History UsefulNotes / NamesInJapanese

In most cases in RealLife, English-speakers saying Japanese names will put them into Western order. For example, the man called ''Tezuka Osamu'' in Japanese is known in English as Creator/OsamuTezuka. This is not as often applied to names in other languages; otherwise, the leaders of China, North Korea, and South Korea would be referred to as [[UsefulNotes/XiJinping Jinping Xi]], Jong-Un Kim, and Myung-Bak Lee in the Western media. Note that the names of historical figures who predated the Meiji Restoration are customarily ''not'' supposed to be switched around, hence why 16th century shōgun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu has the same order in Japanese, whereas WWII-era Prime Minister ''Tōjō Hideki'' becomes UsefulNotes/HidekiTojo.

In most cases in RealLife, English-speakers saying Japanese names will put them into Western order. For example, the man called ''Tezuka Osamu'' in Japanese is known in English as Creator/OsamuTezuka. This is not as often applied to names in other languages; otherwise, the leaders of China, North Korea, and South Korea would be referred to as [[UsefulNotes/XiJinping Jinping Xi]], Jong-Il Kim, and Myung-Bak Lee in the Western media. Note that the names of historical figures who predated the Meiji Restoration are customarily ''not'' supposed to be switched around, hence why 16th century shōgun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu has the same order in Japanese, whereas WWII-era Prime Minister ''Tōjō Hideki'' becomes UsefulNotes/HidekiTojo.

Reading given name kanji is a notoriously difficult affair (see the page image for AlternateCharacterReading). Unlike other words or phrases, there is really no set of rules concerning how to spell someone's given name, so parents are free to choose which kanji to name their children with and how to pronounce them. Most of the time, parents are sensible enough to use conventional on'yomi or kun'yomi readings, so people can guess them. Others, however, choose to pick a reading that is so distanced from expectation. There is a class of kanji readings called nanori, which is basically "whatever syllables the parents want to name their children with". This level of creativity only gets worse in modern times, where parents can name their children after puns, wordplays, or even foreign words "nativized" into Japanese (e.g. Light from ''Manga/DeathNote'', whose name is an English word, but is written with the kanji for "moon" (月). Contrary to all the squabbles within the fandom, this is completely acceptable in modern Japanese). As a result, even in formal situations, given names are always accorded furigana above/beside them.

Japanese given names are made up of either one, two (most common), or three [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseWritingSystem kanji]] and have up to four syllables. The last kanji usually gives out the gender of names quickly; names ending in ''-rō'' (郎, "boy"), ''-hiko'' (彦, "young man"), ''-maru'' (丸, "circle"), or ''-suke'' (介, "care"), for example, are masculine, while names ending in ''-ko'' (子 "child"), ''-mi'' (美, "beautiful"), or ''-na'' (菜, "greens") are feminine. There are numerous gender neutral names, however. Until UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, it was a common practice to write girls' names with the kana syllabaries. Modern times have seen resurgence of writing girls' names with hiragana, whose curly shapes have long been considered feminine or cute.

* While most characters in ''Manga/OnePiece'' have Western-sounding names, many of those have a surname-first order, starting with the protagonist: Luffy's surname is supposed to be Monkey (as in, "Luffy D. Monkey"), but apparently Eiichiro Oda forgot that most Western names are(n't) ordered in reverse, so we ended up with Monkey D. Luffy, son of Monkey D. Dragon, and grandson of Monkey D. Garp. Note that ''very'' few translations even try to put it in Western order; even Creator/4KidsEntertainment kept the surname first for most if not all names (likely because they're so prominent on all the [[WantedPoster Wanted posters]] throughout the series).

* While most characters in ''Manga/OnePiece'' have Western-sounding names, many of those have a surname-first order, starting with the protagonist: Luffy's surname is supposed to be Monkey (as in, "Luffy D. Monkey"), but apparently Eiichiro Oda forgot that most Western names are(n't) ordered in reverse, so we ended up with Monkey D. Luffy, son of Monkey D. Dragon, and grandson of Monkey D. Garp. Some translations attempted to rectify this, but it didn't stick.

