Forum - View topicMeanings of character's names.
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f2th
Posts: 7 Location: New Zealand |
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Hi I'm new here. Sorry if this has come up before, but I searched and didn't find anything on the subject.
I just found out that a lot of Japanese names have meanings, like for example Sakura (i'm told) means "cherry blossom" I know in english literature theres a tradition of giving characters names that subtly hint at their personalities. Is the same true in Japanese? The character Sakura in "Naruto" has pink hair - so she kind of looks like a cherry blossom. And Naruto has that squiggly spiral logo on his back that looks like those flat pink and white things you find in ramen noodle/soup, which apparently are called "naruto" So what about some others? I think i heard someone say something like "Shinji" while talking about death. Does shinji mean death? If so thats a pretty cool name for the protagonist of Evangelion... discuss... |
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TestamentSaki
 Posts: 1012 |
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It depends on the kanji.
I think Shinji's name is written in katakana, but one of the most common meanings is "belief, to believe." I may be wrong, though, since my Japanese level is really low. |
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Webki
 Posts: 299 Location: Albany, NY |
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As for shinji meaning death... the part of his name "shi" is one way of saying death/decay. However, I don't know the kanji for his name off hand so I can't really tell you...
Checked wikipedia and they have Shinji's name written in katana, with Ikari written in kanji. So, I guess I can't deduce what Shinji's name means in Japanese. Sorry. |
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akitainu
 Posts: 117 Location: SATX |
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I watch my anime subtitled, with the Japanese language track. It took me a couple of years to realize that the names were often clues to the character's roles or personalities (I'm slow, I admit it). Honestly, I couldn't carry on a conversation with a five year old in Japan, but a good online dictionary has given me at least a peephole into the "in"s of character names.
But as my location says, I live in the U.S.A. (not exactly a homogeneous society). That actually offers me an appropriate venue for one of my favorite movie quotes: From PULP FICTION: Esmeralda: What is your name? Butch: Butch. Esmeralda: What does it mean? Butch: I'm American, honey. Our names don't mean shit. |
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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Here's an old topic from AnimeNation if anyone's interested. The first post includes a translation of part of EVA creator Anno's website on the name topic.
Eva Names |
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f2th
Posts: 7 Location: New Zealand |
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hey thats cool, that Kaji is the rudder of the cast!!
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MorwenLaicoriel
 Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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One I know that's interesting is Al's name in Fullmetal Alchemist is pronounced "Aru" in Japanese. The word "aru" is the word for exists, but is only used for inanimate objects--it's incredibly offensive to use towards a human being. So his name is a pun that refers to the fact that he's just a soul inhabiting a suit of armor.
...Poor kid. |
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Webki
Posts: 299 Location: Albany, NY |
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Yeah, this one got a chuckle from me when I first heard his name pronounced. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6883 Location: Kazune City |
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月野うさぎ Tsukino Usagi = Rabbit of the Moon 水野アミ Mizuno Ami = Friend of Water 火野霊 Hino Rei = Spirit of Fire 木野真 Kino Makoto = Truth of Tree (or something like that) 愛野美奈子 Aino Minako = Beautiful Child of Love 地場守 Chiba Mamoru = Protects the Earth (some kanji may not necessarily be right) Another ubiquitous convention is to use "Hikaru," meaning "to shine" as a name for bright, cheerful girls, like in Kimagure Orange Road or Misaki's Angel in Angelic Layer. A variant on this is "Hikari," meaning "light" (as a noun), which was done (for plot purposes) in This Ugly yet Beautiful World. (Same with "Akari," meaning "brightness.") In that show, Hikari's last name also serves a purpose spoiler[it's Hoshino, so her name means "Light of the Stars."] Last edited by Zalis116 on Mon Sep 25, 2006 4:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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suna_suna
 Posts: 550 Location: Ohio |
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also, iru i believe means to exist for some that is alive, like a person. the name Sasuke also seems to always be connected to a ninja in most anime and video games. In Yu Yu Hakusho, Kuwabara is named for an expression of a horror of some kind. and to quote Colonel Volgin in MGS3: Kuwabara, Kuwabara |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Yes, 桑原桑原 (kuwabara kuwabara) means "Oh God help me!" or similar sentiments. I have no idea why this is so, since the kanji in this 四字熟語 (yojijukugo, four-kanji idiom) expression literally mean "mulberry meadow, mulberry meadow". Probably, it's a case of 仮借 (kasha, "borrowing a kanji with the same pronunciation to convey a certain term"), though I don't see how. But meaningful names are not only Japanese. For instance, in Last Exile, we have Dio whose name literally mean s "god", but probably intended here to allude to the Dioscuri, i.e. Gemini. We also have his dark half, Luciola, whose name means "firefly", implying a brief life and a rôle as uncertain guide in the darkness. In fact, the Japanese name Hotaru carries the same meaning, and the list of anime where it occurs is almost too large to enumerate. The firefly carries a lot of symbolic importance. - abunai |
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blind_assassin
 Posts: 755 |
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Kuwabara is the name of a guy in a Japanese legend I believe. It had something to do with him being struck by lightning all the time or something like that. I only vaguely remember something of it from the Metal Gear Solid 3 boards on Gfaqs cause everyone wondered why that one guy who controls lightning kept saying "Kuwabara Kuwabara" over and over.
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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and here I always thought that thejoke was that he was the one who was fullmetal and named Al (short for alchemist) when his brother is the FMA. There is also the Elric part which I'm sure is from Moorcock's eternal champion series which is set in a multiverse that spans various dimensions and times. wikipedia says :
As for other names that make me laugh are the characters from X (especially Kotori and Karin) and the characters in Maison ikkoku who all have numbers in their names. Most of Takahashi characters have names that fir the characters. Some are downright silly. Kaze no Yojimbo is cool since the main character Jyoji goes by George. I also like the nerdy character in ROD and Azumanga being called Yomi. Yomiko (yomimasu) Readman does come across as a perfect name for the character. I'm sure I can come up with pages of good examples if I think about it. |
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DaZ616
 Posts: 327 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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I reckon 'Kiba' and 'Sakura' are names used most in anime plus a few others which dissappeared from my mind as i was typng this up.
Kiba, i believe means Dog or wolf in japanese, correct me if im wrong. -DaZ |
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joel_s95387
Posts: 1804 Location: California... The Village Hidden In The Porn |
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Doesn't "Sakura" mean "Cherry Blossom"? I think I read that in Naruto.
As for "Kiba", I think I remember hearing it means "Fang". I read that somewhere when researching Wolf's Rain. Interesting that all the wolves had names that related to something of a wolf; Kiba = Fang Tsume = Claw Hige = Whisker Toboe = Howling But most of us English speakers had no idea that this was going on under our noses during the initial [as] run. Each name does describe the character, or in this case wolf. |
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