"Japanese Girls鈥 Names"
by Kumi Furuichi
It used to be very typical for Japanese girls鈥 names to end with 鈥渒o.鈥 (The trend might have started around my grandmothers鈥 generation and its peak might have been around my mother鈥檚 generation.) 鈥淜o鈥 means 鈥渃hild鈥 in Chinese characters. Parents would name their daughters with 鈥渒o鈥 attaching to other Chinese characters which have meanings that they want their daughters to become, such as Sachiko鈥攈appy child, Yoshiko鈥攁 good child, Yasuko鈥攁 healthy child, and so on. However, I noticed recently that only two out of nine of my Japanese girlfriends at this school have names which end with 鈥渒o.鈥 More and more, parents seem to have become creative, modernized, and, sometimes, westernized in naming their children.
I have a feeling that, while percent or more of my mother鈥檚 generation would have names with 鈥渒o鈥 at the end, the proportion has dropped among my peers. I wrote down all my Japanese friends鈥, ex-classmates鈥, co-workers, and acquaintances鈥 names that I could remember. Following are the names. (Some are repeats.) Test to see if the proportion has dropped for this generation.
Ai, Akemi, Akiko, Ayumi, Chiaki, Chie, Eiko, Eri, Eriko, Fumiko, Harumi, Hitomi, Hiroko, Hiroko, Hidemi, Hisako, Hinako, Izumi, Izumi, Junko, Junko, Kana, Kanako, Kanayo, Kayo, Kayoko, Kazumi, Keiko, Keiko, Kei, Kumi, Kumiko, Kyoko, Kyoko, Madoka, Maho, Mai, Maiko, Maki, Miki, Miki, Mikiko, Mina, Minako, Miyako, Momoko, Nana, Naoko, Naoko, Naoko, Noriko, Rieko, Rika, Rika, Rumiko, Rei, Reiko, Reiko, Sachiko, Sachiko, Sachiyo, Saki, Sayaka, Sayoko, Sayuri, Seiko, Shiho, Shizuka, Sumiko, Takako, Takako, Tomoe, Tomoe, Tomoko, Touko, Yasuko, Yasuko, Yasuyo, Yoko, Yoko, Yoko, Yoshiko, Yoshiko, Yoshiko, Yuka, Yuki, Yuki, Yukiko, Yuko, Yuko.