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.

It's derived from two kanji

Nao - honest

Mi - beauty

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

That's great, thanks @callthataspade .

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.

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?

@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.

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.

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.

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)

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

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

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.

@peaceinourtime no Emi is the full name

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

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

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

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).