thank you.

Source | Source | Source | Source

Unisex Names and Their Boy/Girl Ratios

Here is a list of names that are considered unisex today. I am only including those that have a good amount of births for both genders.  There are some names that have a couple hundred births for a boy and several thousand births for a girl (or vice versa). That's pretty much a landslide so I'm not including them. To be included, the names have to have at least a 90/10 split.

Name:  Percentage of use per gender (Boy/Girl) in 2012. (Example: 77% of all babies named Alexis in 2012 are female.)

Alexis (23/77)
Angel  (83/16)
Avery (19/81)
Casey  (61/39)
Charlie (59/41)
Dakota (48/52)
Devon (89/11)
Drew (84/16)
Elliott (84/16)
Ellis (65/35)
Emerson (39/61)
Emery (20/80)
Finley (34/66)
Harley (33/67)
Haven (18/82)
Hayden (69/31)
Jordan (85/15)
Jules (49/51)
Justice (46/54)
Kai  (87/13)
Kendall (12/88)
London (87/13)
Marlowe  (12/88)
Morgan (89/11)
Parker (84/16)
Payton (17/83)
Peyton (32/68)
Phoenix (61/39)
Quinn (32/68)
Reese (16/84)
Remy (54/46)
Riley (37/63)
Rio (66/34)
River (64/36)
Rory (69/31)
Rowan (63/37)
Sage (34/66)
Sawyer (83/17)
Scout (33/67)
Sky (24/76)
Skyler (41/59)
Skylar (12/88)
Taylor (15/85)
Teagan (20/80)
Toby  (79/21)
Valentine (47/53)
Zion (81/19)

These names were for the year 2012. For an updated list, take a look at this article:

Boy to Girl Ratios of Unisex Names in 2013

Can you think of any other names that might fall in this category?

I was surprised to see that there were more-females-than-males named Justice, Finley, Harley, and Taylor. In fact, only 15% of all Taylors are boys now. I thought it was a bit more even.  I was also a bit surprised that Charlie was 59/41. I figured most would be named Charlotte (or the like) and be nicknamed Charlie; I didn't expect so many females with Charlie as a given name.

Did any of these ratios surprise you?  Might you change your mind about using any of these names now that you see the ratio? Let me know in the comment section below!

5 Rarely Used Greek Boy Names!

Once again, a couple of the polls on the side of the blog have ended and the results are in!

Apollo 17 votes (34%)

Calix 15 votes (30%)

Isidore 7 votes (14%)

Achilles 6 votes (12%

Erasmus 4 votes (8%)

You voted! The winner of the poll was Apollo!

Apollo is a Greek mythology name. He was the son of Zeus and the god of medicine, music and poetry. Modern associations include NASA's Apollo program that landed humans on the moon; the historic Apollo Theatre in New York that launched the careers of many famous musicians.  Apollo ranked within the Top 1000 for the very first time at #993 in 2012! This name has only ranked in the US since 1965.

Calix is a handsome and rare choice. Some think of it as the male form of Calixta/Calista. It is a Greek name meaning "Very Handsome" but some associate it with a Chalice in Latin. It has only been used in the US since 2002. There were 46 boys given the name in 2012, but it only ranks at #2619.

Isidore was a common name in ancient Greece and is held by several saints. The name means "Gift of Isis" and was readily used by Jews in Spain. St. Isidore of Seville worked as an encyclopedist and helped to pass down much of our knowledge about medieval times. This name was most popular from 1912-1924. Since then, usage has nearly stopped. Only 5 boys bore this name in 2012.

Achilles was a great warrior in Greek legend and one of the stars of Homer's Illiad which featured the Greek war against the Trojans. He was famously killed by an arrow to the heel, (now called the Achilles tendon) as it was his only weak spot. Because of this, the name possibly means "pain" but the true meaning is unclear. Achilles is used more in Europe than in the states. It's been used ocassionally since 1912, and had a small boost in 2005. There were 146 boys born in 2012 with this name, ranking at #1209.

Erasmus is a very rare name but it shouldn't be. It is Greek for "beloved, desired" which is very attractive! Perhaps its the two S's in the name that makes it difficult to say. Saint Erasmus was also known as Saint Elmo. And Charles Darwin's grandfather was named Erasmus. This name briefly ranked in the US from 1880-1882. It wasn't used again until 1913-1926, 1942, 1970, 1972, 2000, and 2010-2011. There have only been 105 Erasmus' born in the US since 1880.

I'd like to see Erasmus and Isidore have more usage for modern boys. Which do you like?

Girl Name of the Week: Vienna

In honor of yesterday's post about "place names," I've chosen to feature Vienna for the Girl Name of the Week.

Of course, Vienna is the capital of Austria, and it is also its largest city with 2.4 million people within the metropolitan area.  The city is known as "The City of Music" because there have been more famous composers living there than anywhere else. It has also been called "The City of Dreams" because it was the home of Sigmund Freud, a famous psycho-analyst.

The Italian name Vienna comes from the German name "Wien" which is thought to be derived from the Roman "vindobona" which comes from the Celtic word "windo-" meaning "white or fair."
Some claim that it comes from "Vedunia" which means "forest stream." As you can see, the exact origin and meaning is a bit hazy.

Every source I looked at seemed to have its own meaning and origin for Vienna, for instance, one site says that it is "Latin" meaning "from wine country".

Vienna was used in the US in 1882 for 5 baby girls, and it wasn't heard from again until 1899. Its usage remained in the single and double digits until 2007 when there were 107 births for the year.  Now, in 2012 there were 214 births which puts Vienna at #1141.

Source

No, Vienna has never cracked the top 1000, but she is rising slowly. Perhaps parents are using Vienna as an alternative to the more-popular, similar-sounding Sienna.