In most cases in RealLife, English-speakers saying Japanese names will put them into Western order. For example, the man called ''Tezuka Osamu'' in Japanese is known in English as Creator/OsamuTezuka. This is not as often applied to names in other languages; otherwise, the leaders of China, North Korea, and South Korea would be referred to as Jintao Hu, Jong-Il Kim, and Myung-Bak Lee in the Western media. Note that the names of historical figures who predated the Meiji Restoration are customarily ''not'' supposed to be switched around, hence why 16th century shōgun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu has the same order in Japanese, whereas WWII-era Prime Minister ''Tōjō Hideki'' becomes UsefulNotes/HidekiTojo.

Japanese given names are made up of either one, two (most common), or three [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseWritingSystem kanji]] and have up to four syllables. The last kanji usually gives out the gender of names quickly; names ending in ''-rō'' (郎, "boy"), ''-hiko'' (彦, "young man"), ''-maru'' ((丸, "circle"), or ''-suke'' (介, "care"), for example, are masculine, while names ending in ''-ko'' (子 "child"), ''-mi'' (美, "beautiful"), or ''-na'' (菜, "greens") are feminine. There are numerous gender neutral names, however. Until UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, it was a common practice to write girls' names with the kana syllabaries. Modern times have seen resurgence of writing girls' names with hiragana, whose curly shapes have long been considered feminine or cute.

Japanese given names are made up of either one, two (most common), or three [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseWritingSystem kanji]] and have up to four syllables. The last kanji usually gives out the gender of names quickly; names ending in ''-rō'' (郎, "boy"), ''-hiko'' (彦, "young man"), or ''-suke'' (介, "care"), for example, are masculine, while names ending in ''-ko'' (子 "child"), ''-mi'' (美, "beautiful"), or ''-na'' (菜, "greens") are feminine. There are numerous gender neutral names, however. Until UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, it was a common practice to write girls' names with the kana syllabaries. Modern times have seen resurgence of writing girls' names with hiragana, whose curly shapes have long been considered feminine or cute.

* While most characters in ''Manga/OnePiece'' have Western-sounding names, many of those have a surname-first order, starting with the protagonist: Luffy's surname is supposed to be Monkey (as in, "Luffy D. Monkey"), but apparently Eiichiro Oda forgot that most Western names aren't ordered in reverse, so we ended up with Monkey D. Luffy, son of Monkey D. Dragon, and grandson of Monkey D. Garp. Some translations attempted to rectify this, but it didn't stick.

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' uses Western name order for Setsuna F. Seiei in spite of his mostly-Japanese MeaningfulName; then again, it's a codename and Setsuna is from {{Qurac}}, not Japan. Wang Liu Mei's name appears to be given in Eastern order.

Names in Japanese people consist of a given name and a family name. Middle name is something that never catches on in Japan and as a result is restricted to foreigners and their children, either full or mixed.

Japanese given names are made up of either one, two (most common), or three [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseWritingSystem kanji]] and have up to four syllables. The last kanji usually gives out the gender of names quickly; names ending in ''-rō'' (郎, "boy"), ''-hiko'' (彦, "young man"), or ''-suke'' (介, "care"), for example, are masculine, while names ending in ''-ko'' (子 "child"), ''-mi'' (美, "beautiful"), or ''-na'' (菜, "greens") are feminine. There are numerous gender neutral names, however. Until the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration, it was a common practice to write girls' names with the kana syllabaries. Modern times have seen resurgence of writing girls' names with hiragana, whose curly shapes have long been considered feminine or cute.

