My OH and I are yet again in doubt of what name to use. We’ve gone back to a name that was our favourite for DS2, [name]Rin[/name], which means either cold, dignified or bell (depending on which Kanji you use) in japanese. We both think it’s absolutely beautiful, so please don’t diss it.
But I don’t know what to use as middlename! My fav mn is [name]Rosalie[/name], but does [name]Rin[/name] [name]Rosalie[/name] work? (
I’m also considering adding a third name, possible something referring to her older sister, [name]Lily[/name], who passed away! We thought of Sayuri, which means little lily in japanese. But afraid it might become a tad too exotic!
[name]Just[/name] in case you haven’t considered it…there is the [name]Rin[/name] [name]Tin[/name] [name]Tin[/name] association. Not horrible by any means, but it is the first thing I thought of when I saw the title to your post. [name]Just[/name] in ase you haven’t thought of it…(but as you can tell from my screenname I’m a big-time [name]German[/name] [name]Shepherd[/name] person so maybe other people don’t think of it!).
[name]Rin[/name] [name]Calla[/name]? [name]Calla[/name] has always been one of my favourites - not only does it mean ‘beautiful’ in Greek, but it is the name of a type of lily as well - what a lovely idea to honour her sister.
I am aware of the [name]Rin[/name] [name]Tin[/name] [name]Tin[/name] bit - but it’s not something that has ever cropped up before, besides, in my experience you can find similar associations with most names.
RE Sayuri - I understand what you mean, but as it isn’t first name I doubt a daughter would feel like she was a replacement, especially as our DDs name was “[name]Lily[/name]” and not [name]Yuri[/name] (which means [name]Lily[/name]. Sayuri was more a subtle way of honoring our eldest, but atm it’s only an idea and I’m not sure we will implement it.
[name]Just[/name] to add - we have talked about adding Mey/[name]Mei[/name] to the name, so it would be Meirin/Meyrin, but just call her [name]Rin[/name]
[name]Rin[/name] is trim and sleek, but I wonder how well it would translate in a non-Japanese-speaking context. Honestly I do think it reads masculine, simply because it’s both utterly unfamiliar and extremely no-frills. However, if you’re sold on it, it’s lovely.
Meirin and Meyrin both sound equally lovely, but they do look like tryndee invented names. The name [name]Merrin[/name] is very close; it belonged to a (male) obscure Cornish saint, but in the US it’s exclusively female (given to 6 baby girls last year!).
I really, really admire the idea of honoring her deceased older sister. I do agree that [name]Rin[/name] Sayuri-- assuming your family isn’t ethnically Japanese-- is too much. Would you be interested in other lily names-- nothing too close to the actual word ‘lily’?
[name]Susannah[/name] / [name]Shoshana[/name] (Hebrew, lily)
[name]Nerida[/name] (Australian aboriginal, water lily)
Asphodel (Greek, lily)
Azusa/Azucena (Spanish via Arabic, lily)
[name]Calla[/name] (Greek, type of lily)
Kielo (Finnish, lily of the valley)
Nilofar (Farsi, water lily)
[name]Lys[/name] (French, lily)
I love Japanese names, and many can be translated well onto Western babies, and I believe [name]Rin[/name] is one of them. [name]Rin[/name] Sayuri is gorgeous, but it is a tad bit exotic unless you add a common second middle, and that takes away from the beauty.
[name]Flower[/name] names could work:
[name]Magnolia[/name]
[name]Leilani[/name]
[name]Zinnia[/name]
[name]Linnea[/name]
[name]Lilac[/name]
[name]Lavender[/name]
[name]Azalea[/name]
[name]Iris[/name]
[name]Ivy[/name]
[name]Sakura[/name] (assuming your ethnically Japanese, this would be great)
I love the name [name]Rin[/name]! Your ideas are great but other suggestions would be [name]Rin[/name] [name]Lila[/name], [name]Rin[/name] [name]Lillian[/name], or [name]Rin[/name] [name]Liliana[/name] as a way to honor [name]Lily[/name] without having the exact same name.
