Sadao Mazuka wrote from Japan about Japanese names for children based on their birth order and the seasons…
The Japanese have names for their children based on their birth order. These names aren’t old-fashioned. They’re still used!
1) Names for the 1st Boy:
一郎 (Ichiro) 太郎 (Taro) 真一(Shin-iti) 肇 (Hajime)
･･････ 一 (Ichi) means “one”, 肇 (hajime) means “begin”.
2) Names for the 2nd Boy:
二郎 (Jiro) 次郎 (Jiro) 真二 (Shin-ji) 次男 (Tsugi-o)
･･････ 二 (Ni or Ji) means “two”, 次 (Tsugi or Ji) means “next”.
3) Names for the 3rd Boy:
三郎 (Saburo) 真三 (Shin-zo) 桂三 (Keizo)
･･････ 三 (san, sabu or zo) means “three”.
[Abe Shinzo (安倍晋三) is the Japanese Prime Minister’s name. He is not the third boy, but the second boy lol.]
4) Names for the 1st Girl:
初枝 (Hatsue) 初子 (Hatsuko) はつ (Hatsu)
･･････ All of them mean “the first”.
5. My mother’s name was Aki that means “Autumn” because she was born in October. And in Spring there’s the name “Haru”, in Summer, the name, “Natsu”, and in Winter it’s “Fuyu”.
6. Here’s a chart of boys names based on their order of birth from first through the tenth…
First boy: Taro or Ichiro
Second boy: Jiro
Third boy: Saburo
Forth boy: Shiro
Fifth boy: Goro
Sixth boy: Rokuro
Seventh boy: Shichiro
Eighth boy: Hachiro
Ninth boy: Kuro
Tenth boy: Juro
But we don’t always stick to the order of birth. When giving a name to a baby, the sound impression is important.
Thanks for sharing this with us Sadao!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Sunday, January 24th, 2016 at 8:39 pm and is filed under Baby Names, Baby Naming, Countries & Cultures, Customs and Traditions, Japan, Japanese, Languages. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
2 Responses to “Japanese Baby Names based on Birth Order and the Seasons”
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January 25th, 2016 at 2:33 pm
Nyango from Cameroon wrote, “We have some cute such practices in several African countries – names for twins, names for the kid who comes after twins, names based on the day of the week you were born on, etc.”
April 22nd, 2017 at 10:39 am
Gender: Female
Origin: Japanese
Meaning: The Japanese name Fuyu means – born in winter
source: http://www.babynamescountry.com/meanings/Fuyu.html