🌸Japanese Customer : New baby names for 2006

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June 19, 2020

New baby names for 2006

Japanese Customers this year used a wider variety of names for their children. This has been said to be due to the widening and changing social classes evident in society. The top name for boys in 2006 was Riku which means stable and secure. For girls, the top name was Hina, made up of two Chinese characters, one meaning sun and the other small plants. The use of names by parents is unique as it draws on the current events in society, what is popular, what has influenced parents, what will last the test of time and what will empower the child. It is common in Japan to wait a number of days after the baby is born to name it.

Some parents ask a priest to name the child when they present the child traditionally at a Shinto shrine. Others prefer to name the child themselves and spend a long time defining the correct Chinese characters that will be used to make up the child's name. This includes making sure the number of strokes in each character is correct. The number of strokes, the shape of the character, the implied meaning and literal meaning and the interpretation others may have, all shape the final choice.

Superstition and the connotation of luck and bad luck pervade and parents may consult the calendar so as to pick a lucky day on which to name their child. The correct day to go to a shrine and the correct day to register the baby. A concern for many parents when they name their child these days relates to how their child will be treated in the schoolyard. So often names are well tested with parents providing positive and negative meanings of each choice.




Photo: a child practicing writing at school