Essays

Notes on names

Etymology, kanji, and the stories behind names — from anime casts to the meanings parents reach for.

Names by Meaning

Anime Character Names

ナルト Naruto A four-layered spiral 鬼滅の刃 Demon Slayer Fire, family, a hearth 呪術廻戦 Jujutsu Kaisen A two-faced god チェンソーマン Chainsaw Man Deliberately plain アニメ少女の名前 Anime Girl Names Sakura, Hinata, Mikasa

Guides

Kanji tattoos: a foreigner's guide to what you're actually inking

Ariana Grande got a Japanese BBQ grill tattooed on her palm. Most kanji tattoo mistakes are quieter than that, but they happen for the same reason. Here's how to avoid them.

Why translating your name to Japanese isn't simple

Phonetic ambiguity, hyphens, accents, and the same-kanji-different-reading problem. The five places every name converter quietly fails.

How Japanese names actually work

A journalist's guide to the three scripts, the parents' negotiation, and why kanji-naming is more like designing an object than picking a word.