Abstract
Previous literature has mentioned the difficulty in reading recent Japanese names correctly. However, this difficulty has not been empirically demonstrated. Thus, it is unclear to what extent and how it is difficult. Therefore, this paper provides empirical evidence of the difficulty in reading Japanese names correctly. Data including names of babies born between 2004 and 2018 were analyzed. The results showed that common writings have many variations in reading, which makes it difficult (or almost impossible) to choose the correct reading among many options. For example, one of the common writings for boys, 大翔 had 18 variations in reading, and for girls, 結愛 had 14 variations in reading. These variations differed remarkably in pronunciation, length, and meaning. Empirically reporting this difficulty in reading Japanese names correctly contributes to a better understanding of naming practices not only in Japan but also in vast regions where Chinese characters are/were used.
Highlights
Recent Japanese names are difficult to read correctly.1,2 Here, “correctly” means “as determined by parents or guardians”
People have no idea how to read Japanese names. This difficulty is not limited to unique names
The fact that it is common to write “furigana” (how to pronounce/read Chinese characters of names; “furi” means giving and “gana” comes from “(hira)gana” or “(kata) kana”) in Japan which is one form of explicit references reflects this difficulty. Without this kind of explicit references, it is difficult or impossible to read Japanese names without mistakes. This difficulty of reading recent Japanese names correctly has been mentioned via examples and explanations of them (e.g., Kobayashi, 2009; Ohto, 2012; Sakata, 2006; Sato, 2007; UnserSchutz, 2016)
Summary
Recent Japanese names are difficult to read correctly. Here, “correctly” means “as determined by parents or guardians”. The fact that it is common to write “furigana” (how to pronounce/read Chinese characters (kanji) of names; “furi” means giving and “gana” comes from “(hira)gana” or “(kata) kana”) in Japan which is one form of explicit references reflects this difficulty. Without this kind of explicit references, it is difficult or impossible to read Japanese names without mistakes. This difficulty of reading recent Japanese names correctly has been mentioned via examples and explanations of them (e.g., Kobayashi, 2009; Ohto, 2012; Sakata, 2006; Sato, 2007; UnserSchutz, 2016)
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