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ArchivesRe: Do Japanese people use manga/anime names in real life?
in reply to a message by Felie
I imagine, just like with anywhere else, when a name is associated with a well-known character/series it rises on the popularity list. I think I read somewhere that 'Asuna' rose in popularity after the success of Sword Art Online. Of course the name still has to be sensible enough for people to actually want to use it, only the really eccentrics are going to be naming their kid 'Naruto', no matter how popular the series is lol.
I wouldn't say that every name in Japan has a meaning, like you said some parents choose to write their kid's name in katakana, sometimes for the reason that they don't want their children to be judged solely based on that meaning.
I also don't think Japanese people are as critical of made-up character names (with kanji) as in other countries, because they actually do have meaning. That is a common argument that people make against 'made-up' names; that they "don't have any meaning/history". But that is the beauty of kanji, where you can create a new name using the various readings of different kanji and still have that meaning and history attached to it.
I wouldn't say that every name in Japan has a meaning, like you said some parents choose to write their kid's name in katakana, sometimes for the reason that they don't want their children to be judged solely based on that meaning.
I also don't think Japanese people are as critical of made-up character names (with kanji) as in other countries, because they actually do have meaning. That is a common argument that people make against 'made-up' names; that they "don't have any meaning/history". But that is the beauty of kanji, where you can create a new name using the various readings of different kanji and still have that meaning and history attached to it.
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