Japanese name if no Japanese heritage

I wouldn't choose an overly obvious Japanese name because I would be equally surprised to meet a Japanese man called Hansel or Friedrich (deliberately choosing non English names to show the dissonance).

The Sukis I know are British-Punjabi. Not sure if that's how they spell it.

I've just remembered that I've once met a Filipino man named Vladimir. That certainly raised some questions

I've known little girls called Kiki and Suki over recent years who weren't japanese. I think you're setting her up for a lot of 'why is your name japanese' and 'are you family Japanese' etc if you were to do this. Which is fine, they are beautiful names, but it would probably be irritating for her

@peaceinourtime no Emi is the full name

If your future children ever go to Japan OP, they'll probably see lots of people smirking at their names. Japanese love when foreigners are in awe of their culture, but I doubt the majority will have good feelings towards foreigners having Japanese names.
I mean, some people are not comfortable even with mixed children (with one Japanese parent) having kanji names (gasp). Speaking from my own experience. 🙄
However outside of Japan it might not be this bad. My friend in Germany knows a family who has named two of their blue-eyed blonde sons Japanese names, and my friends said she thought that's very cool, so here you go.

@daisypond my son has a Japanese name (well word) I love Japanese names for both genders

I know a Japanese Emi, does anyone know if its a shortening of a name?

As far as I remember, the Borrowers all have ‘borrowed’ names, so names that they have overheard the big (ie normal human) people called but got slightly wrong. Arriety should probably be Harriet. Quite funny in the context of this thread! (Sorry if someone noted this haven’t rtft)

Naomi can be written in several different ways in kanji such as 直美、直実,菜緒美, 奈緒実, 直己 etc. It can actually be used for both genders.
It can mean different depending on which kanji you use. There was a well known Japanese male adventurer who was named Naomi Uemura. I am Japanese and I have a friend named Naomi written in 尚美 which means pure beauty.

I have found a website suggested that Naomi which has been used in Japan is of Hebrew origin. It has become more common since an author Junichiro Tanizaki wrote a novel "Naomi A Fool's Love " in 1925.

Good question. Far fewer I bet.

I liked names like Bruno, Victor, Valentín, Luca et cetera, a very European vibe, but I would never have used anything Indian, Japanese, Chinese... I would have felt people would have laughed at me for being an eejit.

@SpacePie What about Paloma, it has that soft vibe that could be Japanese but importantly isn't!

I had that name on my list for my daughter. I'm Irish but I don't think that would have been perceived to be cultural appropriation but no way would I have used a Japanese name, no matter how pretty it sounded. The two decisions are very different. I knew that Paloma meant Dove but I also knew that Palomitas de maíz is popcorn. That put me off a bit. So I had context. Does a person picking a name because they like the sound of it really have the same context? Japan is so culturally isolated from 'us'. Imo. Lots of European names are from the same root as a pp said and just have different endings, or spelling. ie, Julie, Giulia. Claire Clara Chiara, Elizabeth Isabella Eilish Elspeth. We all recognise a European version of a name we are familiar with.

I also wonder if those who think it’s ok to use a Japanese name would use such a name on a boy rather than a girl?

Arietty isn't Japanese and I've never heard of Japanese woman called Kiki (not saying it doesn't exist, I've just never come across it). It is fairly common in America though.

I love the Japanese language but at the same time I wouldn't pick an outright Japanese name for a non-Japanese child. To start with, you'd probably have lots of problems with mispronunciation, and a name like "Hideki Smith" on a white British boy just doesn't sound right to me.

A cross-cultural name - something like Erika or Rio - is fine.

That's great, thanks @callthataspade .

It's derived from two kanji

Nao - honest

Mi - beauty

I'm Japanese so not sure what else to say to you.

I'm not insisting it is, just that I'm not convinced that it is.
Can you prove that it's a very old Japanese name?

Naomi is an old Japanese name. Names can have different etymologies in different cultures. The Biblical Naomi and the Japanese Naomi are unrelated.

I find it quite odd how you would insist on something not being Japanese over and over again even though you obviously have no idea? It's quite unpleasant.

@KirstenBlest Karen, Chad and Brad have all become memes. Alexa because of Amazon. Let it go. We don’t talk about Bruno.

It doesn’t matter if a name is ‘normal’ or uncommon, any name could have an additional meaning tomorrow. People should just use the name they like best.

Maybe I should have posted 'Why should you feel sorry for someone called the completely normal name Karen, other than some ageist misogynistic people use it as an insult?'

I only know one Chad, and thought it was just an unusual saint's name, that happens to also be the name of a country.

You said
“Just normal names, other than Karen, which has been adopted as a misogynistic, ageist, slang word”

@Festivemoose , i didn't say it wasn't normal

Just normal names, other than Karen

Karen is a normal name. It doesn’t become not normal because of a stupid internet meme.

Why do you feel sorry for people with those names? Just normal names, other than Karen, which has been adopted as a misogynistic, ageist, slang word.

Karen is originally danish and a form of Catherine, whch hasn't dated as badly. Names borrowed from other languages tend not too date well (Sonia, Sharon,Maureen, Kevin, Darren etc)

@KirstenBlest true! I feel very sorry for all the Karen’s, Alexa’s, Chad’s and Brad’s out there.

Also the Elsa’s and Bruno’s etc probably have it a bit tougher too.

I guess you never know what will be a problem tomorrow.