IS YOUR NAME OH TOO KIRA-KIRA?

I WAS NAMED FOR THE MOVIES’ DENNIS MORGAN, though I’ve thought of a makeover to a single “n” (as in St. Denis, hem hem, or Denis Jenkinson). This thought recently recurred after reading Hikari Hida’s “Unusual Names Can Complicate Life in Japan. Now Parents Are Being Reined In,” in The New York Times, December 2, 2023. Here are tidbits on this given-name quandary, one that’s much more complex than my latent Francophilia.

Kanji Characters. Hikari Hida explains, “At the root of the issue is an unusual feature of the Japanese language” as expressed in kanji, the traditional characters inherited from the Chinese long ago. By the way, there are three other character sets, hiragana used for modifying grammar, katakana reserved for foreign words, and romanji rendering Japanese syllabary in the Roman alphabet.

Given Names. Hida says, “For instance, Hikari, a girl’s name, is written with a character meaning ‘light.’ Each character—parents can choose from among 2999 under law—has a pronunciation generally associated with it, and those sounds together make up the reading of a name.” 

However, Hida notes, “Here’s the catch: Most kanji have additional possible pronunciations, a quirk related to Japan’s adoption of the Chinese writing system more than 1500 years ago. That can give parents an opening to derive an unusual pronunciation from the sequence of characters that make up a name, with an intended reading that no one could know just from looking at the characters.” 

How Kira-Kira of You. Japanese parents have enhanced this name game into what is known as きらきら, kira-kira, literally “shiny” or “glittery.” Wikipedia notes, “The trend of kira kira names became noticeable in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. With a more globalized culture and the rise of the internet, many young parents began seeking unique and distinctive names for their children, often influenced by pop culture, foreign media, and a desire to break from tradition.”

Wikipedia offers examples. “ ‘Pikachu‘ (光宙): This name uses the kanji for ‘light’ and ‘shining space’ and is pronounced like the popular Pokémon character.”

Pikachu. Image provided by Game Freak at Wikipedia. 

Another: “Air (愛来): Combining the kanji for ‘love’ and ‘come,’ but suggesting the English word ‘air.’ “

An Accelerating Trend. Hida writes, “The use of Japanese names with unorthodox readings has increased over the past four decades, according to research by Yuji Ogihara, an associate professor of psychology at Aoyama Gakuin University. Although ‘Japan is not known as an individualistic society compared to the West, the increase in the originality in baby names’ is an indicator of a gradual easing of its historical collectivism, Mr. Ogihara said. The declining birthrate may also be a factor, he said, with many parents having only one shot at naming their child something distinctive.”

Break with Conformity, But… Hida observes, “A growing number of Japanese parents are choosing these unconventional names, often in hopes of making their children stand out in a country where pressure to conform is strong.” However, there’s a Japanese adage: 出る釘は打たれる, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”

The Result. Hida says, “Within the next two years, changes will take effect in the law governing the all-important family registry certificates that every Japanese citizen must hold. The revisions will bar parents from giving their children some more extreme types of unconventional names and, for the first time in the registers’ 150-year modern history, require notations ensuring that all names can be read as intended.”

Gee, I wonder what they’d think of Frank Zappa’s kids: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva? Or of my changing to Denis? ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2023