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 ^^