Among East Asian societies, Japanese family names are notably varied and numerous, with hundreds of thousands existing even to this day. This is because family names in Japan is a relatively recent phenomenon. Until the Meiji Restoration, the only people who have family names were those born into the aristocratic or {{Samurai}} clans. Among the Westernization efforts of the government when they opened up the country was the mandatory adoption of family names for everyone except for the royal family, which is why they are the only people in the country outside of foreigners to have OnlyOneName.[[note]]Women who marry into the royalty lose their family names; conversely, royal women who marry commoners gain them. [[DoubleStandard Men are not subject to this]], because royal men cannot become commoners and vice versa.[[/note]]

* The American versions of ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' games gives names in Western order (so, Nobunaga Oda and Yukimura Sanada). This is retained in the ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'' crossover despite the (Chinese) ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' characters having their surnames first.

Names in the UsefulNotes/JapaneseLanguage have the family name first, followed by the given name. This is the so-called "eastern" name order, not restricted to Japan, but common to East Asia as a whole, and, for historical reasons, {{UsefulNotes/Hungary}}.

In English, addressing someone by their family name is formal and can sound stilted if you're speaking to, for example, a classmate or co-worker. In Japanese, however, it's common to address acquaintances by their family name, and use of the given name is limited to when you're speaking to a child or someone you're very close with; it's overly familiar and therefore rude to address someone by their given name if you don't have a close relationship with them.

In most cases in RealLife, English-speakers saying Japanese names will put them into Western order. For example, the man called ''Tezuka Osamu'' in Japanese is known in English as Creator/OsamuTezuka. This is not as often applied to names in other languages; otherwise, the leaders of China, North Korea, and South Korea would be referred to as Jintao Hu, Jong-Il Kim, and Myung-Bak Lee in the Western media.

Names in the JapaneseLanguage have the family name first, followed by the given name. This is the so-called "eastern" name order, not restricted to Japan, but common to East Asia as a whole, and, for historical reasons, {{UsefulNotes/Hungary}}.

* Kallen from ''Anime/''CodeGeass has a Britannian father and a Japanese mother, therefore two names: Kallen Stadfeld with western and Kouzuki Kallen with eastern name order. Which name she uses in a given situation indicates which persona she's using as well.

* The ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise, for example, features casts of characters with Western-sounding (or, in some cases, completely bizarre) names. These seem to be mostly given in Western order (for example, Kamille Bidan's parents are Franklin and Hilda Bidan), but occasional oddities crop up, such as nearly everyone being on FirstNameBasis even in a military setting, which results in Char Aznable (named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Aznavour Charles Aznavour]]) being referred to as "Captain Char." This is like saying "President Barack" instead of "President Obama". Or, for RuleOfFunny, like saying "[[BadDudes President Ronnie]]" instead of "President Reagan".

* Most names in ''TowardTheTerra'' are given in Western order, except for those of the Seki family; Seki Ray Shiroe's family name is Seki (his father is addressed as "Mr. Seki") and his given name is Shiroe.

* Kallen from CodeGeass has a Britannian father and a Japanese mother, therefore two names: Kallen Stadfeld with western and Kouzuki Kallen with eastern name order. Which name she uses in a given situation indicates which persona she's using as well.
* Oddly enough, Viz's translations of the ''{{Naruto}}'' and ''RurouniKenshin'' manga use the Japanese style "family name first" format, while their English dubs of their respective anime use the reversed Western style. Two exceptions to this in ''{{Naruto}}'' are [[BruceLeeClone Rock Lee and Might Guy]], who retain their Japanese name orders to also keep the puns in their names.
* In ''FushigiYuugi'', people's names in the real world are in Western order. The characters inside the book, however, use the Japanese order.

<<|AnimeTropes|>>

<<|LanguageTropes|>>

In most cases in RealLife, English-speakers saying Japanese names will put them into Western order. For example, the man called ''Tezuka Osamu'' in Japanese is known in English as OsamuTezuka. This is not as often applied to names in other languages; otherwise, the leaders of China, North Korea, and South Korea would be referred to as Jintao Hu, Jong-Il Kim, and Myung-Bak Lee in the Western media.

