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ArchivesDoes Akane mean Scarlet or Deep red?
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Native Japanese don't have red hair, and they certainly don't have red eyes. However, Japanese respond very positively to the color red. It is a lucky color, the color of youth and of celebration, and traditionally was thought to keep evil spirits away, so temple gates are often painted red. In fact, the word for baby is "aka-chan," which basically means "little red one."
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I can tell you for sure that "aka" is the Japanese word for "red" and yes, "akane" means "deep red, scarlet": https://jisho.org/search/%E8%8C%9C
You can trust this site, it's pretty good with meanings.
You can trust this site, it's pretty good with meanings.
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Most Japanese people named Akane do use this spelling. It is the only spelling of the name that ever made the top 10. So this spelling was incredibly common. Other spellings are used but not nearly as common.
Most Japanese people aren't as creative with spellings as we might think. In general (some exceptions) one kanji or kanji combination is way more common than the others.
Also, in this case, "akane" is actually a word meaning "deep red" so even if it were spelled in another way, for example as 紅音 (red+sound, this spelling is actually in use but not super common) the name would still sound like the word for "deep red" even though it means something different so people will associate it with the color.
Other spelling variants that are used (I found real people with these names. Just looking kanji up for "aka" and "ne" doesn't work because Japanese parents wouldn't go for any kanji combination as negative meanings are frowned upon):
明音 (bright, light + sound)
朱音 (scarlet, red + sound)
あかね (hiragana, but will still sound like akane, so "deep red")
アカネ (katakana, rare, I found an artist named this)
So yes, 茜 (akane, "deep red") is by far the most common spelling of the name. I found the hiragana spelling quite often as well, but again, it would still sound like the word for "deep red" in any case because "akane" is an actual vocabulary word.
Most Japanese people aren't as creative with spellings as we might think. In general (some exceptions) one kanji or kanji combination is way more common than the others.
Also, in this case, "akane" is actually a word meaning "deep red" so even if it were spelled in another way, for example as 紅音 (red+sound, this spelling is actually in use but not super common) the name would still sound like the word for "deep red" even though it means something different so people will associate it with the color.
Other spelling variants that are used (I found real people with these names. Just looking kanji up for "aka" and "ne" doesn't work because Japanese parents wouldn't go for any kanji combination as negative meanings are frowned upon):
明音 (bright, light + sound)
朱音 (scarlet, red + sound)
あかね (hiragana, but will still sound like akane, so "deep red")
アカネ (katakana, rare, I found an artist named this)
So yes, 茜 (akane, "deep red") is by far the most common spelling of the name. I found the hiragana spelling quite often as well, but again, it would still sound like the word for "deep red" in any case because "akane" is an actual vocabulary word.
This message was edited 4/10/2021, 7:50 AM
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in observation, creative spellings occur but the way it is read may need to be explained - it isn't going to be obvious even to other Japanese speakers. This also means that some spellings of a name are not going to be searchable, since only those "in the know" will read it as "Akane" for example.
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Yes, true! But from my experience Japan is a bit conservative and I read that many people try to use well known spellings and names (not all of course) to avoid confusion and trouble. But maybe that has changed in recent years.
I feel like Japan is not super creative (yet). I used to live with and work regularly with people from Japan (they were usually a bit older than me, born in the 80s and early 90s) and I met so so many women named Ai, Momoko, Aya, Akane (but all with the "red" spelling) and some even had quite old fashioned names for their age group like Akiko, Yumiko, Fumiko, Yukiko. Kanako is also a name I saw a lot. So we would for example work with two Kanakos, three Ayas (at some point) etc. Still I love Japanese names and Aya is my favorite even though I met so many.
I think the only somewhat uncommon name I encountered was Arisa. At the time I wasn't good at reading kanji so I can't remember how everyone spelled it, I only remember the spellings of the people I was somewhat close to (because I asked them). Hiragana was also used sometimes. But for Akiko I met "bright child" and "autumn child" but never any of the others and for Aya I only met "colours" so far.
In any way the pronunciation should be listed so that no confusions occur because there are also some common name spellings with different pronunciations. It is confusing :P
I feel like Japan is not super creative (yet). I used to live with and work regularly with people from Japan (they were usually a bit older than me, born in the 80s and early 90s) and I met so so many women named Ai, Momoko, Aya, Akane (but all with the "red" spelling) and some even had quite old fashioned names for their age group like Akiko, Yumiko, Fumiko, Yukiko. Kanako is also a name I saw a lot. So we would for example work with two Kanakos, three Ayas (at some point) etc. Still I love Japanese names and Aya is my favorite even though I met so many.
I think the only somewhat uncommon name I encountered was Arisa. At the time I wasn't good at reading kanji so I can't remember how everyone spelled it, I only remember the spellings of the people I was somewhat close to (because I asked them). Hiragana was also used sometimes. But for Akiko I met "bright child" and "autumn child" but never any of the others and for Aya I only met "colours" so far.
In any way the pronunciation should be listed so that no confusions occur because there are also some common name spellings with different pronunciations. It is confusing :P
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Things have definitely changed. When I was studying Japanese and during my two trips to Japan in the 1990s, most people had first names with fairly standard kanji that were quite easy to read. The use of uncommon/nonintuitive kanji in names, and including puns and word play in names, has increased greatly since then. One example mentioned which I have actually seen multiple times is the character 月 (tsuki, "moon") being pronounced Runa (Luna), because Luna means "moon."
Here are a couple of articles you might enjoy.
A short intro:
http://akihabaranews.com/kira-kira-names/
A longer, more technical article:
https://lab.kuas.ac.jp/~jinbungakkai/pdf/2016/i2016_01.pdf
Here are a couple of articles you might enjoy.
