Japanese for “plum blossom”.
I’m due in February, which is plum blossom time, and they’re my favorite flower. My husband and I are able to agree on the nickname [name]Mei[/name] and we’re looking for names that could get us there.
WDYT? Too hard for American mouths?
It’s pronounced oo-may-koh.
(well, strictly speaking, more like oo-meh-koh, but realistically that e will be pronounced like a long A by 99% of Westerners)
Hmmmmm.
I love the sound of it and the meaning.
I do think people will get it quickly enough when told. It’s simple, and not so counter-intuitive.
I don’t think most people will guess it right from the first try.
You’ll get a lot of “You” at the beginning instead of “Oo”, and a lot of “Me” for “may/meh”, as you know.
I would go with [name]Umeko[/name] if you do it. [name]Ume[/name] just seems like it would have more prn problems.
You’re considering Suzume in another thread for a middle? What about that as an allusion to plums? I think I read that it means sparrow, but ume is right in there, kind of cool.
Good luck!
I like both but maybe [name]Umeko[/name] better. Not sure. [name]Love[/name] the meaning.
Well if your using the nickname [name]Mei[/name], then there really isn’t an issue with [name]Ume[/name] or [name]Umeko[/name] since everyone will know her as [name]Mei[/name]…
I would go with [name]Umeko[/name] just because it sounds like a full name while [name]Ume[/name] sounds like a nickname.
okay, thanks for the feedback!
I think I like Suzume because I’ve always loved [name]Ume[/name]–long family history; my grandmother’s grandfather was a samurai, and used to invite people to his plum orchard during the blossom season, and people would sit around and write haiku.
No matter what, I’m going with [name]Mei[/name] as a nn, and I’m really glad to have bounced all these names off everyone, as it’s more clearly defined in my own mind what I want to do. 
These fora sure are handy!
I think [name]Umeko[/name] is gorgeous!
Would Umeboshi be weird? [name]Just[/name] curious.
Umeboshi are pickled plums. That would take the name from being a nostalgic, feminine Japanese favorite to…um…something that isn’t. (my clever just broke)
Really, really, really SOUR pickled plums. And salty. They’ll turn your face inside out.
You have such great options : D.
Is Suzumeko plausible? I like Suzume just fine on its own and Suzumeko is getting mouth-full-ish, but I do think it would get the E more consistently pronounced (even if wrongly), whereas with Suzume I see the occasional [name]Sue[/name]-zoom (not that it will get prn’d much in the middle if it’s there anyway).
[name]Just[/name] curious. -ko is like “child” in meaning, right? Can it go on any name or only shorter (like, 2 syllables) ones?
Is there a reason why you’re just not using [name]Mei[/name] as a first name? Out of the two options, I prefer [name]Umeko[/name].
jesba, thanks so much.
[name]Pansy[/name], GREAT QUESTION, and one I’ve asked myself. So far my reason has been that this baby has 6 other siblings, who all have names that are 2-3 syllables and 6-8 letters.
The closest sib in age to this baby is my 13mo [name]Cora[/name] [name]Dove[/name]. That is, [name]Cora[/name] [name]Dove[/name] is her full first name. Her middle names are [name]Columbia[/name] [name]Megumi[/name].
it just seems like it’d be a little…asymmetrical to have [name]William[/name], [name]Bronwen[/name], Hilani, [name]Sakura[/name], Musashi, [name]Cora[/name] [name]Dove[/name] and then [name]Mei[/name].
Elsewhere I’ve considered [name]Marigold[/name] as a fn, and a way to get to [name]Mei[/name]. I’ve also considered [name]Naomi[/name], since it’s got a Japanese meaning.
But I just recalled how much I’ve always loved plum blossoms and thought, aha, U ME ko, handy…
I like [name]Umeko[/name] most of your choices. [name]Love[/name] [name]Mei[/name] though!
[name]Umeko[/name] and [name]Sakura[/name] are a couple of my favorite Japanese names.
So, I prefer [name]Umeko[/name]…so adorable.
I like [name]Umeko[/name], super cute! I love Japanese names