* The ''MobileSuitGundam'' franchise, for example, features casts of characters with Western-sounding (or, in some cases, completely bizarre) names. These seem to be mostly given in Western order (for example, Kamille Bidan's parents are Franklin and Hilda Bidan), but occasional oddities crop up, such as nearly everyone being on FirstNameBasis even in a military setting, which results in Char Aznable (named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Aznavour Charles Aznavour]]) being referred to as "Captain Char." This is like saying "President Barack" instead of "President Obama". Or, for RuleOfFunny, like saying "[[BadDudes President Ronnie]]" instead of "President Reagan".
** ''{{Gundam 00}}'' uses Western name order for Setsuna F. Seiei in spite of his mostly-Japanese MeaningfulName; then again, it's a codename and Setsuna is from {{Qurac}}, not Japan. Wang Liu Mei's name appears to be given in Eastern order.

* The American version ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' series gives names in Western order (so, Nobunaga Oda and Yukimura Sanada). This is retained in the ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'' crossover despite the (Chinese) ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' characters having their surnames first.

* Most names in ''TowardTheTerra'' are given in Western order, except for those of the Seki family; Seki Ray Shiroe's family name is Seki (his father is addressed as "Mr. Seki") and his given name is Shiroe.

** ''{{Gundam 00}}'' uses Western name order for Setsuna F. Seiei in spite of his mostly-Japanese MeaningfulName; then again, Setsuna is from {{Qurac}}, not Japan. Wang Liu Mei's name appears to be given in Eastern order.

* Seras Victoria from ''{{Hellsing}}'' is an example where a foreign name is put into Japanese order.
** As is Cosette Sara from ''ExcelSaga''.

* Oddly enough, Viz's translations of the ''{{Naruto}}'' and ''{{Bleach}}'' manga use the Japanese style "family name first" format, while their English dubs of their respective anime use the reversed Western style. Two exceptions to this in ''{{Naruto}}'' are [[BruceLeeClone Rock Lee and Might Guy]], who retain their Japanese name orders to also keep the puns in their names.

When speaking to someone, the family name is used except in very informal situations or when speaking to a child. This is because using someone's given name is considered a sign of familiarity (except among children i think). So using a person's family name is similar in effect to using 'Sir' or 'Ma'am' for someone you don't know in the west. (''Could still use expansion but this should help. Also correction if wrong.'')

In RealLife, when talking about Japanese people in English, the name is generally put into "western" order. That is, the given name is put first. For example, the man called ''Tezuka Osamu'' in Japanese is known in English as OsamuTezuka. For whatever reason, this does not seem to apply to other Eastern countries using this name order (otherwise, the leaders of China, North Korea, and South Korea would be referred to as Jintao Hu, Jong-Il Kim, and Myung-Bak Lee in the Western media).

Depending on TranslationStyleChoices, translations of {{Anime}} into English may or may not do this. It is possible to find both straight and reversed forms of the same character names being used by different people on the Internet.

Things also get interesting when English or other non-Japanese names appear in Anime. How this is handled appears to vary from one series to another.

** ''{{Gundam 00}}'' uses Western name order for Setsuna F. Seiei in spite of his mostly-Japanese MeaningfulName; then again, Setsuna is from Qurac and isn't actually Japanese. Wang Liu Mei's name appears to be given in Eastern order.

* MobileSuitGundam, ZetaGundam, etc. feature a number of characters with western-sounding names. Most of the time, only the first name is used. The only time their second name is stated is when the entire name is used. (Which pretty applies to everyone in the series)
** When you think about it, referring to Char Aznable (named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Aznavour Charles Aznavour]]) as "Captain Char" is like saying "President Barack" instead of "President Obama". Or, for RuleOfFunny, like saying "[[BadDudes President Ronnie]]" instead of "President Reagan".
** Even more so when it's made clear that the second name is what is passed down in families. For instance, Kamille Bidan's parents are named Franklin Bidan and Hilda Bidan.

* Kallen from CodeGeass may be worth mentioning here in hopes that some WikiMagic will flesh it out.
** Tada, WikiMagic to the rescue. Kallen has a Britannian father and a Japanese mother, therefore two names: the Kallen Stadfeld with western and Kouzuki Kallen with eastern name order. Of course, the current name signifies the current identity as well.