Do you think Vienna will appear on the top 1000 chart some time soon or do you think it will remain somewhat obscure?  I could see it being more popular if it weren't for "Vienna sausages" tainting the beauty of this place name. What do you think?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Adelaide, Bethany, Geneva, Mila, Savannah, Sierra, Victoria
Brothers: Austin, Daniel, Henry, Kellan, Lincoln, Scott, William

Middle Name Ideas:
Vienna Grace
Vienna Penelope
Vienna Sage
Vienna Louise
Vienna Meredith

As a Middle Name:
Elizabeth Vienna
Harper Vienna
Madison Vienna
Lily Vienna
Pearl Vienna

Place Names for Boys and Girls

This awesome photo was borrowed from this awesome blog.

I do not normally recommend place names unless you've personally been to that place and it holds sentimental value for you, or your family hails from there.

That being said, here is a long list of places around the world that could work as a first name. Boy and Girl options are mixed together.

Please keep in mind that some places are nicer than others and some places have strong history associated with it.

Do your research carefully before you commit to using any of these names.

Abilene Adelaide Africa Alabama Alamo Albany Andorra Aquitaine Arabia Aragon Argentina Aspen Asia Assisi Atlanta Austin Austria Avalon Baja Berlin Bimini Bolivia Boston Brasilia Brazil Bristol Brooklyn Bronx Cairo Calais Caledonia Camden Carolina Caspian Catalina Cathay Cayman Ceylon Charleston Charlotte Chelsea Cheyenne China Cluny Colombia Corsica Cuba Cyprus Dakota Dallas Danube

Delphi Denver Devon Dominica Dover Dublin Eden Elba England Everest Florence France Galway Geneva Genoa Georgia Glasgow Guernsey Harlem Havana Holland Houston Hudson Iberia India Indiana Indio Ireland Israel Italia Jakarta Jamaica Java Jersey Jordan Kenya Kingston Kyoto London Louisiana Lourdes Madison Majorca Malta Manila Montana Marbella Memphis Miami Morocco Nairobi

Nevis Nile Odessa Olympia Oslo Palermo Palma Panama Paris Persia Peru Philippine Portland Quebec Quintana Quito Raleigh Reno Rio Roma Romany Russia Sahara Salem Samara Samoa Santiago Savannah Senegal Sevilla Sicily Siena Sierra Sonoma Sonora Sydney Tahiti Tangier Trenton Trinidad Umbria Valencia Venezia Venice Verona Vienna Virginia York Zealand

Which name is your favorite? Are there any I should add?

Boy Name of the Week: Orion

The Boy Name of the Week has both mythical and celestial associations to it.

Orion is the name of a constellation of stars. Most visible to the naked eye is a line of three stars that form Orion's belt. The constellation was named after a legendary Greek hunter who is said to have been killed by a scorpion that was sent by Gaia.  However, here are many different tales about Orion and his origins in mythology.

The name Orion does not have a known meaning, but could be related to the Greek ‘οριον' (horion) which means "boundary" or "limit".

Orion has ranked in the US since 1880 but it was extremely rare and hardly used until it began gaining a bit of momentum in the 70s. It landed on the top 1000 chart for the first time in 1991 at #995 then fell back off for two years.

Starting in 1994, this name has been on an upward trajectory!  In 2012, there were 673 baby boys named Orion which ranked the name at #419. There were also 21 female births in 2012. There has been a handful of girls given this name since 1991 (and 5 random births in 1917) but this is an overwhelmingly male name.

Source

This name is categorized with nature names and celestial names as well as mythological names. I'm featuring it as my favorite name from yesterday's Nature Names post.

I would probably pair Orion with a traditional name like Orion James or Matthew Orion since it is a bold choice. What do you think of this name?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Athena, Aurora, Cassandra, Iris, Jasmine, Raven, Soleil, Xanthe

Brothers: Anthony, August, Griffin, Jared, Lennon, Oliver, Soren, Talon

Middle Name Ideas:
Orion James
Orion Carter
Orion Lucas
Orion Lee

As a Middle Name:
Matthew Orion
Dominic Orion
Andrew Orion
Blake Orion

Nature Names For Boys and Girls

Snow? Rose? Winter?
Photo taken by me.

I previously featured girl names that are inspired by flowers and trees. I thought I would find even more options for both genders that come from nature.

Included on this list are baby names that are inspired by flowers, trees, fruit, water, weather, the earth and even animals! There is a great variety here and you're sure to find one that you love!

Nature names have increased in popularity lately as parents look for bold, unconventional name options. Which of these cool options is your favorite? Did I miss any?

Amber Apple Aqua Arbor Ash Aspen Avis Azalea Basil Bay Beach Berry Birch Blossom Briar Brook Calla Canyon Cedar Cerise Cherry Citron Clay Clementine Cliff Clover Cobalt Coral Crane Cricket Dahlia Daisy Delta Dove Dune Elm Emerald Falcon Feather Fern Field Fjord

Flint Flora Forest Fox Frost Gardener Garland Garnet Glen Grove Harbor Hawk Huckleberry Iris Isle Ivy Jade Jasmine Jasper Jet Juniper Lake Lark Laurel Lemon Lily Linden Luna Magnolia Mango Maple Marigold Meadow Mercury Mesa Mica Nova Oak Ocean Onyx Opal Oriole Orion

Pearl Pepper Peridot Petunia Pike Pine Plum Poppy Prairie Primrose Quarry Quartz Quill Rain Reed Ridge River Robin Rose Ruby Saffron Sage Sapphire Shale Skye Slate Snow Sparrow Spring Spruce Star Stone Tide Topaz Vale Valley Venus Violet Willow Wolf Wren Yarrow Zinc