What’s In a Name? Part 24

On The Fourth Day Of Fun I present... another entry in the oldest series! Words are always fun, so let’s dive in and learn about some new ones! Hide - 秀 Prefix or Suffix: Both Old Meaning: Excellence or Beauty New (Standardized) Meaning: Excellence or Beauty Found In: All Five Kagai This kanji is overall a wonderful one as it’s upbeat, positive, and just great to have! When using it to mean “beauty” it’s often done in relation to someone’s looks or if they already have another kanji in their name that already means “excellence.” Examples 真理秀 Marihide (Gion Kobu): “True Logic and Beauty,” this translation used “beauty” instead of “excellence” as it sounded better when describing a person. 秀咲季 Hidesaki (Pontocho): “Excellent Blossom Season,” this one describes the time of flowers blooming, so “excellent” was more appropriate here. 秀治 Hideji (Kamishichiken): “Excellent Ruler,” this one could have gone either way, but “excellence” sounded better when referring to a ruler. 芳秀 Yoshihide (Miyagawa Cho): “Excellent Perfume,” another one that could have gone either way, but “excellent” sounded better in this instance again. 秀千代 Hidechiyo (Gion Higashi): “Eternally Excellent,” a pretty great name to have! Sumi - 純 Prefix or Suffix: Suffix Old Meaning: Purity or Innocence  New (Standardized) Meaning: Purity or Innocence  Found In: Gion Kobu, Kamishichiken, and Miyagawa Cho Another wonderful kanji, this one describes the innocence or purity in things, like newly fallen snow or the wonderment of a child. Examples 小純 Kosumi (Gion Kobu): “Small Innocence,” pretty straightforward in that it describes someone who is small and innocent. 市純 Ichisumi (Kamishichiken): “First Innocence,” using it as “first” in this case like the shrine marker eludes to the purity of the shrine itself and the innocence of the deities residing there. とし純 Toshisumi (Miyagawa Cho): “Town of Innocence” or “Year of Innocence,” since “Toshi” can have two different meanings it’s important to list both.   Kana/Kano/Ka - 叶 Prefix or Suffix: Prefix Old Meaning: Wish New (Standardized) Meaning: Wish Found In: Pontocho, Kamishichiken, Miyagawa Cho, and Gion Higashi A third wonderful kanji that represents wishes! What could be better than wishing on a star and hoping that your dreams come true? ^^ Examples 叶蝶 Kanachō (Pontocho): “Butterfly Wishes,” in this case it’s the butterfly who makes the wishes. 梅叶菜 Umekana (Kamishichiken): “Plum Who Wishes of Vegetables,” this one was slightly harder to translate into something that made sense, so I hope that it ended up working. 叶はる Kanaharu (Miyagawa Cho): “Spring Wishes,” a refreshing name! 叶千代 Kanochiyo (Gion Higashi): “Eternal Wishes,” something that we all wish for ^^

What’s In a Name? Part 22

On The Fourth Day of Fun I present... another addition in the first ever series! This one features some unique kanji that have only been used once to my knowledge, so let’s learn more! Ke - 圭 Prefix or Suffix: Prefix Old Meaning: Corner or Edge New (Standardized) Meaning): Corner or Edge Found In: Gion Kobu A pretty interesting kanji as besides referring to a corner or an edge it can also refer to square jewels! That’s a more obscure meaning, but it’s still there! Example 圭衣子 Keiko (Gion Kobu): “Child With An Edge of Cloth” - This one needs a bit of explanation as “衣“ refers to important or special pieces of cloth like ceremonial kimono. So, its akin to an attendant holding a piece of kimono aloft for its wearer. Kei - 景 Prefix or Suffix: Prefix Old Meaning: Scenery New (Standardized) Meaning): Scenery Found In: Gion Kobu This kanji is more commonly found in standard women’s names and not the karyukai, so that’s why it’s made this list. Example 景子 Keiko (Gion Kobu): “Scenic Child” - A very standard female name!   O - 甫 Prefix or Suffix: Neither Old Meaning: For The First Time New (Standardized) Meaning): For The First Time Found In: Gion Kobu This one is really rare as the pronunciation was changed to fit a name, and just doesn’t see much use anymore. Example 奈甫子 Naoko (Gion Kobu): “Child of The First Time/First Time Child” - This one’s a bit hard to translate as “奈“ itself is awkward on its best days ^^;