A short intro:
http://akihabaranews.com/kira-kira-names/
A longer, more technical article:
https://lab.kuas.ac.jp/~jinbungakkai/pdf/2016/i2016_01.pdf
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Thank you! It's so interesting that they are even warned not to use them :O
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The author of the Japanese Girl's Name Project (the website was taken down years ago, and I regret that I no longer remember her name) amassed the following long, long list of spellings of Akane.
I agree that regardless of the characters used, the fact that "akane" is a vocabulary word will bring a certain meaning or image to mind, just as a friend of mine was named Natsuko with the intended meaning of "summer" (natsu), but her name was written 奈津子--phonetic characters which have nothing to do with summer at all. I think it's important for people who are interested in Japanese names to recognize the vast potential number of spellings of names, even if a few are common and others are rare.
あかね 亜伽音
あかね 亜伽根
あかね 亜伽値
あかね 亜佳音
あかね 亜佳根
あかね 亜佳子
あかね 亜佳女
あかね 亜加音
あかね 亜加根
あかね 亜加子
あかね 亜可音
あかね 亜嘉音
あかね 亜嘉根
あかね 亜嘉子
あかね 亜夏子
あかね 亜果音
あかね 亜果根
あかね 亜架音
あかね 亜架祢
あかね 亜歌音
あかね 亜花音
あかね 亜花根
あかね 亜華音
あかね 亜華根
あかね 亜華祢
あかね 亜雅子
あかね 亜雅寧
あかね 亜樺音
あかね 亜袈音
あかね 亜袈根
あかね 亜袈寧
あかね 亜兼
あかね 亜香音
あかね 亜香希
あかね 亜香根
あかね 亜香子
あかね 亜香祢
あかね 亜香寧
あかね 亜香峰
あかね 亜鐘
あかね 阿伽根
あかね 阿佳音
あかね 阿佳根
あかね 阿佳寧
あかね 阿加音
あかね 阿加根
あかね 阿可祢
あかね 阿嘉音
あかね 阿嘉根
あかね 阿果音
あかね 阿果根
あかね 阿架音
あかね 阿華音
あかね 阿華根
あかね 阿香音
あかね 阿香根
あかね 阿香寧
あかね 哀華音
あかね 哀賀音
あかね 愛茜
あかね 愛詠
あかね 愛佳音
あかね 愛可音
I agree that regardless of the characters used, the fact that "akane" is a vocabulary word will bring a certain meaning or image to mind, just as a friend of mine was named Natsuko with the intended meaning of "summer" (natsu), but her name was written 奈津子--phonetic characters which have nothing to do with summer at all. I think it's important for people who are interested in Japanese names to recognize the vast potential number of spellings of names, even if a few are common and others are rare.
あかね 亜伽音
あかね 亜伽根
あかね 亜伽値
あかね 亜佳音
あかね 亜佳根
あかね 亜佳子
あかね 亜佳女
あかね 亜加音
あかね 亜加根
あかね 亜加子
あかね 亜可音
あかね 亜嘉音
あかね 亜嘉根
あかね 亜嘉子
あかね 亜夏子
あかね 亜果音
あかね 亜果根
あかね 亜架音
あかね 亜架祢
あかね 亜歌音
あかね 亜花音
あかね 亜花根
あかね 亜華音
あかね 亜華根
あかね 亜華祢
あかね 亜雅子
あかね 亜雅寧
あかね 亜樺音
あかね 亜袈音
あかね 亜袈根
あかね 亜袈寧
あかね 亜兼
あかね 亜香音
あかね 亜香希
あかね 亜香根
あかね 亜香子
あかね 亜香祢
あかね 亜香寧
あかね 亜香峰
あかね 亜鐘
あかね 阿伽根
あかね 阿佳音
あかね 阿佳根
あかね 阿佳寧
あかね 阿加音
あかね 阿加根
あかね 阿可祢
あかね 阿嘉音
あかね 阿嘉根
あかね 阿果音
あかね 阿果根
あかね 阿架音
あかね 阿華音
あかね 阿華根
あかね 阿香音
あかね 阿香根
あかね 阿香寧
あかね 哀華音
あかね 哀賀音
あかね 愛茜
あかね 愛詠
あかね 愛佳音
あかね 愛可音
This message was edited 4/14/2021, 10:08 AM
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I think the opposite is true. Most people think that Japanese parents are super creative and use all kinds of spelling variants when this is often not the case at all. Of course you will find many many spellings but except for the 1-4 (depending on the name) most common ones the others are very often only used by very few people and I don't think it makes a lot of sense to list them all on this website, for example, because it's just confusing and kind of irrelevant if there are only 5 people in Japan with that spelling.
But for namenerds, like me, it is super interesting. But I wouldn't recommend it for this website because people are less likely to read the entry and end up confused
But yes, it is interesting to see these variants, thanks for posting them!
Also, it is interesting that some names are spelled certain ways in anime (with more unusual meanings). For example Aya is often spelled as "colours" or "design" but in an anime I saw it spelled as "bewitching". It is so interesting.
But for namenerds, like me, it is super interesting. But I wouldn't recommend it for this website because people are less likely to read the entry and end up confused
But yes, it is interesting to see these variants, thanks for posting them!
Also, it is interesting that some names are spelled certain ways in anime (with more unusual meanings). For example Aya is often spelled as "colours" or "design" but in an anime I saw it spelled as "bewitching". It is so interesting.
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Huh. In another response, a few threads down, I was chided for not going into enough technical detail. Sometimes you just can't win!
Glad you enjoyed seeing the list.
Be sure to read my other new post a few lines up.
Glad you enjoyed seeing the list.
Be sure to read my other new post a few lines up.
This message was edited 4/14/2021, 6:00 PM
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