Japanese names - Original or old-fashioned?

Have you ever heard a strange name and wondered what it meant? Have you ever wished you could have an original and unique name? Have you ever wanted to know what your name would sound like in such a sweet and calm language like Japanese? If one or more of your answers were “yes”, that means you’re in the right place.

Japanese names are used in Japan and in Japanese communities throughout the world, but many people, including me, have Japanese names worldwide.

In Japan, it’s very usual to hear the names Haruto, Yuki or Rento down the street, but as you know, it’s not common to hear them here in the middle of Europe. Here having one of these names makes you look cool, they are “nicknameable”, they sound foreign, they are different from everybody else’s names.

There are nonetheless trade-offs. If you have an unusual name, you’ll know what happens when you say your name to someone else. The first thing they do is look deaf, and they ask you again, to try and get it. When they don’t get it the second time, you start sweating and feeling rage inside. “Is it really that complicated?”, you probably think as you repeat it for the nth time. And when it’s finally gotten, they forget it almost immediately, repeating the whole process once again; it’s frustrating.

Anyway, having a rare name is different, and you’re probably happy with your parents for having chosen it, but not having one is just as awesome. Imagine having your name misspelt in Starbucks - it's so embarrassing!

The little game here is just for fun: to know how your boring name can be converted into an original and enigmatic new name. You can also be called that as a nickname! To find out the meaning work it out on one of the many websites, such as 'Behind the Name', which you can link to here.