Name Opinion

Hi, I just wanted some opinions from people in Japan and that speak Japanese regarding these boys names, are they too old fashioned or even real? Which if any have you ever heard of?

Kitahachi
Kitahiko
Kitaichirou
Kitarou
Kitaru
Kitoshi

Thanks very much

Kitarou is not so old fashioned but very rare, a famous musician and a hero of manga/anime have that name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitar%C5%8D
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AC%BC%E5%A4%AA%E9%83%8E
Anyway both of them are not "real" name.

Kitaru and Kitoshi sound mishearing for me, I can't image how to write them in Kanji.

Kitaichirou, Kiichirou is a common name though?
Kitahiko sounds a bit old but not so but I think.
Kitahachi sounds... name of shop or bar.

Kitarou is not so old-fashioned?? Well, if I see a teenager named Kitarou in today's world, I'd think that he must have an amusing grandpa.

I've also never heard of a person whose real name is Kitarou. The only "people" I know of with this name are the manga character and the musician.

I've never heard of the other names either, although none of them, including Kitarou, sounds un-realistic.

Anyway, it's natural to assume that whoever has those names must have them for a very good reason. It's not like naming someone John or Mary.

Are they old-fashioned? Yes, I do think that all of them have an old-fashioned tone. I have the impression that a lot of modern names tend to end with -ta or -shi or something like that. However, since the names given by the OP are so rare, I suppose one can also assume that the person could've been named in today's world where giving rare names are sort of like a fad.

I should have wrote "Kitarou is the most acceptable name in your list"?
Children's name in Japan have full of variety, I know many children have "un-realistic" name, so it's hard to jump to conclusions for me.
If a boy say to me "my name is Kitarou", I'll be surprised but feel new/fresh? not old/funny today.
Anyway, it's just my own personal opinion!

No worries, ajapaneseboy. it's just my own personal opinion too!

Thank you for your responses.

My wife is pregnant and japanese, I am from the UK. We are trying to chose a name for our son that works in UK and Japan, and I am very fond of the name Kit (which is a British name) and thought we may be able to find a Japanese name that can have Kit as it's nickname.

I have found those names and my wife feels that they are too old fashioned and/or not real Japanese names.

I just wanted some more opinions. My wife has not lived in Japan for the last 10 years.

Thanks

Congratulations.

Have you considered names that start with Ki and ends with -to (�l)? That would sound much more modern to me. Or it could even be a name starting with any K sound.

By the way, I don't think your wife actually means that your options don't sound "up-to-date" but rather that they sound like something from a samurai show. Just a tip from a female Japanese resident who named her son some 20 years ago.

I was born and bred in Japan, and am still living there. I have the same feeling with your wife about the names you listed.

If any name that includes "Kit" is OK, how about Akito?
–¾�l seems to be the most common kanji for Akito, though there are many other variants. (You can ask your wife to google it.)

Thankyou everyone for your very helpful responses.

I think the Japanese names that come up on western/english speaking websites are not always very reliable suggestions that would be thought of as good names by Japanese people. For example Rafu comes up, but my wife has told me that this isn't a real name either in Japan.

Can any of you suggest some names that start in Ki and ends with -to?

you should consult her parents and your parents, before you ask in internet.

I agree that Akito sounds modern and common today.
Akihito is personal name of the Emperor, by the way.
(In Japan, the emperor is never referred to by his name though.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihito

Akito was also the 25th most popular name in 2014 (so far, I presume) according to this list

http://name.m3q.jp/ranking?g=1

Yukito is not too far behind (it's also the name of a character in Cardcaptor Sakura).

I agree with Ken. I can come up with dozens of names starting with Ki and ending with -to, but I don't want to ruin your imagination as parents. I do think this is enough of a clue for you two to start with.

I also thought that the idea of putting it in the middle (like Akito) is fascinating. It will give you hundreds of more options.

By the way, the first Japanese word that comes o mind when I hear "Rafu" is the same word meaning "naked woman." It's not a name at all.

By the way, what do you mean by "work" here?

We are trying to chose a name for our son that works in UK and Japan

If it's basically "something that is a name in both English and Japanese", as far as I know there are a couple options for girls (Karen, Anna, Naomi...) but none for boys.

However, if you just want something that people in both the UK and Japan can "handle" (as in, write and pronounce properly), this is much simpler. Japanese words in general are very simple to pronounce for Western people, so as long as you avoid the few quirks of Japanese phonology (mostly stand-alone n's, long vowels and doubled consonants), anyone in the UK will probably be able to pronounce your son's name correctly when they first read it and will have no more trouble memorising it than any other "uncommon" name (of which there are plenty around!).

So my advice is just to choose a Japanese name both you and your wife like. Most likely, it will "work" well enough in the UK.

If it's basically "something that is a name in both English and Japanese", as far as I know there are a couple options for girls (Karen, Anna, Naomi...) but none for boys.

I can think of Ken, Goerge, Joe and many others. By the way, Karen, Anna and Naomi are all names that were sort of localised from English names during the early 20th century, just like Goerge.

Sorry to be off-topic. I understand what the OP is trying to say/do.

Thanks all for your feedback. It goes without saying that my wife and I are also asking her family & talking to each other about this. I just was curious to canvas option on an anonymous forum, we have months still to find our names.

Other Japanese names I have found on english websites that I'm not sure are authentic Japanese names are;

Otto
Enzo
Rafu
Zakku
Nikko
Jimon
Gideon
Nedde

I do really love the nickname Kit. Will keep searching & thinking.

Nedde?
Gideon?

Otto is also a German name, I only know one Enzo and he is Italian, Rafu I associate with Rafute...

Nikko, well I think of the city, Zakku sounds like an anime character, Jimon too.

Is this the site you've gotten your names from: http://www.babynology.com/japanese-boynames-k400.html?

How about Kai? It's also a male name in Germany...

Yes it is one of the sites. There are a few names websites that have a lot of what they say are Japanese names but aren't.

It is my own fault for not learning Japanese by now, I have very few resources of my own to search that are reliable, other than relying on wife to make suggestions, find names.