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ArchivesDoes anyone know why Kaori is usually spelled in hiragana instead of name kanji?
I have been baffled by this abnormality in the Japanese names since a Japanese girl with this name was a exchange student at my school a couple years ago; when I was out due to health issues.
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It's not an abnormality; it is quite common to find Japanese girl's names written in hiragana. Often these are "newer" names such as Sayaka, or names which are rather difficult to find suitable kanji for. Or the parents may not want to emphasize the meaning of the name. I knew a woman, born in the 1930s, who was named Shima (written in hiragana). There is a kanji pronounced "shima" that means "island," and another that means "stripes," but apparently her parents didn't want to associate her name with either of those meanings. Bearers of a hiragana name will often tell you that their name "has no meaning."
It is interesting, though, that boy's names are almost invariably written with kanji. Apparently parents DO wish to emphasize the meaning of boy's names.
On the 2009 top 100 list for Japan, these girl's names appear written in hiragana: Sakura, Hinata, Kokoro, Akari, and Kurumi. Some other names that I very frequently see written in hiragana are Kaori, Midori, Megumi, Ayumi, etc.
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It is interesting, though, that boy's names are almost invariably written with kanji. Apparently parents DO wish to emphasize the meaning of boy's names.
On the 2009 top 100 list for Japan, these girl's names appear written in hiragana: Sakura, Hinata, Kokoro, Akari, and Kurumi. Some other names that I very frequently see written in hiragana are Kaori, Midori, Megumi, Ayumi, etc.
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This message was edited 6/17/2010, 9:12 AM
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There are more of them and some are always in this form such as Sakura and Hinata. Thank you.
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There are no Japanese girl's names which are "always" in hiragana. All the names mentioned in the prior posts can be written either in kanji or hiragana, at the name giver's discretion. For instance, Sakura as 桜 (cherry blossom) is #61 on the 2009 top 100 list, and as 咲良 (excellent bloom), it is #55. In hiragana, さくら, it's #2, so that is obviously the most popular form at the moment. But in all cases, whether a name is written in kanji or hiragana is just a matter of parental preference.
This message was edited 6/17/2010, 7:06 PM
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