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ArchivesRe: Suki name meaning in Japanese?
in reply to a message by Helena
Helena is basically correct. In Japanese, "suki" 好き is a noun form of the verb suku 好く, "to like, to love," and is very common in speech. 好き does not exist as a feminine name. It is a misconception fostered by its appearance in numerous "baby name books" and now, websites, over the years, that Suki is a normal Japanese girl's name. For this reason, people of Japanese descent who do not actually speak Japanese might choose it from one of these books as a baby name.
The Japanese Baby Names Project does list three spellings of Suki which have apparently been used as names:
スキ (phonetic katakana spelling)
好希 ("to like" + "to hope")
寿紀 ("longevity" + "history, chronicle")
The fact that only these three can be found indicates that Suki is extremely rare and probably considered something of an aberration in Japan. Regularly used girl's names typically have anywhere from thirty to a hundred kanji spellings.
The word tsuki 月 "moon, month" has no relationship to Suki and does not have the same pronunciation. However, Tsuki does exist as a girl's name, though it is not common. There are 18 kanji spellings included in the Baby Names Project.
The Japanese Baby Names Project does list three spellings of Suki which have apparently been used as names:
スキ (phonetic katakana spelling)
好希 ("to like" + "to hope")
寿紀 ("longevity" + "history, chronicle")
The fact that only these three can be found indicates that Suki is extremely rare and probably considered something of an aberration in Japan. Regularly used girl's names typically have anywhere from thirty to a hundred kanji spellings.
The word tsuki 月 "moon, month" has no relationship to Suki and does not have the same pronunciation. However, Tsuki does exist as a girl's name, though it is not common. There are 18 kanji spellings included in the Baby Names Project.
This message was edited 10/4/2010, 6:56 AM
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Replies
All I could think of was Tsukishima, when reading this.
I knew it wasn't correct on those baby name websites! >:)
Thanks!
I knew it wasn't correct on those baby name websites! >:)
Thanks!
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"baby name" websites rarely get anything correct. if you read down you'll see more reasons why it's not a name in Japanese, among them, it's pronounced like Ski (or even ski- with a short /i/). If you watch anime, especially rom-com or slice of life genre's, you'll here it used often, with or without desu, in a very short phrase "suki desu" (pronounced very roughly Skee'des) with the sense "I like (you)", although subtitles and dubs often render it "I love you".
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My family call me Suki since I was a child. I am from Japan.
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First and foremost thanks! How is Suki and Tsuki pronounced differently?
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You're welcome! Suki is roughly "ss-kee" (similar to the English word "ski").
(You can see that the Japanese word "suki" is not pronounced like the English name Sukey, which is "SOO-kee.")
Tsuki is "tss-kee." If you have trouble with "tss-," try saying "Let's ski" and then dropping the beginning of the word "Let's." That would be a good approximation.
(You can see that the Japanese word "suki" is not pronounced like the English name Sukey, which is "SOO-kee.")
Tsuki is "tss-kee." If you have trouble with "tss-," try saying "Let's ski" and then dropping the beginning of the word "Let's." That would be a good approximation.
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