Japanese name if no Japanese heritage

[SpacePie]

I love the gentle sound of many Japanese names.

What names could pass in the UK without raising eyebrows at the fact that neither myself or my husband are Japanese.

I must admit it's studio Ghibli that inspires this love, but many don't seem to be pronounced how they're spelled:

Satsuki
Sôsuke
Arietty
Kiki

I am fairly sensible and wouldn't want to land a baby with an impossible to spell / pronounce name so I'm all ears to England friendly suggestions.

I don't like Kiki, makes me think of a cat. But love the rest. Much more interesting than a bland, overused name I think. I don't think it matters if it's Japanese, all names originated from somewhere

m Isn’t a naming supposed to be about the baby not the parents’ tv habits?

With all kindness, step away from the Studio Ghibli for a little while 😂 Your poor child will be called Ponyo at this rate!

Or just go with May?

That maybe true about people who grew up in predominantly white countries feeling more sensitive about the picking and choosing of culture.

Personally I don't mind someone liking something or admiring it but it does annoy me when that becomes a level of trying to claim ownership of it or making it part of their identity and to me I would feel like taking a Japanese name would fall under that

I think this is especially the case when like you say so many aspects about Asian culture have been mocked and looked down on (a friend who went to university in USA with one of the names mentioned on this thread for example was constantly teased for it)

@daisypond

It’s inappropriate and possibly a bit offensive. It’s completely different to calling your child a French or Italian name.

Why?

Because we have a shared culture going back over a thousand years. That includes linguistics, religion, societal, historical, all sorts of anthropological reasons. We’ve always had the same names -often Christian- but before that too, with minor variations to account for linguistics. There’s nothing like that with Japan.

Go for it!

Exactly as @daisypond said. On top of that please see previous posts regarding meaning and tradition in Asian naming and the history of racism against Asian culture in this country.

Can you really not see the difference between a European name and one that OP literally has no understanding of or connection to that automatically marks someone as belonging to another race and culture

I was born in Japan, my parents are not Japanese but lived there for long enough. When I was born, my parents wanted to name me Ayaka. The midwives discouraged my parents from using that name as apparently it was deemed offensive to use a Japanese name for a foreigner. This was many years ago now. I know now that current generations don't mind, but then again, I was born in very rural traditional Japan where these traditions may have been more stricter perhaps?

Fwiw, I'm not too concerned at being outed here, but my parents settled for the name Priya, which is Indian heritage. I'm not Indian either. It is not deemed offensive in Indian culture. I remember asking another Priya who I came across in work and she loved seeing our name 'out there for all to use'.

What I'm saying is OP, I'd go for it. Use whatever name you like.

Yuki ~ means Snow
Sakura ~means cherry blossom
Midori ~ means green

Naomi and Minna are both popular girls names in Japan.

It’s not always possible to say a Japanese name has just 1 meaning except for the obvious ones I mentioned above as yuki and sakura both are literally the terms used for snow, green and cherry blossoms in Japan (granted there are other terms too but everyone agrees on what they mean). This is because different kanji’s can be used for the same name and they can have different meanings. Eg my friend’s name is Yukiko (so a bit more extended then just Yuki) and her name can be written in several different kanji’s and has several meanings each.

*yuki, midori and sakura

If you want to check if a name is authentically Japanese, check if it’s written in kanji or hiragana at least. If it’s in Katakana it’s an ‘imported’ foreign name

I actually think this is more offensive tbh

I only know the word Midori in relation to that lurid green liqueur that gathers dust at the back of a drinks cabinet.

No.

It’s different because European people calling their children a European name from a different country is very different to calling a child an Asian name, there’s a lot more possibility of calling the child a name they don’t really understand culturally/cultural significance. Watching some Japanese cartoons does not mean understanding the culture/language in a meaningful way. Plus European culture imposed names/culture on people for 100s of years.

European cultures have so much overlap in language and culture from the last 1000 years, sometimes it gets tangled up and that’s fine. Half our languages come from the same Latin, or Germanic routes, and the bible heavily influences European cultures

Using a random culture you don’t have the same connections to can be culturally appropriative, look up cultural appropriation and listen to Japanese people on this thread

It’s hardly offensive to point out areas of shared culture… cultures don’t exactly evolve in a vacuum

The Japanese girls I've met are Tomoko and Emi.

I think Emme (short for Emilia) could work?

I also like Kiki, Suki and Arietty.

Naomi is a Hebrew name from the Old Testament and has been one of the popular Jewish girls' names for centuries.

As a Japanese person, I don't think Arietty is a Japanese name. I don't know anyone called Kiki either. Kiki can be used more for pet animals.

When I was in Hong Kong, I met quite a few locals with a Japanese name while they are not related to Japan. I was not offended but I found it a bit strange.

I think Naomi is your best bet. Though maybe it’s not as exciting as it’s not clearly foreign. It’s not like you’ll be asked about a Japanese connection but that can be a good thing. I met a few while living there and it was a popular name for westerners having baby girls in Japan due to it being recognised in both cultures.

Agree with this.

Emi works well

@H34th , many don't agree, so probably some people IRL will disapprove. If nothing else, the 'Are you [nationality]?' questions might be a bit tiresome. It also could be that the name might have spelling or pronunciation issues that might be a PITA.

I think it depends on the name, and if there are any religious, cultural or historical reasons why it might be insensitive to use it.

There's a current thread about the name Dolce that might illustrate the attitudes to a name from a different language.