Just about any aspect of Japan can provide an interesting cultural lesson, even names. In Japan, everyone has a family name and a given name, always listed with the family name first, although this doesn’t apply for non-Japanese (e.g. I am still pii-taa pein in Japanese). Japanese never have middle names, but they understand the Western concept and sometimes choose exotic-sounding names for anime characters just for fun, like Louise Françoise De La Bamue Le Blanc De La Vallièr from Zero no Tsukaima. Japanese names may be written in hiragana or katakana, but the vast majority use kanji, and just as there are alternate spellings for English names, Japanese parents can choose between different kanji characters to capture just the right nuance they want for their baby. Names follow trends just like in the West, and sometimes names that sound strange to the ear will become popular. In case you’re wondering, the top three names for boys this year are Hiroto, Shota and Ren; for girls, it’s Rin, Sakura, and Hina.
(Another interesting note…the names Ren (Len) and Rin could be said to be Vocaloid-derived, although those characters use katakana and not kanji, and of course Shota has a special meaning in fandom. Japanese wouldn’t think of this at all by the way, as the vowel is longer and the kanji is different. )
Studying how names work in Japanese is interesting.
