.png?updatedAt=1754504708797)
One of the interesting parts of Japanese society is naming. Their names use kanji (Chinese characters) which can carry different meanings and pronunciations.
Japanese names
So a typical Japanese name is, for example, 陽向 (Hinata), consisting of two kanji, 陽 - meaning something like "sun", and 向 - "to face, to turn towards" so the name roughly translates as "Toward the sunlight". And the dynamic that most popular Japanese names follow is meaning something positive.
Kanji can have a multitude of other readings, so the same 陽向 if you stretch its readings can technically be pronounced as よんかい or ひく or ひむ or as basically anything if you get creative enough. But that would not mean the name, people just kind of agreed upon that certain characters are read in certain ways in names and outside of them. But the sheer possibility of a name being spelled however you wish and it representing a concept is enough to make some parents go wild anyway.
Kirakira
These weird and unique names are called キラキラ (kirakira) names. The word means "glittering", "sparkling" in other words, shiny names.
Things you typically see in these names:
- Unusual readings for kanji:
E.g. 紅葉 (Meipuru) - maple, written with the word for "red leaves" (e.g. in autumn) which is typically pronounced as "kouyou". - References:
For example 光宙 (Pikachu) - literally Pikachu, yes, the Pokémon. - Foreign words or names:
In addition to the aforementioned Maple, there are also names like 真九州 (Makkusu) - Max, but written in kanji. - And just weird names:
Like 王子様 (Oujisama) - Prince.
Their unusual spelling makes them difficult to read for most people. 奇跡 (Daiya) as in Diamond would typically be read as "kiseki", which is the usual usage of the kanji and what most people will first think of upon seeing it, the word means "miracle".
This is, of course, problematic, and you probably would not want to be named one of these.
In addition to kanji being easy to use expressively, Japanese people are more individualistic, and while it's hard to judge by how much, it's definitely a factor as well. (You typically don't go around strolling any part of the good ol' USA and see an anime girl on a building).
You might think that this is a modern thing with the rise of the fast-paced internet and gen Alpha's parents, but this has been going on since at least the 90's. I was not alive back then.
Here's a silly little list:
| Name | Origin | Written as | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 主人公 (Hero) | Main character | main character | Isekai main character but in real life. |
| 菜月 (Natsu) | Word for summer | vegetable + moon | Most people would read this as Natsuki. 夏 (Natsu) means summer but it is ignored here. |
| ギリシア & トリノ (Girishia & Torino) | Greece & Turin | Greece & Turin | Children named by a cyclist after Greece & Turin because the summer Olympics were held there. And the mother is named Seiko after 聖火 (seika) - which means olympic fire too. |
| プリンサスキャンディ (Purinsasu Candy) | ??? | Princess Candy | Princess Candy? Ok what. |
| 今鹿 (Naushika) | Nausicaä from the Ghibli film | now + deer | The sacrifice you have to make to be possibly read as Nausicaä instead of "Now deer". |
| 紅葉 (Meipuru) | Maple | crimson leaves | Unintentional Bofuri reference, she just needs a pet シロップ (Syrup). |
| 瑛磨 (E-su) | Ace, the One piece character | sparkle + polish | Naming your child after a One Piece character... Cursed. |
| 一心 (Pyua) | Pure | wholeheartedness | Being named wholeheartedness and pure at the same time is cool and poetic, but why? |
| 黄熊 (Pu) | Winnie the Pooh | yellow + bear | Winnie the Pooh. I'm sorry. What. |
| 夢希 (Naiki) | Nike | dream + hope | Yes. Nike. The company. Shoes. |
| 奇跡 (Daiya) | Diamond | miracle | This is just confusing. |
| 緑夢 (Gurimu) | Possibly Grimm brothers | green + dream | English “green” + Japanese “dream” combined. |
| 七音 (Doremi) | Musical notes | seven + sound | Do-re-mi ... I'd think of Ratatouille every time I'd speak to this person. |
| 王子様 (Ojisama) | - | prince | Cringey. |
Note: my sources for some of these are questionable at best, not to be used in anything serious.
Dqname
There exists this website called Dqname.jp (it's all in Japanese), it's a large "collection" of キラキラ names.
But they're user-submitted and by like, 2chan users. While it is both scary and hilarious that there could be a child named 麻楽 - "weed comfort" (oh no), it's probably just a joke ... right? Right?
It's not really a good source of these names, but it being active since 2001 is crazy and worth a note.
I spent a few hours there for some reason, and lots of them are inappropriate, some are hilarious, and some of them really cursed.
The word DQN (dokyun) in itself means something like "pleb" or "delinquent" so it's derogatory, and DQNネーム (DQNne-mu) is an internet forum way to refer to キラキラ names.
Evil
The most famous example of a kirakira name is 悪魔, which literally means devil/demon. Yes, there was an actual court case about some parents naming their child a devil in 1993, quoting the dad here: "If you hear it once, you’ll never forget the name". I mean, he's not wrong. His idea was that he could raise the child in a way that will prevent him from getting bullied even with such a name, which is obviously a fallacy.
After some tribulations, the court allowed keeping the name but only as 亜駆 meaning something like "subpar run" (an underdog?). He also said he'll name his next son Emperor, but luckily that never happened. In 1996 he divorced his wife, shortly after that he was arrested for drugs.
Later, when he got the legal right to, the son changed his full name at the age of 18.
And you see the problem; some parents don't really consider what their children's life will be like with such a name or have a warped idea of that.
But it's not all that gloomy
Recently, on May 26, 2025 a law came into effect that requires all names to have a reading associated with them, which can be rejected if the government deems it inappropriate. While this doesn't explicitly ban キラキラ names, it maybe can help regulate them a bit.
People in Japan can change their name at the age of 15, but until they are 18, they need a legal representative (usually parents) to allow the child to change their name. So Pikachu is stuck being Pikachu until he's 18, which is so cursed.
Kirakira is cursed but less cursed than you'd think
One thing that I feel like a lot of western articles skip that I could notice even with my mediocre Japanese is the fact that people call their children more normal but still キラキラ names, not something as obscene as Pyua but something like 空 (sora) - meaning "sky" just because it sounds very anime, pretty sure it was キラキラ at some point long ago, but now it's one of the most popular names out there in Japan.
It's really easy to point at a few completely outlandish examples, but the bigger problem is the names that are just unusual and end up getting children bullied and people trying to read their names confused.