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ArchivesSome Japanized Western names
I was reading a previous discussion about the story of Naomi as Japanese name
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=2896143&board=gen
and I have a couple of questions about some Japanized Western names (perhaps silly, but since my knowledge of Japanese is zero, I'm very interested in any information to understand well the life of these names).
I understand that Naomi was reinterpreted through Japanese language as a composition of Nao (present in Naoko, e.g.) and the ending mi.
* Which is the meaning of Nao and mi (if mi has meaning and it is not only a grammatical element)?
* Which kanjis are used to write the name as a "true" Japanese name?
I have the same questions for Erina and Erika, plus if someone has some information about their history in Japan (if they were first used in a novel, in a film..., when, etc.).
Any information will be welcome.
Thank you very much.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=2896143&board=gen
and I have a couple of questions about some Japanized Western names (perhaps silly, but since my knowledge of Japanese is zero, I'm very interested in any information to understand well the life of these names).
I understand that Naomi was reinterpreted through Japanese language as a composition of Nao (present in Naoko, e.g.) and the ending mi.
* Which is the meaning of Nao and mi (if mi has meaning and it is not only a grammatical element)?
* Which kanjis are used to write the name as a "true" Japanese name?
I have the same questions for Erina and Erika, plus if someone has some information about their history in Japan (if they were first used in a novel, in a film..., when, etc.).
Any information will be welcome.
Thank you very much.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
1
Replies
I am sadly not computer savvy enough to be able to make kanji appear in this reply. If you search for Naomi (2) on this site, it shows one of the most common kanji for this name: Nao meaning "straight, correct." There is one other very common spelling with Nao meaning "esteem." The suffix -mi is generally written in girls' names with a kanji meaning "beauty." There are other possible kanji for "-mi," but they are unusual.
Naomi is a special case in Japanized Western names, as "Nao" and "-mi" exist as native Japanese name elements. As was discussed in the post you referenced, Naomi fits so seamlessly with traditional names that most Japanese are completely unaware of its "Western" origin. This is not the case for the majority of Japanized Western names such as Erika or Erina, as well as Maria, Juria (Julia), Arisa (Alisa), etc. These are obviously, to a Japanese-speaker, of non-native origin. Such names are almost always written with "phonetic" kanji, one for each syllable, with the sound being the primary consideration and the meaning secondary. The number of potential kanji spellings for Erika and Erina is very large and it would be difficult to pinpoint the one, two or three most common.
I can't help with the question of when Erika and Erina were introduced to Japan.
Naomi is a special case in Japanized Western names, as "Nao" and "-mi" exist as native Japanese name elements. As was discussed in the post you referenced, Naomi fits so seamlessly with traditional names that most Japanese are completely unaware of its "Western" origin. This is not the case for the majority of Japanized Western names such as Erika or Erina, as well as Maria, Juria (Julia), Arisa (Alisa), etc. These are obviously, to a Japanese-speaker, of non-native origin. Such names are almost always written with "phonetic" kanji, one for each syllable, with the sound being the primary consideration and the meaning secondary. The number of potential kanji spellings for Erika and Erina is very large and it would be difficult to pinpoint the one, two or three most common.
I can't help with the question of when Erika and Erina were introduced to Japan.
This message was edited 2/15/2008, 11:26 PM
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Amaya is a Japanese surname, and it's almost unknown for a surname to be used as a given name in Japan. The Japanese Girls' Name dictionary (http://japanese.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.dd.iij4u.or.jp/%7Eume20/f%5Fname/) does include two kanji spellings of Amaya (one of those is phonetic characters, and the other is "rain" + "night"), but Amaya is most definitely not a traditional first name in Japan. As it's axiomatic that any Japanese first name that can be written differently, will be written differently, one can conclude from the fact that only two kanji spellings of Amaya are listed in this huge dictionary that it's exceedingly rare.
BTW, the surname Amaya is usually "heaven" + "valley."
BTW, the surname Amaya is usually "heaven" + "valley."
This message was edited 2/17/2008, 8:33 PM
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I was quite sure that Amaya was not
a Japanese first name, but I found it in some names documentation and I was puzzled.
Thank you very much for your help, it has been very useful to me.
a Japanese first name, but I found it in some names documentation and I was puzzled.
Thank you very much for your help, it has been very useful to me.
1