Japanese names that are good in English

[MamaJapan]

Good morning,

I am 32 weeks pregnant with my first baby, we do not know if it is a boy or a girl. My husband and I are Japanese and living in Japan but in June we move to England for my husbands job. We will live there for 2 years to begin with and then my husband can renew his contract every one year.

We wish to name our child a Japanese name that is good in English.

Can you tell me if these names are good and easy to pronounce or any problems you think there might be.

Girls:

Koharu
Haruka
Sakura
Ayaka
Misaki
Fuka
Natsuki
Ichika

Boys:
Haruto
Haruki
Riku
Takumi
Shota
Tatsuki
Itsuki

Please accept my gratitude in advance

Natsuki is versatile. It could be shortened to Nat or Suki.
Sakura sounds a bit like 'suck your'.
Avoid Fuka.

Love Takumi.

Good luck with the move.

I know an Ichiko and people call her “Itchy” - perhaps not that one. (She is an adult and thinks it’s funny, but a little kid might not.)

I love Sakura for a girl- easy to read, spell and pronounce! (Sak-u-ra is how I'm reading it in my head? Hope it's right!)

Haruto or Riku for a boy sound great!

Love Suri for a girl.

I knew a Polish girl who came to the UK in the early nineties at primary school age. Her name was pronounced Basha.

She had no issues with it at school, all through the years. It wasn’t until she left school and as an adult in adult company that she had sarcastic references to her name. She subsequently changed it to Barbara, which I thought terribly sad.

It’s not always children who are responsible for hurtful comments...it’s their parents’, for allowing it, and for sometimes promoting it.

Agree Fuka not a good idea, sorry. Too close to fuck/fucker.

Personally I love Takumi and Natsuki.

Lovely names! As others have said, probably avoid Fuka. Also Haruka said out loud sounds a bit too much like 'verruca' to me... which is a type of wart/medical foot condition.

Not Shota or Fuka both could be made in to names you would not want for a child.

I think it is lovely that you are thinking about names that English people will be able to pronounce, however I wouldn't worry too much about that, London has people from all over the globe with a wide range of names, so unless it is something that can be misunderstood (Fuka) don't worry too much.

As a supply teacher I'd welcome Sakura and Riku on the register, but I wouldn't be too put off by anything on your lists.

Agree, all absolutely beautiful except for Shota & Fuka.

Your English is excellent! Good luck with the arrival of your baby and the move.

I love all of these! But favourites are:
Koharu [late summer]
Natsuki [bright moon]

Boys:
Haruto [spring]
Haruki [spring wood]
Riku [land]

Gorgeous names

Good luck with your move

I

My favourites from your choices

Girls:

Haruka
Sakura
Natsuki

Boys:
Haruto
Haruki
Riku
Takumi

@sassy19 - Basia (pronounced Basher) is the diminutive of Barbara.

I think Arisa is lovely for a girl. Also Emiri pronounced Emily (which I'm told means beautiful England)

I would advise against Fuka and possibly Ichika and Shota.

I love them all though. I think Sakura is the easiest to pronounce in English of the girls, but Natsuki could be shortened to Suki, which is unusual here but recognised and easy to pronounced and a really cool name. Ayaka could have the nickname Aya.

Of the boys, Haruto and Haruki could have the nickname Harry which is a very popular boys name here. We're big on nicknames here.

Sakura is soooo pretty.

Not on your list, but I also like Midori. However, the one I knew would be aged sixty now, so maybe it sounds very dated to Japanese ears.

Sakura - this was very nearly my daughters middle name, I've always loved it!!! Cherry blossoms are my favorite tree ❤️

And I think Riku would be really well remembered and pronounced in the UK

Midori just makes me think of the liqueur.

I think Sakura just sounds so elegant.

Love natsuki! 😍 when in England friends etc could shorten to suki which is also lovely

Just to add Naomi, Megumi and Mia would work well for girls and Ryo and Joe for boys

Another vote for Sakura - lovely name

I would probably choose Riku from boys list (and it would probably be shortened to Rik at some stage, which would also sound ok)

Just to add to pp I would also possibly avoid Tatsuki as it sounds a bit like the Greek dip

Like a lot of others have said I wouldn't use Fuka because it sounds like a swearword in English. The rest of the names are lovely and the meanings are also great but some people may struggle with unfamiliar names. However the kids in their class will probably not my dd has an unusual name but it's always adults that have a hard time even as toddlers the children around her always got her name right.

Hi MamaJapan! We are having a half-Japanese baby in a few weeks and we can't decide on a name, so I enjoyed reading your list :)

All of your names are lovely but a few thoughts:
Fuka - definitely not good in English as others have pointed out!
Ichika - lovely name in Japanese but we are avoiding 'ichi' names because sounds like 'itchy'

Shota - I think this would be mispronounced a lot in England. Most people would read it with a short 'o', like the English word 'shot'. But when said with a long 'ou' sound in an English accent it sounds like the word 'shorter'!
Tatsuki - I love this name, but I used to know a guy with this name in London and people called him Tatty. I thought it was a cute nickname but the word doesn't have such a good meaning so it could be a problem for you.
Itsuki - this is on my husband's shortlist. I do like it, but the thing putting me off is that there is a sushi takeaway chain here called Itsu. I wonder if people would make a connection?! Maybe it's not a problem since nobody else has mentioned it. But it's on my mind!

Haruto and Haruki are two of our favourites. I think they're easy to pronounce in English, nice meaning/kanji, and they can be anglicised to Harry if he ever wants an English name.

Good luck with your baby and move!