Comments
Meaning
Usage
Pronunciation
Famous
Impression
Other
I was looking at my great grandfather’s old yearbook from the twenties, and one of the only two Japanese students in the entire book stood out to me. Her name was Mariko Takano. I flipped through the pages and saw that she had all these awards and she was part of all these clubs and activities. But in almost every mention of her her name was spelt Mari meaning people probably called her Mary. I imagined what her life must have been like back then and what adversities she must have faced. When I went to show my mom, the first thing she said was “wow, it’s crazy to think her family probably went to the internment camps”. I hope she had a good life.
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The name gradually becomes like "Makiko", reminiscent of a Tamagotchi girl.
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A woman with a bob cut who likes vintage items.
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Marico is the name of Kai's rival in the Kai the Hedgefox franchise. (Even though he's a boy)
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The traditional Japanese pronunciation is Ma-dee-koh, however my mother always liked to pronounce it, Ma-ree-ko much like Marie(+)ko.
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I too am named Mariko and my parents named me much like the other Mariko in these comments from the novel "Shogun". I am also half Caucasian with my mother being Irish and my father being Japanese. It was my mother who fell in love with the name. Being hapa and not looking that Japanese yet having a full Japanese first and last name here in the USA is quite interesting. I have always enjoyed my name and I am close to the Japanese side of my family.
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Amusingly, there was a Japanese lady called Mariko Aoki (phenomenon named after her), who discovered that people go for a number 2 after going in a bookshop or library (probably something to do with bacteria, lol).
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Mariko Mori is a contemporary Japanese artist. Mariko Mori was born in Tokyo in 1967. Mori's father is an inventor and real estate tycoon, and her mother is an art historian of European Art. While studying at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo in the late 1980s, Mori worked as a fashion model. In 1989, she moved to London to study at the Chelsea College of Art and Design and studied there until 1992. After graduating, she moved to New York City and she participated in the Independent Study program at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Mariko Mori splits her time between London, New York, and Tokyo.
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Mariko Shiga was an idol star and voice actress born in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. She attended and graduated from Funabashi Municipal High School before enrolling in the University of California, Riverside in 1989. While on a trip to Arizona in November of that same year, Shiga was killed in an accident near Flagstaff when she was thrown from the vehicle due to the car rolling as it swerved to miss an animal. She died thirty-one days before her 20th birthday.
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Mariko Suzuki is a Japanese voice actress who works for Aoni Production.
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Mariko Takahashi is a American-born Japanese model and actress.
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Mariko Okamoto is a Japanese volleyball player and Olympic champion. She was a member of the Japanese winning team at the 1976 Olympic games.
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Mariko Kawana is a Japanese model and actress who has appeared in both softcore pink film and V-Cinema and has also been a hardcore adult video performer and director. She is now retired as an actress and has a second career as a writer.
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Mariko Shinoda is a Japanese singer, actress, fashion model, and former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48, in which she was the captain of Team A.
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Definitely one of my favorite names. I just love how this sounds; it flows smoothly when I say it and overall, I love it.
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I was named Mariko after the novel "Shogun". My father was a navy sailor and was stationed in Yokohama when he met my mother. My mother spoke English and worked at the Navy exchange in the camera section. My father would go in and look at the camera equipment and flirt with my mom (my dad was a professional landscape photographer) as often as he could. They started to date and later marry, but both of their families were against inter racial marriage. I was finally born 10 years after. They felt that naming me after Mariko in Shogun had the most meaning to them. They resonated with the Anjin san and Mariko san and sadly my mother also passed away at a very young age, and my father lost the love of his life. My mother also sang "Akujo" to me almost every night when I was little because the song started with my name.
Growing up, I did not like my name. In Japan, my classmates would call me Super Mariko (that's when Mario Bros first came out), and in the US, no one could pronounce my name. Even to this day, my best friends are not able to pronounce my name correctly. The only ones that are non Japanese and are able to pronounce it correctly are my husband, my father, and most young children. When I go back to Japan, people get intimidated by me until I tell them my name. Then they say "OH! Mariko san!" and they are able to relax. I must say that I did start really loving my name as I got older. Here in the US, I do feel more unique because of my name and my mixed nationality and also, my husband has an unique name himself, Dava. I feel that our new family is more special and unique because of our names and our origins. I hope to live up to my name every day and continue to do so.
