Adakichi
Adakichi (resenting good luck, 仇吉) appeared as a geisha character in a popular and much-adapted 1830’s novel, Shunshoku Umegoyomi. I don’t know whether the name predated the novel, but in later years, there were real Adakichis in the floating world. The 1890’s geisha Adakichi wrote her name partially in hiragana, Ada + luck, thereby removing the meaning of “resentful, enemy, opponent” from the original name.
1830’s
1890's
Ai
Written in hiragana: あい. Probably intended to mean love (愛).
1810’s
Aichiyo
Love + eternal (愛千代)
1920's
Aihachi
Beloved + eight (愛八), with the connotation of being increasingly loved or increasingly loving.
1890's
Aika
Loving/beloved and beautiful (愛佳)
1910’s
Aikichi
“Blessed love (愛吉),” according to Hearn. Written with characters meaning “love” and “good luck.”
1870’s
Hearn
Aiko
Loving child (愛子)
1890's
1910's
Aimatsu
Girl whose love is as steadfast as the pine (愛松)
1910's
Aitarō
Loving firstborn son (愛太郎)
1910’s
Akiko
1930's: Autumn child (秋子)
1960's: One who is as clear and sparkling as a crystal (晶子)
1930’s
1960’s?
Ariko
The original name is illegible.
1890's
Asa
“Happy dawn,” according to Hearn. Probably written with the kanji for morning, 朝.
1870’s
Hearn
Asakichi
“Joyous sunrise,” according to Hearn. Probably written with the kanji for morning and luck, 朝吉.
1870's
Asao
Shallows of a river + -o [female name ending] (浅尾)
1810’s
Ayakazu
Splendidly colorful ruler (絢佳司)
2000's
Ayako
Asian arrow child (亜矢子)
2010's
Ayako
Child of patterned cloth (綾子). Pronounced rinzu, the same combination of characters means “figured satin.” The name refers to the gorgeously figured clothes of a geisha.
1910’s
Ayano
Aya + field [female name ending] (あや野)
2000's
Azuma
Possibly “spring (春),” “east (東),” or “thunder (雷),” among many possible readings.
1890's
Baichō
Plum-blossom butterfly (梅蝶). 梅 is an exceedingly rare character for plum-blossom, and B is an exceedingly rare sound for the start of a female name—voiced consonants like B, D, and G are considered less refined than unvoiced consonants like P, T, and K. Overall, an unusual and memorable geimei.
1910’s
Baishō
Ascending plum-blossom (梅昇)
1910’s
Botan
Peony, known as the “king of the flowers,” symbol of nobility and feminine beauty. Written in hiragana: ぼたん
1910’s
Charyōei
Tea + good + excellence (茶良榮). This is the only instance of the “tea” element I’ve seen in geimyō. “Charyō” may be intended as a hom*onym for 茶寮, the room where tea ceremonies are held.
1910’s
Chieko
1930's: One whose glory is thousandfold (千榮子)
1970's: One whose blessings are thousandfold (千恵子)
1930’s
1970’s?
Chikaf*cku
Thousandfold blessings and good fortune (千賀福)
1970’s?
Chikafumi
Beautiful lotus who has been blessed a thousandfold (千賀芙美)
2000's
Chikano
Thousandfold elegance + no [female name ending] (千雅乃)
1940’s
Chikashizu
Thousandfold blessings and tranquility (千賀静)
2000's
Chikayoshi
Thousandfold congratulations and beauty (千賀美)
2000's
Chikayū
Thousand congratulations lily (千賀勇)
1930’s
Chikayuki
Thousandfold congratulations and blessings (千賀幸)
2000's
Chisako
Thousand-gossamer child (千紗子)
2000's
Chiyo
Possibly “eternal (千代)”
1940’s?
Chiyoe
Eternal blessings (千代恵)
2000's
Chiyoha
Eternal leaf (千代葉)
1900’s
1910’s
Chiyokichi
Eternally fortunate (千代吉)
1910’s
Chiyoko
1910's and 1960's: Eternal child (千代子)
2010's: One with a surplus of wisdom (知余子)
1910’s
1960's
2010’s
Chiyoryō
Eternal dragon (千代龍)
1920’s
Chiyoteru
Eternal light (千代照)
1920’s
Chiyotsuru
Eternal (literally, a thousand years) crane (千代鶴). Lafcadio Hearn glosses the name as "Life as the stork's for a thousand years."
1870’s
Hearn
Chiyowaka
Possibly “eternally young (千代若)”
1920’s
Chiyoyakko
Eternal maidservant (千代奴)
1910’s
Chizu
A thousand cranes (千鶴), a common girl's name.
2000's
Chizuha
Leaf of a thousand cranes (千鶴葉)
1960’s
Chizuru
The modern geisha Chizuru writes her name in hiragana: ちづる. Chizuru is traditionally spelled 千鶴, “a thousand cranes.”
2000's?
Chō
Butterfly (蝶)
1910’s
Chōchō
Butterfly (蝶々)
1910’s
Dan
Written in hiragana: だん
1920’s
Dan’ei
Dan + splendid (だん榮)
1950’s?
Danji
Dan + reign, be at peace (だん治)
1930’s
Danko, Dango
1910’s: Sociable child (團子)
1920’s: Dan + child (だん子)
1910’s
1920’s
Edagiku
Branch of chrysanthemums (枝きく)
1810’s
Eiji
1810's: Splendid peace (栄治)
1910's: Splendid second one (榮次)
1810’s
1910's
Emi
Splendid + mi (榮み).
