What do you think of these Japanese names?

[kawaiiko]

Dh is Japanese and while I'm not pg yet I can't stop myself whiling away the time thinking about names. If we were to go for a Japanese name, how do these girl's names sound to non-Japanese ears?

Ami ('a' as in hand, not Amy)
Anzu
Kiku
Chitose (pr. 'chi' as in chips, toe-say)
Hana
Erisa

I'm not overwhelmed with excitement, tbh. Apart from Chitose, which I love but no one could ever say! Maybe we'll go with an English name. We do have a very unusual [his surname]-[my surname]...

My friends neice is Himi - means sea horse or something - beautiful name and gorgeus lil girl!

what about Chihiro?

I think that's a very pretty name for a dd.

I have a friend called Akiko - gets called kiki for short - is very pretty

I know a couple who've named their DD Hana as it's so similar to Hannah so works in both languages.

My friend's dd is called Maiko.

Please be careful about the names that sound "cute' to English ears - you REALLY do't want a "cute" name when you're an adult, however enchanting they are for babies!

Ami
Erisa
Hana

Love these, Anzu is a nice name but just makes me think of the Raven God in World of Warcraft! (Yes, I know, I'm a geek)

I really like all of them, and if Chitose is your favourite I would go for it, it's a really lovely name.

If you are really unsure of giving her a Japanese first name then how about a European first name and a Japanese middle name?

Anzu is lovely!

The rest aren't great.

if her dad is japanese, won't her sur name be japanese? maybe an english first name wiht a japanese sur name would be a more accurate picture...

she is going to be half japanese living in britain? is that right? an a 100% japanese name might be tooo japanese in the circs??

my friends - woman japanese, man scottish - have called their new baby Enzo - is that a Japanese name? It's very cute.

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Some friends called their daughter Miya - they wanted a Japanese name as mother is Chinese and father European and they thought a Japanese name would be the easiest to pronounce/understand on both sides of the family.

There are loads of Japanese girls names that are easy to "translate" into both English and Japanese - Amy, Meg(umi), Hana, Joy, Naomi, Keri....my DD is Maya (which is just worldwide, of course)

Boys names are much more difficult - I am a member of a Yahoo group for foreign women married to Japanese men (Married in Japan - if you are interested, kawaiiko , and there are often discussions on trying to decide on a bilingual boys name...

Ami will be constantly pronounced Amy I think.

I like the sound of Kiku and Erisa and Chitose is easy enough to pronounce from your description.

Definitely go with a Japanese name though

Megumi is lovely. You could have Megan Naomi with nn Megumi

Kiku is a bit like kinky. bit like a cat's name. Kawaiiko sounds like a motorbike.

Thanks TanteRose, I think I will take you up on that offer! I really won't know what to do for a boy. Ken is cute in Japanese but not really my taste in English!

MaggieNollaig - we went the double-barrelled route, so they would have [first name] [his surname]-[my surname]. It's a good point though as most people wouldn't recognise the first bit as a Japanese name. I have tried some of the more unusual names (like Anzu) with our surname and they all look a bit

Am warming to Megumi cos I like Meg as a nn

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, it's great to see such a variety

A couple I know with Japanese, British and Morrocan heritage went for Hana for their little girl as it works in loads of lanaguages/ cultures -but I think all your choices are pretty