Anyone here considering giving their child a Japanese or similar sounding name.

[DaughterOfZion]

Lol I wouldn't be breeding my horde of cats, they'd all be rescues (We live in the country so it's not unusual for us to trap a feral cat and go get them fixed). Though sadly I won't be able to name a daddy cat Dio and it's son Giorno that way.

[goldenspines]

I was going to go into a lecture about Japanese names because I'm an elitist snob, but DoZ derailed my thoughts with her lovely post.

Back on topic, it isn't Japanese per say, but if I ever had two children and they were both boys I would totally name one Dio and the other Jonathan and see what happens. Or maybe Jotaro and Kakyoin if it had to be Japanese for some weird reason.

Hairstyles and outfits included I hope. Start here: Baby clothes should be awesome.

[DaughterOfZion]

xD My pleasure Goldy. ;p If I went through with naming two kids Jotaro and Kakyoin we would totally have a dog named Iggy and a cat named Jouta. I feel sorry for my hypothetical future husband and children. I guess I better keep my eye out for a guy named Joseph. ; D And maybe change my name...

[Nate]

I know a little boy named Kamille and his parents aren't crazy, so there's that

Look, Kamille is a man's name, and he's a man.

[SilverToast]

Why stop at only a Japanese name? I want to give a child a full name with names of nationalities they don't identify as or with.

Get over here Luigi Hayato Schwartz Bruder Van Simba.

Also I want to name a child Vash's full name. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Zz5S90su0

[Nate]

I'm going to name my kid Donkey Kong because I like the Donkey Kong Country games.

[Yuki-Anne]

Wow, I am SUPER late to this party...

As for Japanese names I always thought Riku was an awesome name for a boy, turns out one of the cool ladies on here named her son that ^_^! Kudos to Yuki-Anne on that one, I love it!

Yay! Thank you!

I would say that unless you go with a safe bet (like the aforementioned Ken or Sakura), DO NOT name your child a Japanese-sounding name without consulting an actual Japanese person. For example, Dan, while technically a word in Japanese, would be a weird thing to name your child, because Dan essentially means "man." It would be like naming your boy MAN with all capital letters. Same goes for Ben, which is a word in Japanese, but while it means "convenient" in some contexts, it also means "poop" in others. Same kanji and everything. While those are both a little bit obvious, there were a lot of names that I suggested to my husband during the naming stages and he was like, "No, that's really weird."

Also, it's a LOT easier to name girls than boys, I found. While a lot of girl names can be transliterated directly between English and Japanese, such as Hana or Sara or Maya, boys names that work in both America and Japan boil down to Ken or Rei. *sigh*

So yeah I love the sound of Ken, Sakura or Hinata. they sound beautiful and I research their meaning. Ken means Fish

OK, this cracks me up, and it also highlights another difficulty of giving your child a Japanese name. I have NO IDEA where you got that Ken means fish, because depending on the kanji, it can mean a lot of different things, none of which are "fish" (Did you, perchance, mistype "fist"? Because that IS a thing). It can mean "authority," "sword," "intelligence/virtue," or "strength," among other things. In Japanese a person's name is not just the sounds that are put together, but the kanji as well. For example, my son's name "Riku", which can be used for either gender, can mean "land," "crimson plum," "jasmine," or, as we chose, "enduring (or eternal) truth." It all depends on the kanji that you pick for your child's name, which makes Japanese names very difficult to read, but also renders them with a depth of meaning that I find far more beautiful than Western names.

Anyway, I'd say that unless you do end up married to a Japanese woman (or a woman with Japanese heritage), I wouldn't recommend naming your child an overtly Japanese name. Like, if my son moves to America for college and people ask him about his name, he can be like, "Well, my dad's Japanese." But if he was 100% white American and people asked, what would he be able to say? "Well, my parents are SUPER into anime and stuff..." I think it's better to go for a relatively normal name within your cultural context, because weird/unusual names can be a real burden for kids as they get older. Not 100% of the time, but... yeah.

And this TOTALLY depends on who you marry, because you might like the idea of a Japanese name now, but if you marry a woman who hates that idea, it's not going to happen, period.

Sidenote: Ain't nothing wrong with dreaming about marrying a Japanese person. Sometimes dreams come true for those of us with oddly specific tastes.
PS There are a lot more single Christian Japanese ladies than single Christian Japanese men so there's that favorable ratio going for you, too.

[Troy]

I think Yoko,Kojo or Kenji are all nice names

[twistedfairytale45]

Well... I struggle with this a LOT. I think the first(and now current) conflict was when I gave one of my story characters the name Daisuke. His name was one of the main reasons I got rid of the story... but now I have to rename him because I watched How To Train Your Dragon 2 and it's brought back memories but the name Daisuke is the only name I can give him so I'm stuck *heavy breathing*. If I gave my children Japanese names... 1. it would probably only be their middle and name and 2. my husband would also have to be a lover of Japanese culture.

[Xeno]

This feels oddly relevant: If Asians Said the Stuff White People Say

[Mave]

I've never been offended by 'oriental' or 'chink' but that's mostly because I've chosen not to take it personally and that label hasn't changed the course of my life enough for me to fret over it. I generally stick to 'of Asian descent' unless I'm interested to get into finer details.

