Hmm, I am not 100% sure of this yet but I think that the names in Japanese with kanji only use the… - Feed Post by strawhat64
Hmm, I am not 100% sure of this yet but I think that the names in Japanese with kanji only use the Kunyomi version of the kanji. I could be mistaken of course but if its true then it simplifies things a bit.
posted by strawhat64
Comments 12
Names in Japanese don't only use the kun-readings of the kanji, but if you see a name you don't know and have to take a guess, I think you'll be at least a little bit more likely to get it correct if you pick a kun'yomi rather than on'yomi.
Some dictionaries list three types of readings for kanji: on'yomi, kun'yomi, nanori. Japanese names do often use the on'yomi of the kanji. Nanori are "name readings", so these are obviously used as well, although many of these come from old kun'yomi given to the kanji that are no longer used. It would be nice if it were as simple as only using kun'yomi. ^^;
Kun'yomi don't (or at least shouldn't) contain digraph kana (kana that are combined with small ゃ・ゅ・ょ, such as きゃ, りゅ,...).
So when you see names like 良介 (りょうすけ) "Ryōsuke" where the first kanji 良 is read as りょう, you'll know this definitely is not a kun'yomi. The second kanji 介 doesn't even ANY kun'yomi, and すけ isn't even possible to be an on'yomi. For this kanji 介, the only on'yomi is かい. This すけ reading is a nanori one.
So 良介 "Ryōsuke" = 良 "ryou" (on'yomi) + 介 "suke" (nanori). This isn't just an exception. Lots of names are like this. Hope this helps. ^^
I see. I saw a few names written using the Kunyomi so I guessed it was like that. For example, for Yamamoto its written like this: 山本 or Tanaka like this: 田中- Hmm, or could it be that first and last names are read differently and only first names use Onyomi and last names use Kunyomi?
- I can see how there could be a good reason to think surnames might always be kun'yomi, as you'd expect family names to have a long history rooted in native Japanese words. And can see that it would make sense to think first names are left up to the whim of the parents.
However, I think 佐藤 (さとう) "Satō" is still the most common family name in Japan. According to this website of top-10 family names it is, but it was written back in 2013. I haven't bothered to look for a more up-to-date one:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/the-10-most-common-surnames-in-japan-and-their-meanings
佐藤 (さとう) "Satō" = 佐 (さ) on'yomi + 藤 (とう) on'yomi. - lol, I didn't know that up until a century ago Japanese people only had first names and no last names. Btw, I think its pretty much a rule but you can't combine the Kunyomi from one Kanji with the Onyomi of another, right? The Kunyomi go with Kunyomi and the Onyomi with the Onyomi. If we were to mix them it would become annoying.
- Referring to them as "first name" and "last name" is kind of confusing, since the order of Japanese names is family name first, given name second. It makes it a little hard to keep track of which one you mean. :P
Kun'yomi and on'yomi can be mixed within normal words. The same is true for given names, and I believe also for family names.
莉子, a very popular female given name, is read 莉 (り) on'yomi + 子 (こ) kun'yomi, "Riko".
Howver, I'm having a hard time thinking of any family name example of this right now, so I can't say for definite about it... - Oh! After about an hour of this being on my mind, I just thought of a really obvious example of a family name for this!
本田 is read as 本 (ほん) on'yomi + 田 (だ) kun'yomi, "Honda".
I did find a couple of other examples, such as 福田 (ふくだ) and 和田 (わだ), both of which are on-kun mixed readings too. I haven't thought of any kun-on ones yet though. In any case, family names which use a mix of both on and kun readings do seem pretty uncommon, so you're fairly safe just presuming any new family name you encounter won't be like this. ^^ - I guess if it was read as ”ほんでん” it would be strange.
True kun yomi and on yomi is hard when figuring out the meaning of all kanji- Reading *
Generally when someone introduce himself or write his name in documents or student cards, for example, they usually write the kana reading for the name and surname. Besides there's a lot of common surnames, there's still have some of them that are unusual, principally of foreigners such as Chinese people that change their names to Japanese reading. In fiction you'll also found a bunch of unusual names, so that's why you need to learn the individual reading of each kanji, although that there will always be the kana reading at least once (As the first time the character's name appears).
No, it doesn't
They use names with onyomi as well, although names with kunyomi appear frequently, more than onyomi.
Like yoshitsukune said, you'll face with a lot of unusual names, but don't be scared. You will learn a lot of names by experience, looking for the names and kanji (and names that doesn't have kanji too).