1910’s
Emichō
1913: Splendid, beautiful butterfly (榮美蝶)
1918: Smiling butterfly (笑蝶)
1910’s
Emigiku
Laughing chrysanthemum (笑菊)
1910’s
Emiyo
Laughing generation (笑代)
1910’s
Emon
1730’s
Enko
Circle child (圓子)
1910’s
Entarō
Circle + eldest son (圓太郎)
1910’s
Eriko
1890's
Fuji
Written in hiragana: ふじ Possibly refers to the wisteria 藤, a symbol of filial piety because the flowers bloom close to the stem.
1910’s
Fujie
Splendid wisteria (藤榮)
1910’s
Fujigiku
Wisteria and chrysanthemum (藤菊)
1910’s
Fujiha
Wisteria leaf (藤葉)
1910’s
f*ckichiyo
Riches and honors eternally (富貴千代)
1910’s
f*ckiha
Riches and honors + leaf (富貴葉)
1910’s
f*ckimi
Increasingly great riches and honors (富貴彌)
1910’s
f*ckiyo
Generation of riches and honors (富貴代)
1910’s
f*ckizō
Riches and honors + third son (富貴三)
1910’s
f*cku
1790's, 1910's: f*cku (ふく). Good fortune (福), a common girl's name.
1980's?: ふ久
1790’s
1910’s
1980's?
Eishi
1913 Miyako Odori
Shinbashikumiai
f*ckuai
f*cku + love (ふく愛). Possibly intended as a reference to fortunate love (福愛)
2000's
f*ckuaya
f*cku + brilliant color (ふく彩)
2000’s
f*ckuchiyo
Eternal good fortune (福千代)
1910’s
f*ckuchō
1910’s: Fortunate butterfly (福蝶)
2000’s, 2010’s: f*cku + omen, portent (ふく兆). Probably intended to mean “omen of good fortune (福兆).”
1910’s
2000's
2010’s
f*ckudama
Possibly “fortunate jewel (福玉)”
1910’s
f*ckuha
f*cku + leaf (ふく葉). Possibly intended to mean “fortunate leaf (福葉).”
2000's?
f*ckuhana
f*cku + blossom (ふく花). Possibly intended to mean “fortunate blossom (福花).”
2000's
f*ckuharu
Abundantly wealthy and long-lasting springtime (富久春)
2010's
f*ckuhina
f*cku + adorable little thing [lit. doll] (ふく雛). Possibly intended to mean “fortunate little adorable one (福雛).”
2000's
f*ckuhiro
f*cku + large (ふく紘). Possibly intended to mean “fortunate + large (富紘).” 紘 may refer to largeness in the sense of broad expanses, so it almost certainly refers to a mental or spiritual characteristic rather than physical size.
2000's
f*ckumi
f*cku + beauty (ふく美)
2000's
2010's
f*ckumusume
Daughter of luck (福娘)
1910’s
f*ckunae
f*cku + seedling (ふく苗). Possibly intended to mean “fortunate seedling (福苗).”
2010's
f*ckusato
f*cku + village (ふく里)
2000's
f*ckusuke
Doubly helpful (副助)
1890's
1930’s
f*ckusuzu
f*cku + bell (ふく鈴)
2000's
f*ckuteru
f*cku + sunshine/light (ふく光)
2000's
f*ckuya
1920’s: Flourishing good fortune (福彌)
2000’s: f*cku + exclamation (ふく哉). Ya (哉) is difficult to translate—on its own, pronounced kana, it’s an exclamation of surprise or sorrow, but it appears in other words as a sound of exclamation or wondering. My best guess is that it was imported back when Japanese scholars were assigning kanji to every single word or syllable, Chinese-style, so just like modern Chinese has characters for the “Ha!” of laughter, ya or kana got a now-obsolete kanji. If you assume f*cku is intended to stand for 福, f*ckuya means something like “exclamation at one’s good fortune.”
1920’s
2000's
f*ckuyo
Fortunate generation (福代)
1910’s
f*ckuyoshi
f*cku + good, excellent (ふく好)
2000's
f*ckuyū
Possessing abundance for a long time (冨久有)
2000's
Fumi
1930's: Fortunate beauty (富美)
2000's?: Written in hiragana: ふみ. A traditional name meaning "feminine literary composition."
1930’s
2000's?
Fumichiyo
Abundantly beautiful for eternity (富美千代)
1940’s
1966 Miyako Odori
Iwasaki
Fumichō
Abundantly beautiful butterfly (富美蝶)
2000’s?
Fumihana
Abundantly beautiful and excellent (富美英)
2000's
Fumiko
1910’s: Probably “feminine literary composition + child (章子)”
1960’s: Two-three child (二三子)
1910’s
1960’s
Fumino
1960's: Husband + beautiful + no [name ending] (夫美之)
2010's: Feminine literary composition + field [name ending] (章乃). The effect is probably similar to naming a girl Sonnet.
1960's
2010's
Fumukazu
The feminine literary composition of a beautiful/excellent official (章佳司)
2000's?
Fusakichi
Probably “fortunate tassel (房吉)”
1870's
Fusako
Tassel child (房子)
1910’s
Fusao
Written in hiragana: ふさを
1810’s