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Growing up, I did not like my name. In Japan, my classmates would call me Super Mariko (that's when Mario Bros first came out), and in the US, no one could pronounce my name. Even to this day, my best friends are not able to pronounce my name correctly. The only ones that are non Japanese and are able to pronounce it correctly are my husband, my father, and most young children. When I go back to Japan, people get intimidated by me until I tell them my name. Then they say "OH! Mariko san!" and they are able to relax. I must say that I did start really loving my name as I got older. Here in the US, I do feel more unique because of my name and my mixed nationality and also, my husband has an unique name himself, Dava. I feel that our new family is more special and unique because of our names and our origins. I hope to live up to my name every day and continue to do so.
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I'm named Mariko, living in the US, and I have always received compliments on it. It is difficult for people to pronounce (they want to say "Muh-REE-koh", whereas I've always had it closer to the Japanese "MAH-ree-ko", like Mario, with the accent on the first syllable), but I don't mind. I sometimes see it defined online as "round child", but I believe they mean "Maru-ko". In our Japanese baby names book, an alternate translation for Mariko is "child of ten thousand villages", which is what I've always translated mine as -- and maybe it influenced me to volunteer abroad for so many years! I was named after the character in James Clavell's "Shogun". I think it'll be hard to find a girl's name that I like as much as the ones my parents chose for me!
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Mariko is now considered a pretty old-fashioned name in Japan... names with the "ko" character have been falling out of fashion for a while. They are equivalent to names like Jane or Susan in English - not "old lady" per se, but "traditional" names that are more common in older women. More popular now would be names like Mari, Marina, Marika however "Marika" sounds like a Spanish swear word and should probably be avoided unless you can guarantee that the child will never meet a Spanish speaker or go to a country where Spanish is spoken...
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Mariko Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木麻里子) is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo, Japan.
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Mariko is a character is the anime Elfen Lied, and she is one of the character's real daughters.
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Many people believe that this is the Japanese form of the name "Mary," but I don't believe the two names are related at all.
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I have a friend called Mariko. It's pronounced Ma-ree-kow.
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Mariko Shoda -- formidable, magnetic, emotionally disturbed antagonist in one of the espionage novels about the spy calling himself "Quiller." Written under the name Adam Hall. Real name: Ellisdon Trevor.
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Another meaning for Mariko is "child of true benefit".
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A famous bearer of the name Mariko is Mariko Konji, the head cheerleader for Seisyun High School in the popular anime/manga Ranma 1/2.
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A famous bearer is the Japanese photographic and video artist, Mariko Mori.
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Yes, you are correct about the pronunciation, though the meanings vary, depending on the kanji one chooses. If you only want to use one kanji for the "mari" part, one possibility is a kanji meaning "jasmine". "ko" means child.
If you want to use separate kanji for "ma" and "ri", here are some possibilities.
"ma"
-truth
-ten thousand
"ri"
-village
-science
-pear
-benefit
(the first 2 of these are more common than the others)
There are numerous names you can start with Mari also:
Marie (ma-ri-eh)
Marika (as you see it and the "ka" can be "fragrance" or "beautiful" or "song" just in case you're interested for your name)
Marina
Marino
or just plain Mari
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If you want to use separate kanji for "ma" and "ri", here are some possibilities.
"ma"
-truth
-ten thousand
"ri"
-village
-science
-pear
-benefit
(the first 2 of these are more common than the others)
There are numerous names you can start with Mari also:
Marie (ma-ri-eh)
Marika (as you see it and the "ka" can be "fragrance" or "beautiful" or "song" just in case you're interested for your name)
Marina
Marino
or just plain Mari
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Thank you for the information! This is really useful. :-)
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I think it's almost the same as my (Dutch) name Marieke. I don't know how to pronounce Mariko... but with my Dutch mind it sounds like: MAH-ree-koh. And you pronounce my name as: mah-reek-UH.
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