For some reason the links I posted aren’t showing through. I’ll see what I can do about that. Sorry!
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Is this the link you were talking about? If it is, I’ve looked up a lot of the names listed and they all seem to be surnames, not given names.
As a writer I’ve had to do a lot of research looking up names and meanings, especially from different backgrounds, like Japanese. There are a lot of Japanese surnames in Japan- I remember seeing the number listed as around 100,000 surnames. Up until the Meiji period (1868), many people did not have surnames- the ones who did were nobles, samurai, and maybe some prominent families, but the majority of people, peasants, didn’t. After the Meiji period, however, it became mandatory for everyone to have a surname. A lot of surnames originated as locational or occupational names or others just made up their own names by combining different kanji. Some surnames are very common (the three most popular are Sat”, Suzuki, and Takahashi) while others are very uncommon, even rare, which would explain why some the meaning are a little bizarre to say the least.
But, like you, I am not a Japanese speaker and what I know is what I’ve learned from my own research. I’ve come across a few sites I’ve often used and which have been reliable so far.
[URL=“https://jisho.org”]https://jisho.org](https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-strangest-or-unique-Japanese-names)
The thing about this site is if you’re looking for a name and don’t have any kanji to use, write in the name in English (such as Watanuki)- there’s a tab at the left of the search engine that says All; click on it, some tabs appear on the bottom. Go to the one that says Names, click on it and there should appear a list of names with various kanji used to write the name.
http://www.hipenpal.com/tool/japanese-names-search-and-converter-in-english.php
For the site above just write down a name, first or last, and it’ll show you all possible kanji that makes up the name, and even whether it’s a surname, a female name, or a male name. It only works for Japanese names.
Below are a few articles about Japanese surnames if you’re interested in learning more:
https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-japanese-names/
https://www.tofugu.com/japan/cow-poop-is-a-japanese-surname/
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2009/10/11/general/the-long-road-to-identity/#.XiUqDy-ZNQI
I hope I was helpful.