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 ^^