![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mastergraywolfBecause it is expressed as a common problem in various anime/manga RPGs, and I am sure fanfics, I created a small guide to help people in developing Japanese names for their characters. There needs to be a little understanding in the language, especially its alphabet.
Let me first say that many characters in popular anime and manga have names that are NOT commonly used for people in real Japan, despite how cool they sound. Names like Kakashi, Gai, Lee, Naruto, Ino, Shika, Kurogane, Zabuza, and others are not used. Their original creators give them these names for an identity. This is the same case for some stage names in celebrities, even those outside of Japan. However, on Hidden Secrets, we do allow this unique way of naming characters to to an extent.
I think names like Zabuza and Iruka were used in the past though. There was definately a popular person name Iruka Soga. Zabuza's last name 'Momochi' is the last name of an Iga ninja leader Momochi Tanba.
Second, Japanese names are spelled and written with the last name first, following with the given name.
Middle names are NOT generally used, but there have been a few examples in historical nobility figures. Japanese names are usually written in Kanji, which are characters of usually Chinese origin in Japanese pronunciation. The symbols behind the Kanji have a lot of meaning. Names are also written in hiragana and katakana, which are more simple symbols and differ in style; hiragana (cursive like style) and katakana (flat angle style) are both called "kana". In addition, katakana can be used to spell out Western names.
Third, IT IS REQUIREDin the RPG to spell out Japanese by using Romanji, which is the use of the Latin/Roman alphabet to write the Japanese language. In other words, we don't use symbols but the letters you can see now. Spelling out "Yuuko" and "Kakashi" is an example of Romanji.
Example of symbols (the name "Yuko"):
- KANJI: 湯子, 油子, etc. (the first symbol of "yu", both meaning "hot water" and "oil, fat, grease", can have different symbols)
- HIRAGANA: ゆこ
- KATAKANA: ユコ
Example of a western name in katakana (ie: George Clooney). The dashes (ー) mean the vowel is sounded out longer:
- KATAKANA: ジョージ ・ ク ルー ニー(jyoji ・ kuru-ni-)
( Basic Form )
In Japan, there are common last and given (first) names.
Also, in a given name, there are "suffixes" typically used at the end of a name to define a person's gender. For male given names, it is often that you seem them end with "maru", "ichi", "ro/rou" ("shirou" even), "yuki", "suke", "ji" and "ta". In the start of the name, there can be "nobu", "dai", "kazu". For females, there are "mi", "ko", "hime", "ka", "no", "yo" and "na" at the end of their names.
Some of them have meanings, like "rou" means "gentleman" and is very suitable. "maru" is something used at the end of boy names (even Japanese ships) because, according to Japanese culture, gives them a holy blessing.
The NARUTO characters Orochimaru, Shikamaru, Konohamaru, Sasuke and Kouji are great examples of this system. For female there are Anko, Tsukiko, Shijimi, Yoshino, Haruna, Chiyo, and Tsunami.
| Helpful Links |
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/jap.php (BEHIND THE NAME.com)
http://animelab.com/anime.manga/dictionary (AnimeLab.com: Kana/Kanji Dictionary)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana (WIKI: Katakana Graph...) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana (and Hiragana Graph)
http://en.wiktionary.org/ (en.wiktionary.org: Use to type in japanese letters)
http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa051403a.htm (TOP 10 Common Last Names...)
http://www.issendai.com/rpgs/japanese-girls-names.shtml (Common Girl names...)
http://japanese.about.com/library/blqow9.htm (Do all Jpn Names have a meaning?)
http://ext.dictionary.goo.ne.jp/dicindex/ (Symbol Dictionary)
http://www.20000-names.com/male_japanese_names.htm (Over 100 Male and Female Japanese names)
| Advice in Forming names |
- It takes practice. When I first started in an anime/manga RPG, I mostly looked around for ideas, like websites and dictionaries, and came across some of the common names (like Daisuke) used in Japan. Of course, you can ask around.
