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ArchivesRe: uriko
in reply to a message by gunblade007
It is probably a Japanese name. I found this on Yahoo's answers:
"The most common kanji for the name is 売子, which has a kind of odd connotation, with the kanji for 'to sell,' and child. Perhaps "Sold child?" It's definitely odd." Another meaning I found on Google: "sales staff, occupation".
However according to an old Japanese dictionary, another meaning of Japanese uri can be "melon" or "looking alike". Japanese Ko means "child". So the name could mean "watermelonchild". The common Japanes name Uriko-hime means "a girl born from a melon" (sometimes mentioned: "melon princess").
"The most common kanji for the name is 売子, which has a kind of odd connotation, with the kanji for 'to sell,' and child. Perhaps "Sold child?" It's definitely odd." Another meaning I found on Google: "sales staff, occupation".
However according to an old Japanese dictionary, another meaning of Japanese uri can be "melon" or "looking alike". Japanese Ko means "child". So the name could mean "watermelonchild". The common Japanes name Uriko-hime means "a girl born from a melon" (sometimes mentioned: "melon princess").
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I think there was some guesswork going on in the Yahoo answers. The Japanese Baby Name Project lists only two kanji combinations for Uriko, indicating that it is an extremely rare name, and the kanji for "selling" (売) does not appear. It is true that 売 can be pronounced "uri," but "selling child" doesn't appear to be a combination which is used as a name.
The two possibilities the Japanese BNP gives are:
宇理子 U "heavens" + RI "reason, truth, logic" + KO "child" ; and
侑里子 U (obscure character having something to do with banquets) + RI "village, countryside" + KO "child."
Uriko-hime 瓜子姫 is certainly not a "common Japanese name" and doesn't appear at all in the Japanese BNP database. It literally means "watermelon princess" and is the name of a fairy-tale heroine somewhat similar to the more widely known Momotaro, or "peach boy." Perhaps whoever said it was common meant that Uriko-hime is familiar or well-known in Japan, but naming a child Uriko-hime would be something like using Cinderella, or Rumpelstiltskin.
The two possibilities the Japanese BNP gives are:
宇理子 U "heavens" + RI "reason, truth, logic" + KO "child" ; and
侑里子 U (obscure character having something to do with banquets) + RI "village, countryside" + KO "child."
Uriko-hime 瓜子姫 is certainly not a "common Japanese name" and doesn't appear at all in the Japanese BNP database. It literally means "watermelon princess" and is the name of a fairy-tale heroine somewhat similar to the more widely known Momotaro, or "peach boy." Perhaps whoever said it was common meant that Uriko-hime is familiar or well-known in Japan, but naming a child Uriko-hime would be something like using Cinderella, or Rumpelstiltskin.
This message was edited 2/25/2010, 3:44 PM
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For what it is worth, the Unicode database says this about the obscure character U: as you see, it does not appear in all the languages, and seems to be semantically rooted in repaying kindness. (I do not know Japanese or Chinese or ..., so you are probably perfectly right that it *means* banquets, I was just interested in where it came from ...)
The list of languages where it appears is Chinese (Cantonese & Mandarin), Korean, and Japanese (On and Kun pronunciations shown); there is no pronunciation presented from the Tang era, CheungBauer, HanyuPinlu dictionaries; nor for Vietnamese).
4f91 20369
jau6 YOU4 YU YUU U SUSUMERU TASUKERU help, assist, repay kindness
The list of languages where it appears is Chinese (Cantonese & Mandarin), Korean, and Japanese (On and Kun pronunciations shown); there is no pronunciation presented from the Tang era, CheungBauer, HanyuPinlu dictionaries; nor for Vietnamese).
4f91 20369
jau6 YOU4 YU YUU U SUSUMERU TASUKERU help, assist, repay kindness
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I would trust the unicode database here, as I could not find a clear definition of this single character and had to try to extract its meaning from the few compound words it appears in.
I don't know the history of 侑 but it is composed of a left-hand or semantic element meaning "man, human" and a right or phonetic element with the ON or Chinese-derived pronunciation "yuu." "Susumeru" and "tasukeru" are KUN or native Japanese readings. There are several other kanji for "susumeru" and "tasukeru" which are in general use, which this is not. I suspect 侑 was created for, or at least ended up being used in, a specialized purpose (e.g. helping or assisting at a ceremonial or honorific event such as a banquet as opposed to general help or aid). This is speculation on my part, however.
I don't know the history of 侑 but it is composed of a left-hand or semantic element meaning "man, human" and a right or phonetic element with the ON or Chinese-derived pronunciation "yuu." "Susumeru" and "tasukeru" are KUN or native Japanese readings. There are several other kanji for "susumeru" and "tasukeru" which are in general use, which this is not. I suspect 侑 was created for, or at least ended up being used in, a specialized purpose (e.g. helping or assisting at a ceremonial or honorific event such as a banquet as opposed to general help or aid). This is speculation on my part, however.
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