Japanese Names

Japanese first names usually consist one or two kanji characters. Last names usually consist two. Foreign names are almost always written by katakana. Some Japanese names can be written by Hiragana or Katakana though. Hiragana has soft and round look, therefore it's used when writing women's names by using kana.

-ko is often heard in women's names. The meaning is "child". Therefore "Aiko" means child of Ai. Ai itself means love.

-o ending means man or boy. Like Mizuo. Waterboy.

Like in China, Japanese usually call the last name first. Therefore Tsuneo Kobayashi-san is called Kobayashi Tsuneo-san in Japan. Different titles are being added according to situation. Please note that these titles are never used on one's own name. Although sometimes I want, I cannot call myself Jaakko-chan.

-san - for example, Tsuneo Kobayashi-san. A person is usually called adding san to his name in normal situation. It is the polite form. Please keep in mind though that in very formal occasion this is not enough. If Emperor pays you a visit you should probably call him -sama. San can be added both to first and last name.

- kun - for example, Tsunekun. This is usually for young boys, or men younger than you. Can be added only to first name.

- chan - for example, Marichan. For children and especially for girls. It is also common that girlfriends call each other with chan. Can be added only to first name.

-sama - in hospitals you often hear people calling people using -sama. Like "Kobayashi-samaaaa". Can be added to both , first and last name. Sama is also being used when addressing imperial people. Nice. :)

Japanese baby names

Japanese have tradition to name their children with words referring to spiritual things, beauty, wealth and health. Trends vary, imperial family being the most influencial for newborn babies names.

Here are few examples:

name	meaning	gender
Ai	love	Girl
Aiko	beloved one	Girl
Cho	butterfly	Girl
Etsu	delight	Girl
Fujita	field	Both
Hana	flower, blossom, graceful	Girl
Haru	spring	Boy
Haya	quick, light	Girl
Hiroshi	generous	Boy
Hisa	long lasting	Girl
Kaede	maple leaf	Girl
Kameko	tortoise shell	Girl
Keiko	adored one	Girl
Kin	golden boy	Boy
Kisho	determinate boy	Boy
Kita	north	Girl
Kiyoshi	quiet boy	Boy
Kohana	little flower	Girl
Leiko	arrogant	Girl
Machi	ten tousand (much)	Girl
Mamiko	child of mami	Girl
Mine	a resolute protector	Girl
Midori	green girl	Girl
Raidon	thunder god	Boy
Rini	little bunny	Girl
Ringo	apple boy (a potential Mac user?)	Boy
Toyo	plentiful	Both
Zen	religious boy	Boy

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