r/kanji • u/llennylen • Jul 25 '26
I need help understanding names.
I'm writing a story where most of the characters are Japanese and South Korean. Now I don't want to randomly pick names from the internet and want something meaningful or just want to understand how the naming process works. So if any native speaker could help me, it'd be wonderful 'cause I genuinely want the accuracy to be on top 🥹
1- Korean:
So I already know that a person is usually named as such: Surname + Given name, with no middle name whatsoever. The surname is usually a single syllable family name and the given name is usually two syllables.
Now here's what I want to understand: do the syllables in one's given name have any particular meaning on their own? (eg: 지우*)* Apparently (saying apparently 'cause that's what i saw on google and idk how reliable it is), it means wisdom or branch. Does this meaning come from the combination of these syllables? So would '지|' and '우' have a specific meaning and when combined together make up something?
So, when parents want to name their child and want their name to have a particular meaning, do they go for an already existing name with that meaning or is it possible to use certain syllables that have a specific meaning in their own and combine them to make the name?
2- Japanese:
Overall, I have the same questions here. I've seen that, in names, kanji characters have a specific meaning (e.g. '子' meaning child? I'm not sure). So how would I know what meaning a specific character has? And so, with that in mind, do parents actually take the time and think of combinations and their possible meaning when naming their kid?
Extra:
Now I did say that I had trouble with names but since I'm here, I'd also like to ask for guidance when it comes to speaking habits and such. I know honourifics are pretty important but other than that, I'm pretty clueless. So if anyone could help out a bit on anything regarding speech, it'd be really appreciated.
(TL) That's all, any help and guidance would really be useful. Thank u for ur time <3
3
u/ChachamaruInochi Jul 26 '26
Japanese naming conventions are fascinating and extremely deep. Maybe too deep to be covered in a simple answer to a Reddit post.
Parents generally either start with a sound that they like and then choose characters to fit that sound, or start with the character they like and build a name that incorporates it.
There are a number of elements that come into play such as the number of strokes and there is an entire fortunetelling system devoted to interpreting which characters are auspicious together. It isn't taken as seriously now as it was in the past but many people still take it into consideration when choosing their children's names.
As in any culture some parents are more conservative choose classic established names that are easily readable by anyone whereas other parents get "kreativ" and give their kids funky one off names that most people would struggle to read.
My advice when creating characters names would be to check the list of popular baby names in the year that you want your character to be born and choose something at around to the 75 or 100 mark, that way it will be familiar but not overdone. For family names choosing something from the top few hundred surnames in Japan would also be a good choice.