I love [name]Rin[/name]; I think it could work with a more feminine and familiar middle name. I like [name]Rin[/name] with variations of [name]Susan[/name]; such as [name]Rin[/name] [name]Susannah[/name] or [name]Rin[/name] [name]Suzanne[/name].
[name]Rin[/name] is lovely, but I think it might be nice to go with a longer name, and use [name]Rin[/name] most of the time.
[name]How[/name] about [name]Marin[/name]? It’s a refreshing [name]Mary[/name]-like name. Makes me think of the sea, and all things marine.
[name]Marin[/name] [name]Aurelia[/name]
[name]Aurelia[/name] means golden. Also a saint’s name. [name]Aurelian[/name] lilies are the big beautiful trumpet lilies that bloom in midsummer. I think [name]Aurelia[/name] would be a wonderful way to honor [name]Lily[/name], as it has a kind of spiritual glow about it.
Unfortunately my other half is extremely picky and he can tear names to pieces faster than I can suggest them! It’s taken years for us to get down to even talking about potential girl names!
We aren’t ethnically japanese, but according to my partners business plan we are hoping to settle down there in the next few years!
I do like a lot of the suggestions put forward, particularly [name]Nerida[/name], [name]Lys[/name] (which also means light in Danish), [name]Lavender[/name], [name]Lilac[/name] and [name]Iris[/name]. I have also considered [name]Violet[/name].
[name]Aurelia[/name] is wonderful too - but my partner doesn’t like it.
Names with ‘lila’ or [name]Leila[/name] pronunciations are out of the questions though - thats my mothers way and without sounding dramatic or bitter, there’s no way I’m inflicting my mother, even in name, on my daughter!
If you’re planning on moving to Japan, I would actually advise against using a Japanese name. Japan has a very ethnocentric culture and a Japanese name on a non-Japanese child is likely to confuse (and possibly offend) a lot of people. I taught in Japan after college and one of my friends there (also a teacher) was an American who was half white, half Japanese American. [name]Even[/name] though she had a Japanese first name, they always wrote her name in katakana (the script used for foreign words) and refused to use the kanji for her name (despite the fact that it was a legit Japanese name), even on her hanko (name stamp that you use to sign paperwork and such).
I’m only pointing this out because as an adult, my friend found this slighlty annoying but I think it would be harder on a child. Especially since she’ll likely be told (a lot) by Japanese people that she doesn’t really have a Japanese name, since she’s not Japanese. [name]Just[/name] something you might want to consider. I do think emmabobemma’s suggestion of using a longer, more Western name with the nickname [name]Rin[/name] would actually go over better.
In all fairness, I don’t know why a DD would care about that? she’ll be well aware she isn’t japanese, we don’t intend to enroll her into a japanese-only school, but rather an English speaking school with the UK curriculum she can also use in Japan, if she chooses to stay there.
I live in a foreign country - they can’t write my name here, or my last name, or pronounce it for that matter. I get a lot of ‘you’ and ‘us’ and it’s never bothered me in the slightest.
I think the previous poster was saying that your daughter might get some backlash from Japanese people for having a Japanese name when she has no Japanese heritage. Nobody’s suggesting that she will think she’s Japanese (?)
Why do you think this would not bother your daughter, especially if you’re already thinking she might stay there?
Well, it’s never bothered me. I occasionally get a back lash from being a foreigner, and tbh you just ignore it! Besides, there are other names used in Japan that are used else where - like [name]Noah[/name] which our youngest is called or [name]Mika[/name] which my brother is called.
Besides, if you see a persons full name: [name]Rin[/name] middlenamelast name I don’t think there would be any confusion that she isn’t Japanese.
I’m not sure people really put as much ‘into’ a name as perhabs people of name sites like these do. I don’t judge people from their names, nor do I know anyone who does, including Japanese people.
