Japanese Baby names

My grandaughter's name is Kaiya. Is this possibly a Japanese name? What would it's meaning be. My son in law was born in Japan ( dad is in the military) and this would be great if it was Japanese.

Kaiya is Japanese and has lots of meanings, but the one that comes to mind first is 会(meeting) and 夜(night). 解也(solution) and 貝也(shellfish) are also popular ways of writing Kaiya.

I'm Japanese female and I don't think Kaiya is a Japanese name (could be Japanese,though)I have never heard a name 解也 and 貝也 to be honest, and using 貝 or 解 for names is very rare from my view.

There is an American lady on Japanese TV named カイヤ(Caiya), and I remember her when I read this post.

It's great that someone wants to give Japanese name to their child to celebrate their cultural roots, but giving Japanese name to person who'll be living in country where Japanese is not written might need to give more thoughts.

Like we've seen in some posts, a name can have several different Kanji, and depending on what Kanji is used, it could mean something completely different.

E.g. a name Hana - girl's name meaning 'Flower' but hana is also 'Nose' in Japanese. So you can't just give the girl name Hana in English alphabet, but you have to give appropriate kanji on 花.

It doesn't have to show in passport, but surely when asked what the name means, you need to know exactly what.

My middle name is Kinuko, in Kanji that is Silk Child 絹子. but it could also be Cloth child 衣子 which I'd hate anyone to think it is!

i heard the name Nyunao once, i cant find it anywhere or what it means so i would call it uncommon, and pretty. it's pronounced sorta like (Nee-yoo-nah-oh) except more fluid-like (haha)

It's great that someone wants to give Japanese name to their child to celebrate their cultural roots, but giving Japanese name to person who'll be living in country where Japanese is not written might need to give more thoughts.

Like we've seen in some posts, a name can have several different Kanji, and depending on what Kanji is used, it could mean something completely different.

E.g. a name Hana - girl's name meaning 'Flower' but hana is also 'Nose' in Japanese. So you can't just give the girl name Hana in English alphabet, but you have to give appropriate kanji on 花.

It doesn't have to show in passport, but surely when asked what the name means, you need to know exactly what.

My middle name is Kinuko, in Kanji that is Silk Child 絹子. but it could also be Cloth child 衣子 which I'd hate anyone to think it is!

I don't find it necessarily true that you have to know what the name means just because it is Japanese. We don't do this with English names. For example, how many people know Thomas means "twin" or Amanda means "worthly of love"?

Also, I've had many high school students in Japan whose names were written in hiragana or katakana which conveys no meaning. When I asked about it they said that their parents just liked the sound of the name. I've also had numerous kids who had no idea what their names meant (besides the meanings of the individual kanji) as well as kids with kanji that had absolutely no relation to their names.

I think it would be perfectly acceptable to choose a Japanese name for a child without choosing a meaning or kanji.

I do agree, however, that more thought should be given to giving an overtly Japanese name to a baby living in a non-Japanese-speaking country. I question the practicality if the baby has no relationship with Japan. Just imagine the amount of explaining they will have to do in the future.

On a side note, my middle name is Masaru. Technically I have no kanji, but since it is my grandfather's middle name I adopted the same kanji (賢) as him.

It may be a bit late for the actual question, but I know of a Japanese name which just keeps coming back in my mind: Hikaru. It's a name for both boys and girls. But I love the name. Maybe some day my child's name will be Hikaru...
Greetings

i think hinata is a cute name it means sunny place in japanese it is a nice name for someone who wants their child to reclaim a lost heritage [mighti also suggest reading and writing lessons later on in life or a trip to japan maybe?]

kaiya is indeed japanese it means forgiveness it is a splendid name!

Hi, don't know how much help this will be (these names might not be common anymore) but I think:

Mayumi
Megami
Aya
Keko
Yukiko

Are all pretty names. Let us know what you decide on.

ow and im not from japan, but i like japanese names..
Miki
riki - strength
Leigh - Love
yuuki - courage
anki - safety
kouhei - justice
shirushi - symbol
and my favorite..
Sora - Sky (BlueSky)

I have never heard "anki" or "shirushi" as names here, and Leigh is an English name, right? There is no L in Japanese.

The usual name meaning "love" is Ai, although there are others.

well i know some

amaya- night rain
midori- green
sakura- cherry blossoms
ai- love
hoshi- star
yue- moon
sei- blue

that's all ^_^'

I never heard of any japanese named Amaya...

as for moon and blue, blue is Aoi and moon is Tsuki.

"meow", have you actually met people with all those names? Midori, Sakura and Ai are reasonably normal names, but not the others. If you have seen these names in manga/anime, remember that a lot of things you find in those genres aren't realistic.

Incidentally Nina, "sei" is another reading for the kanji 青, ao.

...thought I doubt people will say "Sei" right away when thinking of blue.

Except for Amaya, I am guessing the others are ok...thought Yue sounds chinese rather.

Just out of interest, how many people with the name "Hoshi" have you met? I haven't met any...

Yui rather than Yue is a fairly common name for girls.

Well, I did not meet people who were named exactly "Hoshi" but they had that as nickname, since they were calld "Hoshiko". (2 people) So I guess if people can be named "Hoshiko" then why not "Hoshi"?

And indeed, Yui is a very common name nowdays, Yue is not.

Ai: love
Aika: love song
Aiko: beloved/loving child
Aimi: love beauty
Akane: brilliant red
Akemi: bright beauty
Aki: autumn; bright
Akiko: autumn child or bright child
Akira: bright;clear;dawn
Amaterasu: shining over hevan
Amaya: night rain
Aoi: blue
Arisu: noble sort
Asami: morning beauty
Asuka: tomorrow fragrance
Atsuko: industrious/warm child
Aya: colorful or woven silk
Ayaka: colorful flower/fragrant/summer
Ayame: iris
Ayako: scholarly child
Ayano: of color/silk
Ayumi: stroll
Azami: thistle flower
Azumi: safe residence
Bunko: liteary child

go to this web site for A LOT more.

http://www.20000-names.com/female_japanese_names.htm

Amaterasu? That is the name of the mythical sun goddess in Japanese legends, but I doubt you will find many Japanese girls with that name, if any. Just because a name is on a list on a website, doesn't mean you can be sure it is actually used as a name.