- You CAN look at other characters from different cartoon/comics. Like the characters of Kubo Tite's BLEACH; Ichigo, Juushiro and Toushirou do follow the system used for male names.
- Using the basic system for common Japanese naming, you can make your own name by possibly combining the commonly used prefix/suffixes with other words. A strange name like Jougimaru (情義丸; justice and humanity-maru) can be possible.
Let me first say that many characters in popular anime and manga have names that are NOT commonly used for people in real Japan, despite how cool they sound. Names like Kakashi, Gai, Lee, Naruto, Ino, Shika, Kurogane, Zabuza, and others are not used. Their original creators give them these names for an identity. This is the same case for some stage names in celebrities, even those outside of Japan. However, on Hidden Secrets, we do allow this unique way of naming characters to to an extent.
Second, Japanese names are spelled and written with the last name first, following with the given name.
Middle names are NOT generally used, but there have been a few examples in historical nobility figures. Japanese names are usually written in Kanji, which are characters of usually Chinese origin in Japanese pronunciation. The symbols behind the Kanji have a lot of meaning. Names are also written in hiragana and katakana, which are more simple symbols and differ in style; hiragana (cursive like style) and katakana (flat angle style) are both called "kana". In addition, katakana can be used to spell out Western names.
Third, IT IS REQUIRED
Example of symbols (the name "Yuko"):
- KANJI: 湯子, 油子, etc. (the first symbol of "yu", both meaning "hot water" and "oil, fat, grease", can have different symbols)
- HIRAGANA: ゆこ
- KATAKANA: ユコ
Example of a western name in katakana (ie: George Clooney). The dashes (ー) mean the vowel is sounded out longer:
- KATAKANA: ジョージ ・ ク ルー ニー(jyoji ・ kuru-ni-)
( Basic Form )
In Japan, there are common last and given (first) names.
Also, in a given name, there are "suffixes" typically used at the end of a name to define a person's gender. For male given names, it is often that you seem them end with "maru", "ichi", "ro/rou" ("shirou" even), "yuki", "suke", "ji" and "ta". In the start of the name, there can be "nobu", "dai", "kazu". For females, there are "mi", "ko", "hime", "ka", "no", "yo" and "na" at the end of their names.
Some of them have meanings, like "rou" means "gentleman" and is very suitable. "maru" is something used at the end of boy names (even Japanese ships) because, according to Japanese culture, gives them a holy blessing.
The NARUTO characters Orochimaru, Shikamaru, Konohamaru, Sasuke and Kouji are great examples of this system. For female there are Anko, Tsukiko, Shijimi, Yoshino, Haruna, Chiyo, and Tsunami.
| Helpful Links |
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/jap.php (BEHIND THE NAME.com)
http://animelab.com/anime.manga/dictionary (AnimeLab.com: Kana/Kanji Dictionary)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana (WIKI: Katakana Graph...) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana (and Hiragana Graph)
http://en.wiktionary.org/ (en.wiktionary.org: Use to type in japanese letters)
http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa051403a.htm (TOP 10 Common Last Names...)
http://www.issendai.com/rpgs/japanese-girls-names.shtml (Common Girl names...)
http://japanese.about.com/library/blqow9.htm (Do all Jpn Names have a meaning?)
http://ext.dictionary.goo.ne.jp/dicindex/ (Symbol Dictionary)
http://www.20000-names.com/male_japanese_names.htm (Over 100 Male and Female Japanese names)
| Advice in Forming names |
- It takes practice. When I first started in an anime/manga RPG, I mostly looked around for ideas, like websites and dictionaries, and came across some of the common names (like Daisuke) used in Japan. Of course, you can ask around.
- You CAN look at other characters from different cartoon/comics. Like the characters of Kubo Tite's BLEACH; Ichigo, Juushiro and Toushirou do follow the system used for male names.
- Using the basic system for common Japanese naming, you can make your own name by possibly combining the commonly used prefix/suffixes with other words. A strange name like Jougimaru (情義丸; justice and humanity-maru) can be possible.