To answer the original question, I've never considered using Japanese names except as online pseudonyms (e.g. I used to go by 'Michiru' many many years ago). It's traditional for Asian folks to pick positive & successful names based on the hopes of parents for their future generation. I'd imagine it'll be the same for some non-Asian folks too? It seems to be the case for those in the history of the bible.

Also, most Asians are still highly particular about using congruent names to represent their race, nationality and religious identities. Therefore, considering a Japanese name is out of the question for me (unless of course, I've married into a Japanese family and have obligations to keep up with).

If you still want to go down this path (for whatever reason it is, I won't judge), I'd suggest names that overlap across Japanese+ Western cultures such as:

Male: Ken, Kai, Riki.....Tobi?
Female: Karin, Rina, Hana, Sara, Erika, Marina, Naomi, Mari, Mei

Pls do correct me if any of these suggestions is an epic mistake. I was just screening through google searches. I see more names working out for females. XD Interesting topic, I must say.

[Ante Bellum]

but now I have to rename him because I watched How To Train Your Dragon 2 and it's brought back memories but the name Daisuke is the only name I can give him so I'm stuck

You...could just change it.

[Anirac]

My name is Carina Harumi (and my husband's family name is French), a most interesting mix: Italian, Japanese, French, all in one name. I look Japanese, but not quite the stereotype. I have traits of Okinawan people: wavy hair, tan skin, round eyes. What do you people think of my name? Do you find the choice is justified, since I am 100% Japanese, but born and raised in Brazil? Do you think I should have been named a more "Brazilian" name, such as Jaci, or Iracema?

My future daughter will be named Rose. I love roses. My husband always gives me roses. And her Japanese name will be the season she was born in. The kanji for my name Harumi mean "spring"and "beauty". I was born in spring. My Italian name means "dearest". Dearest spring beauty. My name is a compliment in itself. So why should I not name my child the same way? Such poetry for a name beats titles of nobility.

We name children after people or things we admire. Why should your admiration be seen as disrespect or offence? I find it's racist to think a white person cannot have a Japanese name. Are Japanese so superior that their language cannot be used as names for golden-haired, blue-eyed children? Or were they so deeply wounded by WWII that this would be seen as cultural appropriation? I think not. Or else they would have made a bigger fuss about sushi, karate, and aikido. My Italian friends never frowned at their language being used to baptise a Japanese girl. In fact, they smiled when my name was a word they knew well. "Cara Carina" was the pun they adopted for my nickname.

You might fear being labelled Japanese wannabes, but what is wrong with incorporating a culture that you love and admire? You can name your elvish-looking or deeply tanned child Sakura and I will not frown upon it; chances are there is some kokeshi-looking girl in Japan named Mary, Joan, Sarah.

Name your child whatever you want. Offence is in the heart of the offended.

[PLCDreamcatcher14]

My name is Carina Harumi (and my husband's family name is French), a most interesting mix: Italian, Japanese, French, all in one name. I look Japanese, but not quite the stereotype. I have traits of Okinawan people: wavy hair, tan skin, round eyes. What do you people think of my name? Do you find the choice is justified, since I am 100% Japanese, but born and raised in Brazil? Do you think I should have been named a more "Brazilian" name, such as Jaci, or Iracema?

My future daughter will be named Rose. I love roses. My husband always gives me roses. And her Japanese name will be the season she was born in. The kanji for my name Harumi mean "spring"and "beauty". I was born in spring. My Italian name means "dearest". Dearest spring beauty. My name is a compliment in itself. So why should I not name my child the same way? Such poetry for a name beats titles of nobility.

We name children after people or things we admire. Why should your admiration be seen as disrespect or offence? I find it's racist to think a white person cannot have a Japanese name. Are Japanese so superior that their language cannot be used as names for golden-haired, blue-eyed children? Or were they so deeply wounded by WWII that this would be seen as cultural appropriation? I think not. Or else they would have made a bigger fuss about sushi, karate, and aikido. My Italian friends never frowned at their language being used to baptise a Japanese girl. In fact, they smiled when my name was a word they knew well. "Cara Carina" was the pun they adopted for my nickname.

You might fear being labelled Japanese wannabes, but what is wrong with incorporating a culture that you love and admire? You can name your elvish-looking or deeply tanned child Sakura and I will not frown upon it; chances are there is some kokeshi-looking girl in Japan named Mary, Joan, Sarah.

Name your child whatever you want. Offence is in the heart of the offended.

Wow. I really love your post! I'm of Irish, Scottish, French, and Cherokee descent and I have a Native American name. My parents and I love Native American names so much that we've even used them to name a lot of our pets and whenever people hear these names they always say 'Wow! That's such a pretty name! I might have to use that.' They don't think we're Native American wannabes. Personally I've found different names from various cultures to be beautiful including names from Japan and I would love to name my future kids whatever I'd like. I don't see anything wrong with naming your children whatever regardless of your ethnicity, either. PS. Carina Harumi is REALLY pretty name. ^-^