Name endings

PoetikDragon

I'd love to have a nice big list of good endings for Nihon Ken names, like:

* ichi (one)
* maru (valuable?)
* hime (princess)
* tora (tiger)
* goma (sesame)
* shiro (white)
* ko (child)
* mi (beauty)
* hiro (wise)
* taro (first son)
* jiro (second son)
* suke (help)
* mei (name?)
* dai (big)

By the way, does anyone know why I never see kuro (black) and aka (red) at the end of a name, but I have seen plenty of names ending in goma (sesame), tora (brindle), and shiro (white)?

Hinata23

Maybe I'm just not thinking hard enough, but off the top of my head, I'm not coming up with any names ending in "goma" or "tora" -- other than the NK coat colors like kurotora and akagoma -- and for "shiro," the only stuff I'm thinking of isn't actually "shiro," but "shirou" with a long O, like the name Yoshirou, which is a completely different set of kanji.

Do you have any examples? Otherwise, I would say that it could be because in Japanese the adjective comes first, so it would be like naming a building the House White.

Hinata23

In fact, I can't really think of any names with color kanji in them, beginning or ending, because again, something like "Akashi" is a different kanji. It has nothing to do with red.

WrylyBrindle

I had thought of naming Matsu "Kuromatsu" but I didnt.

I believe -maru means something like protected or invincible- its a proud-of-you kind of suffix. a lot of ships are named with -maru endings for this proud, durable quality. Nio's name is Onimaru, which i think means something like Invincible Ogre... "arrgh!"

but dont listen to me, im probably embarrassing myself and someone who actually speaks the language will come along shortly and straighten me out. LOL

PoetikDragon

There are famous old time and modern Akita with goma, tora, and shiro [okay upon researching I can't find shiro combined with anything else] in the beginning and end of the name, and a lot more with aka or beni (as in red, not another kanji) at the beginning. Some examples:

* Babagoma
* Kurogoma
* Ichinoseki Goma
* Futatsui Goma
* Gomahime
* Hanatora
* Takatora
* Tachitora (@timkim!)
* Toramaru
* Torakumo
* Akaryuu
* Akafuji
* Akane
* Benihana
* ...

Hinata23

@poeticdragon Okay, yeah, I'm not all that familiar with Japanese pet names. I was just thinking of human names, but yeah, like I said, I would guess you probably won't ever see "aka" or "kuro" at the end of a name because it's an adjective and adjectives go before nouns in Japanese. That's just my guess, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if you can find examples to prove me wrong. Especially when it comes to pet names, which seem to have their own set of conventions.

rikumom

Maru is also used to designate vessels when used at the end of the name, as in Kobayashi Maru

If I'm not mistaken, the kanji for brindle pattern and Tiger are the same when it comes to describing dogs. So when used at the end of the name, like Benitora, it probably reads red tiger vs. red brindle. The same applies to goma. It means both the sesame color and the food sesame. Where as the kanji for white or red do not separately represent any other nouns. I'm not sure about kuro though.

MapleTwinkie

Maru is for boys' names and from what I hear it being used, it's kinda like "Jr." So Toramaru is Tora Jr. That's my colloquial understanding of it at least. I'll defer to a more native Japanese speaker...

虎 (Tora) is Tiger, but in AKIHO it is used to denote "brindle".
When used in names it almost certainly means tiger, not brindle.
I don't know if tora means brindle, i'm sure there's another word for it.

Like @hinata23 said, one can't comment unless you see the kanji. Goma or Shiro can mean a whole bunch of different things. The only colours I've seen in names are red and black (black usually in nicknames).

I've been told that in modern Japan, Kanji isn't as important anymore. So if you like the sound of something, it's okay to just use Katakana.

MapleTwinkie

oh yeah, this is going to be confusing, but just because a certain kanji is used, it doesn't always mean that the literal use of that kanji is intended.

For example: 赤ちゃん (akachan) uses the kanji Red, but akachan simply means baby. There's nothing "red" about the "baby" intended in the word.

jeffnkazuko

@mapletwinkie
It is true. I have met several girls with Japanese names but are written in Hiragana ゆみ being one of them. I think their parents think it is cool because it is different.

PoetikDragon

@rikumom You win for the Star Trek reference.

@MapleTwinkie I remember babies and bibs being associated with red. I don't know the details very well unfortunately, its just something one of our tour guides was explaining about why there were red bibs on the statues at the shrines.

Anyway, back to the topic, more name endings plox!

timkim

mare. zakura,
like Itkohomare, mantenhomare,

zuigan Zakura, bijozakura

MapleTwinkie

@poeticdragon yah, red probably had something to do in the etymology of the word. Red is associated with good things; babies, weddings, etc...ppl wear red for weddings, wrap newborns in red...etc, So I would guess at some point, akachan came from referring to that little red bundle of joy. But in everyday use it means baby, and there's nothing red intended about the word baby even though the kanji is contained in it.

It's like "green thumb". When you describe someone as having a green thumb, you don't mean they're green in anyway (you're describing their proficiency at gardening).

Anyway, back to the topic!!

To me, names that have some of those suffixes and prefixes u listed are human names. Please, no offense to anyone on this board! It's not weird obviously, I've met tons of owners who give their pets 'human' names and I don't have a problem with it. That's just what i associate it with. My dog Saigo has a human name but I'm gonna use other Kanji. But we chose it because we liked the sound and follows our naming convention.

I actually love the names that are combinations of nice Kanji especially ones rooted in nature or are spiritual - for example, another forum member named their dog Hotaru No Hikari. I really like @jeffnkazuko 's name for their pup too

rikumom

Babies are called akachan b/c when they are born [imagine straight out of the birth canal], they are bloody red in color. They are the "red ones"!!!

The Kanji letter for Maru when not meant for a vessel [at the end of the name], can mean a little ball, like a bauble in the beginning of a name [think Maruko] Those are more popular as cat names b/c cats are often depicted as curled up in a ball shape. I don't believe it means junior, but can mean a diminutive form?

okiron

@mapletwinkie
It is true. I have met several girls with Japanese names but are written in Hiragana ゆみ being one of them. I think their parents think it is cool because it is different.

Heh, Kasumi's name is in hiragana. We opted out of the kanji after chatting with family and friends about it.