# Japanese Female Names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507 "2018-09-18T01:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/21 "2018-09-18T05:37:48Z")
Hoshi is a stellar name. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/22 "2018-09-18T05:43:26Z")
Tom Modachi sounds friendly, and Sue Barassi is wonderful! ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/23 "2018-09-18T10:07:51Z")
[Convert](http://apps.nolanlawson.com/japanese-name-converter/#?q=Lisa) your favorite western name to sound Japanese. Examples: Verna = Baana Judy = Judi Lisa = Risa Nancy = Nanshii Hillary = Hirarii ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/24 "2018-09-18T10:12:25Z")
> [@Sloe\_Moe](#): > > [Convert](http://apps.nolanlawson.com/japanese-name-converter/#?q=Lisa) your favorite western name to sound Japanese. > > Examples: > > Verna = Baana > Judy = Judi > Lisa = Risa > Nancy = Nanshii > Hillary = Hirarii This is a racist comment, just saying. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/25 "2018-09-18T11:58:37Z")
I have a girl from Japan on my soccer team named Aya, which is short and sounds nice. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/26 "2018-09-18T12:32:59Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > This is a racist comment, just saying. I don’t think it is. The Japanese language lacks a number of sounds that are common in Western languages, and vice versa. There are conventions for converting Western proper nouns to Japanese. For example, Japanese lacks an L sound. The convention is to replace L’s with R’s. Hillary Clinton’s first name is rendered as Hirarii in Japanese newspapers. That is simply a standard conversion. It isn’t racist to note it. [The site](http://apps.nolanlawson.com/japanese-name-converter/#faqs)uses a dictionary for 4000 common names, and standard rules to convert less common ones. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/27 "2018-09-18T13:12:36Z")
English, please. In this particular instance you’re using “Western” to mean “English”. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/28 "2018-09-18T13:57:08Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > English, please. In this particular instance you’re using “Western” to mean “English”. How does that work? An English name like “Lisa” gives them pause, but they can magically pronounce Hungarian names perfectly? That’s sensational, someone really ought to study that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/29 "2018-09-18T14:56:00Z")
The page linked is about English names. French, Italian, Spanish, German… or Hungarian words would follow adaptation rules which are different from those used in that page. For starters: Italian, Spanish and Japanese all use the same vowel phonemes so there is nothing to adapt there. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/30 "2018-09-18T15:02:25Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The page linked is about English names. You can type in any name you want. Luigi transliterates to Ruiji, Leonardo to Reonarudo. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/31 "2018-09-18T15:09:56Z")
The writer of the page, himself, speaks about transcriptions from English. Those transcriptions treat Luigi and Leonardo as if they were English. Note that the English pronunciations of foreign names are often problematic; when dealing with EFL speakers I spell my name removing the end and (depending on location) change one other letter in the middle to keep them from choking on their own tongues or from using vowels which aren’t there. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/32 "2018-09-18T15:17:32Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The writer of the page, himself, speaks about transcriptions from English. Those transcriptions treat Luigi and Leonardo as if they were English. I’m pretty sure those are the actual names used in Japan for the brother of Mario and the painter of the Mona Lisa, so I guess you’ll just have to take that up with them. ---
**Author:** ![Itself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/33 "2018-09-18T16:24:49Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > This is a racist comment, just saying. No, it’s totally reasonable; Japanese has a small phonemic inventory and very strict phonological rules, and English loanwords are common enough that there’s practically a set procedure for converting them to a Japanese-friendly pronunciation. The word for ‘basketball’, for example, is basukettobooru’— not ‘basuketoboru’, or ‘basukettobou’, but exactly the first word there. It’s often consider cool or high-class, kind of like French in English. One of the first things we did in the first Japanese class I took was to take our English names and write them in katakana— not just a direct transliteration, but making conversions like (as above) ‘Nancy -\> Nanshii’ to deal with vowel duration (as Japanese marks vowels for length but has a pitch- rather than stress-based accent) and the fact that Japanese /s/ becomes [ɕ] before /i/. Also, as mentioned above, the ‘r’ in ‘Akari’ is basically the ‘t’ sound in ‘better’ or ‘writer’ (at least, in varieties of American English that pronounce ‘writer’ and ‘rider’ the same). Of course, it’s not like your puppy actually speaks Japanese, so pronounce it however you want. It’s hard, though, to give any more advice without seeing a cute puppy picture. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/34 "2018-09-18T17:01:04Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > If you want to reference the white flecks, the affixes “shiro” and “haku” are common for meaning white. For example “Shiromi” or “Kohaku” (literally “read and white”). Tiny correction: red and white is “kōhaku” (or “kouhaku”), with the long O sound. “Kohaku” with the short O means amber. The term “Kōhaku” is very firmly associated with the [Kōhaku Uta Gassen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dhaku_Uta_Gassen), an annual musical TV show/competition. I wouldn’t use it as a pet name personally. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/35 "2018-09-18T17:13:04Z")
Akako [del]Momo[/del] sounds like no [del]Toshiko[/del] sounds like no [del]Kohaku[/del] we have a “Kona”. I will call for the wrong dog. I will. Akane Akari Akiko [del]Miko[/del] We had a Michi. It’s different, but I will end up using Michiko in no time. [del]Keiko[/del] no “K” names. Yaeno Mari Aka-to-Shiro Hoshi Aya My choice is Akiko. 🙂 Thank you everyone for your suggestions! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/36 "2018-09-18T18:37:55Z")
Cute. I like it.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/37 "2018-09-18T19:31:28Z")
Guess I’m too late. I was going to suggest Gamera. ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/38 "2018-09-18T23:46:39Z")
[deleted] ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/39 "2018-09-19T23:25:40Z")
If the name you chose isn’t set in stone 🆒 yet, I respectfully suggest [Hachiko](https://wiki2.org/en/Hachik%C5%8D). > [@Itself](#): > > It’s hard, though, to give any more advice without seeing a cute puppy picture. I’ll have to second, third, fourth, and fiftieth this motion. Also, just roll your R’s slightly like in Spanish. That would be sufficient. –G! ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507/40 "2018-09-19T23:31:27Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > If the name you chose isn’t set in stone 🆒 yet, I respectfully suggest [Hachiko](https://wiki2.org/en/Hachik%C5%8D). > > I’ll have to second, third, fourth, and fiftieth this motion. > Also, just roll your R’s slightly like in Spanish. That would be sufficient. > –G! I love that story. When I was in Tokyo, I saw the statue. My office was quite close, which was lucky. Yes, I know I need to share a picture. Hang tight. They will be along in just a minute. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-female-names/821507.md?page=3)