Thoughts on using a Japanese baby name for a mixed heritage child

[joonii]

Give my baby a name that's from a different culture?

Baby will be half white half Indian. I have called in love with the Japanese name Kaido. What are your thoughts? Found the name while I got engaged in Japan so there is a Japan connection.

I would use it as a middle name. Otherwise when they’re 70 years old they’ll still be having to explain that the name is from Japan, and their mother went to Japan 75 years ago…

I think it’s beautiful. I imagine it’s well known how it’s pronounced and I don’t believe there’s multiple pronunciations.

I think he would go by Kai which is a common name

I wouldn't say Kaido is an uncommon name or difficult to pronounce ( unlike my child's Irish name that no one in the UK can pronounce properly🤣).

If you love the name go for it

I really think this nonsense about misappropriation of cultural names is a new thing. Just give your baby the name you love whatever the origin of the name is.

Not an uncommon name? I've literally never met or even heard of a Kaido - Google mainly brings up the anime character which is hardly the same as it being a well used and common name in the UK. It doesn't appear to actually be a (human) name in Japan either, more a word that means 'open road'. It does however appear to be a given name in Estonia, if that means anything to you OP.

However don't let any of that put you off it, if you love it OP. I would however be prepared for him to be called Kai a lot which is a lot more recognisable as a name in the UK, plus review the anime connection carefully as the character appears to be a bit of a baddy - may not be an issue depending on how likely your kid and his friends are to be into anime, but it very much is the first search engine result? Or if you wanted an alternative longer name for a baby to be known as 'kai' you could consider Malachi/Malakai, or Caius (very Roman Empire!) or Kyle even?

Of course you can use it.

I have a n Ukrainian name my parents are from other European countries. I have ro explain that Im not Ukrainian a lot but don't really care!

With Japanese names it's good to know the characters that make up the name to give it meaning or significance.

I once knew a girl called Koyuki (小雪) which means little snow - it had been snowing lightly when she was born. I thought that was beautiful.

Japanese parents can select names for such reasons, and may also use kanji that were used in ie. grandparents' names. Number of strokes is also important, but I can't remember why.

Kaido - 海道....sea road?

How is it pronounced?

Is it like playdough?

Is it pronounced Kay-do or Ky - do?

I read it as Kay-eye-do

Lovely name OP

Virtually all the everyday names were once from another culture. Mary and Joseph were middle eastern names / Jewish names.

Kai as in hi
do as in dough nut