What’s In a Name? Part 21

On The Third Day of Fun I present... the newest addition in the first ever series! Since so many kanji have been covered over the years this feature only really gets updated during The Twelve Days of Fun, so I hope that you enjoy the new additions! Tama - 玉 Prefix or Suffix: Prefix Old Meaning: Treasure or Jewel New (Standardized) Meaning: Treasure or Jewel Found In: All Kagai A once popular kanji, its meaning is associated with both the finest jewels and royalty due to its resemblance to the kanji “王,“ meaning “Ruler.“ Examples 玉龍 Tamaryō (Gion Kobu, Kamishichiken, and Miyagawa Cho): “Dragon Treasure” - A special name that brings to mind the treasure orbs that Japanese dragons carry. 玉雄 Tamayū/Tamao (Gion Kobu and Gion Higashi): “Treasured Hero” - Two different pronunciations with one meaning harking back to the karyukai’s common use of masculine geimei. 玉枝 Tamae (Pontocho): “Jewelled Branch” - An interesting geimei as it possibly eludes to the story of Horai’s Gem Branch.  Tama - 珠 Prefix or Suffix: Suffix Old Meaning: Treasure or Jewel New (Standardized) Meaning: Treasure or Jewel Found In: Gion Kobu and Miyagawa Cho This kanji is actually fairly new on the scene as it’s a more out dated version of the other Tama. It’s used primarily for stroke count but also as a way of keeping old kanji alive. Examples 豆珠 Mametama (Gion Kobu): “Jewel or Treasured Bean” - An elegant name that’s quintessentially karyukai by mixing the popular “bean” with a regal kanji to elevate its status. ふく珠 Fukutama (Miyagawa Cho): “Lucky Jewel or Lucky Treasure” - A very auspicious name that also brings to mind cute, round things ^^      Sono - 苑 Prefix or Suffix: Suffix Old Meaning: Garden New (Standardized) Meaning: Garden Found In: Gion Kobu and Miyagawa Cho Another way to write previously covered kanji “園,” it’s also seen much newer use as it’s only been around since 2005. Examples 幸苑 Yukizono (Gion Kobu): “Blessed Garden” - A great geimei with hopes for the owner to grow into a great artist ^^ 富美苑 Fumisono (Miyagawa Cho): “Beautiful Wealthy Garden” - An elegant geimei that brings to mind the imperial gardens.

What’s In a Name? Part 20

On The Fourth Day Of Fun I present... the newest entry in the first ever series! To have some extra fun we’re going to be focusing on geimei that involve fruits! Yu - 柚 Prefix or Suffix: Both Old Meaning: Citrus New (Standardized) Meaning: Citrus Found In: Gion Kobu and Kamishichiken This one is pretty interesting as it can represent all citrus fruits in general or, most commonly, refer to a popular citrus hybrid known as Yuzu (spelled as 柚子). Yuzu is popular in Japanese cuisine as it’s taste is similar to a lemon, but not as overtly bitter. In my translations I list “柚” as “Lemon” as lemons are the most similar fruit to yuzu and yuzu literally means “Citrus Child” ^^  Examples 柚衣子 Yuiko (Gion Kobu): “Lemon (Colored) Robe Child,” an elegant name that brings to mind soft fabrics with warm colors. 柚喜子 Yukiko (Gion Kobu): “Child Delighted By Lemons,” a cute name that brings to mind a child picking fruit. 梅柚 Umeyu (Kamishichiken): “Plum Lemon,” two fruits for the price of one! Kyō - 杏 Prefix or Suffix: Prefix Old Meaning: Apricot New (Standardized) Meaning: Apricot Found In: Gion Kobu This is an interesting kanji that only appears once in all of the gokagai! The “Kyō” pronunciation is actually rare and you’ll hear it referred to as “Anzu” in normal speech and even names. Example 杏佳 Kyōka (Gion Kobu): “Beautiful Apricot,” a pretty straightforward name. Apricots are closely related to plums, so the okasan who chose this wanted to evoke the long history of plums in the karyukai but wanted to give the girl a unique name to make her stand out! Momo - 桃 Prefix or Suffix: Both Old Meaning: Peach New (Standardized) Meaning: Peach Found In: All Five Kagai Going from a kanji with only one example to another that has many really balances things out! Peaches are considered cute and their color looks like blushing cheeks, so it fits in well in the karyukai ^^ Examples 桃福 Momofuku (Gion Kobu): “Lucky Peach,” an auspicious and cute name! 久桃 Hisamomo (Pontocho): “Long Lived Peach,” possibly eludes to the story of special peaches that grant immortality. 市桃 Ichimomo (Pontocho, Kamishichiken, and Gion Higashi): “First Peach,” also straightforward and cute! 桃子 Momoko (Miyagawa Cho): “Peach Child,” twice the cute in one name! つね桃 Tsunemomo (Gion Higashi): “Constant Peach,” a bit of an outlier of a name, but it belonged to a woman who embodied peach-like qualities, so it ended up being a very good fit ^^

Random Fact of The Week 17/3

An interesting suggestion sent in by two different readers! Sometimes geimei incorporate the sound of a real girl’s name into her geimei as a way of allowing her to transition easier into the karyukai. It’s also quite auspicious! Some notable names include: Asuka - Asuka (あす佳) Mitsuki - Mitsuki (美月) Chika - Mamechika (豆千花) Yuri - Mameyuri (豆ゆり) Ayako - Ayako (亜矢子) Maki - Makiko (槇子) Tomomo - Katsutomo (佳つ智) Hinata - Umehina (梅ひな) Technically Luna - Satsuki (紗月) counts as well since her name means “moon” and her geimei has the kanji for “moon” in it ^^ There are likely many more, but those are the ones that I can remember off the top of my head ^^