New Post
Search
Help[Facts] Is Takeo a real Japanese name?
After reading Lian Hearn's first novel about Takeo and Kaede, I had to look these names up on BtN. I found Kaede but not Takeo. But I believe the author has used real Japanese names, b/c I found many others (Takeshi, Shiro, Kenji, Naomi, Yuki).
I've read that there is a Japanese name Takao meaning "noble". Maybe Takeo and Takao is the same name?
In the book, Takeo's original name is Tomasu. Which of course is a form of the Christian Thomas.
"You sought a flower and found a fruit. You sought a spring and found a sea. You sought a woman and found a soul. You are disappointed."
"It does not become me to make myself smaller than I am." (Edith Södergran 1891-1923)
I've read that there is a Japanese name Takao meaning "noble". Maybe Takeo and Takao is the same name?
In the book, Takeo's original name is Tomasu. Which of course is a form of the Christian Thomas.
"You sought a flower and found a fruit. You sought a spring and found a sea. You sought a woman and found a soul. You are disappointed."
"It does not become me to make myself smaller than I am." (Edith Södergran 1891-1923)
1
Replies
Yes, and it seems a rather popular one, and one with many different kanji combinations in use to write it.
The most frequent kanji writing that I could find is:
丈夫
http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=4e08
http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=592b
If you look at the meanings of these 2 kanji, you see something funny. No wonder Takeo is popular, because it seems to be the epitome of a male name! Both kanji stand for man, male, gentleman, husband, or similar. And the combination of both kanji is also used to write the ordinary Japanese word for hero (pronounced "joufu") and for good health, whereas as in Chinese the combination stands for "husband".
It doesn't get any more "man" than this :)
Rene www.AboutNames.ch
The most frequent kanji writing that I could find is:
丈夫
http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=4e08
http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=592b
If you look at the meanings of these 2 kanji, you see something funny. No wonder Takeo is popular, because it seems to be the epitome of a male name! Both kanji stand for man, male, gentleman, husband, or similar. And the combination of both kanji is also used to write the ordinary Japanese word for hero (pronounced "joufu") and for good health, whereas as in Chinese the combination stands for "husband".
It doesn't get any more "man" than this :)
Rene www.AboutNames.ch
1
Thank you. I could not see Takeo anywhere on these pages, but I take your word that it means man, gentleman etc.
Perfect for a hero and Takeo is a real hero in the books. I am sure Lian Hearn named him Takeo b/c of the meanings.
"You sought a flower and found a fruit. You sought a spring and found a sea. You sought a woman and found a soul. You are disappointed."
"It does not become me to make myself smaller than I am." (Edith Södergran 1891-1923)
Perfect for a hero and Takeo is a real hero in the books. I am sure Lian Hearn named him Takeo b/c of the meanings.
"You sought a flower and found a fruit. You sought a spring and found a sea. You sought a woman and found a soul. You are disappointed."
"It does not become me to make myself smaller than I am." (Edith Södergran 1891-1923)
1
The links that I give in my post lead to pages explaining the meanings of single Chinese/Japanese characters. To see what a character means you have to scroll down on these pages until you find a table heading "Definition".
The two links go to the two characters that make up the most frequent writing of the name Takeo in kanji that I could find (I saw around 10 others). The two characters individually both stand for meanings like "man", "male", etc, so for the whole combination you get something like "manly man" and thus "hero".
But anyway - Japanese names are confusing, aren't they? - Takeo is not at the same time the Japanese common word for hero - that's "joufu" - but "joufu" is also written with these two characters. (So when reading this, as I understand this situation, people must infer from context whether a story about a hero is told or whether a story about Takeo the man is told.)
Rene www.AboutNames.ch
The two links go to the two characters that make up the most frequent writing of the name Takeo in kanji that I could find (I saw around 10 others). The two characters individually both stand for meanings like "man", "male", etc, so for the whole combination you get something like "manly man" and thus "hero".
But anyway - Japanese names are confusing, aren't they? - Takeo is not at the same time the Japanese common word for hero - that's "joufu" - but "joufu" is also written with these two characters. (So when reading this, as I understand this situation, people must infer from context whether a story about a hero is told or whether a story about Takeo the man is told.)
Rene www.AboutNames.ch
1