Hi!

So, in Japan there are names called "Kirakira" names.

Sparkly names.

Yeah, kirakira means sparkly, or shiny, and those names

are very, very unique and- -"Unique"

Yeah, no one actually uses these names to name their own child

and often time it's very hard to read or many of them are impossible to read.

What do you mean, no one actually uses them? Some people do use them, right?

I mean, some, a few, maybe one or two people.

Jun is too polite so say it, but these are bad Japanese baby names.

Yeah, I admit it, they're really bad so...

Have you ever, you know those lists we have in America of the worst baby names

and you're like, "How, how did someone name their child this?"

Well, that is not unique to Western culture.

They do that here in Japan as well.

So today, we're going to give you some examples of those really bad Japanese names a.k.a. Kirakira names.

So the thing about Japanese names is that they have a kanji and then, of course, a reading.

Many kanji have several readings but the thing about kirakira names is

the readings that they're given aren't

necessarily real readings of that kanji, so Japanese

people have no idea how to pronounce these names,

and in fact it's impossible for Japanese people to guess how these names are pronounced base on the kanji.

So, for example:

So, the top kanji means "Light" and the second kanji means "Universe" or "Space"

and this person's name is:

"Pikachu"

R: Wait, wait, really? -Yeah, it's Pikachu.

R: That's how you pronounce it? -Yeah.

Nooo, that poor kid! -I know right?

I'm so sorry, Pikachu. No! Oh my god, can you imagine that kid in school?

"Pikachu-kun!"

That's so bad.

I mean, like, imagine when you are like 20, or 30, or 40, and then you're boss' name is Pikachu.

This one is not really, like, kirakira name. Um, the reading is literally "Tai Ma".

That's how we read this kanji

but this kanji with this word literally means "Marijuana".

R: Wait, really? -Yeah.

It's a name for a boy.

R: Oh, no! -I don't know what the parents were thinking!

"Hey little Marijuana! Come eat your vegetables!"

You seem pretty high today!

Up next on the baby name list!

When I saw these two names, I literally had no idea how to read them.

So apparently, this one is "Jibanyan" from the popular anime for kids, and this one,

R: Yo-Kai Watch -Yeah, Yo-Kai Watch, right. And this one is

"Mewtwo", from Pokemon again.

Nooo! Why are parents doing this to their kids?!

How can you do that?!

I mean, I couldn't believe that these names actually exist.

Wait, this is pronounced "Mewtwo"?

Apparently so, yeah.

You can't even write "two".

I don't-No. -Like, with katakana maybe, but..

I think cause this means "number 2" -Ah, number 2.

In English. -Yeah.

So maybe that's how they make it read. I don't know.

They said these exist so I think they actually do exist. -This is no longer funny to me.

All right, Jun, what's next?

"Hamtaro" -Ok, I'm done. I'm done. I'm done.

So, it's a name from the... was it anime, I guess?

The animation. The hamster animation for kids. Hamtaro.

But when I was in school I had a friend whose name was "Kotaro". Kotaro-kun.

It's a boy. And this part looks really similar to katakana "Ham",

so I just started calling him Hamtaro and he kind of went "Funny, funny".

So, his nickname was Hamtaro.

Yeah but, ok, that's a cute nickname for a friend,

like from one friend to another friend,

but then you don't name your child Hamtaro!

Yeah, that's insane.

And next!

This kanji, this word, literally means "Main Character".

Um, "Shujinko", but his name is "Hero".

What? -Yeah, Hero.

R: Nooo. Can you read this kanji like that? Hero. -Impossible

There is a word for hero, which is "Eiyuu", but they don't even use that kanji to make it read like hero.

They just named their son Main Character like the hero.

But you can't read it like that even. -Isn't he going to grow up to be super Chuunibyou or something?

I mean, I think the kid's going to be really realistic and hate their parents so bad and become probably really smart and, like...

Can you change your name in Japan?

Um, so, in the Meiji period, like a long time ago, they made two rules which are:

You can have only one name, and you cannot change your name.

But later they edited the rule, and if you bring it to a Family Court then you can change your name.

Ok. -Somehow

But, if you are under 15 years old then you have to bring it

to a Family Court with a legal representative, which normally are your parents

and if your parents are lacking in common sense like these [with names], they probably wouldn't let you

change your name, so you have to wait until you are turning 15 years old.

So Pikachu-san doesn't have to be Pikachu-san forever. -Yeah

By the way, what's your favourite name that maybe you want to use for your kid if you have one in the future?

I really like old Japanese masculine names. -Uh-huh

I don't know why but they sound like really, really cool.

Uh-huh. -My favourite Japanese boy name is "Isamu"

Ahh, right-right-right, it was Isamu, wasn't it?

Yeah, like the name was Isamu and the kanji means "courage", which is really cool.

Or "brave" -Or 'brave", yeah. Yeah, Isamu.

Yeah, and it's like, it's a normal Japanese name. It's not kirakira.

Yeah, not at all. It's very traditional.

Yeah, it's very old. Does it sound old to Japanese people? Like does it sound bad?

No. No, I don't think it sounds bad, at all. -Ok, really? Mm-hm.

Are there like old Japanese names that sound bad?

Because a lot of really old names in America are like that,

so if you have kid, for example, you probably aren't going to name your child, like, Barbara anymore.

I mean, like, we can also tell that if your name sounds kinda old

because that's what they used to use back then, -Uh-huh

but like, they don't necessarily have to have a bad meaning or connotation, so... -Uh-huh

So it doesn't sound bad. -It sounds old.

Yeah. -They sound old, but personally I don't think it's a problem. Yeah. -Yeah

Ok, so I'm also going to go over some Western names to make this fair

so you guys can see what kind of names we also have. -I am very excited and I'm very sad at the same time.

I was able to find a list.

Like an actual list of the new baby names in 2015 in England and Wales.

So this isn't America but this one I was actually able to find a list -England? Ok.

where they wrote down I think every single new name

as long as at least 3 babies were named in that year, so...

In 2015, in England and Wales, there are...

There are three boys named:

"C".

C? -The letter C.

Four boys named the letter "T"

Four boys named the letter "J"

And there were eleven boys named the letter "A"

This is, you can't name a child a single letter. Do you understand how hard it is going to be for them to fill up online forms?

That's going to be so confusing. For that child's future. -Ahh.

2015 in England and Wales there were nine boys named "Nimrod",

a which is a biblical character,

and that's cool and all, if it weren't for the fact that

Nimrod became slang for "Idiot" in North America.

そう なの? (Is that so?) -Yeah.

But that's like common sense, people know that?

In North America, yeah. This is... It's kind of an older slang. -Uh-huh.

I don't think many people these days still use nimrod to make fun of someone

but if you hear the word "nimrod" you think "slang for idiot."

That's what they think.

That's what you call, yeah, and I feel like if you want to reclaim

the biblical name Nimrod, that's cool, but maybe rename

yourself Nimrod. Don't subject your child to like twelve years of schooling being named Nimrod.

That poor child!

At least this is in England, right? -Oh my gosh!

Yeah. -Not in America.

Yeah, I mean what if they move to America? -Well, I mean,

And I don't know, maybe some British people also know the slang of it being stupid.

Is this common slang in the UK? -In the UK?

Do you guys recognize this as slang for idiot, or is this just North America?

This is jumping now to just random lists of names I found,

so maybe these are in America, I'm not really sure,

but apparently, a new-ish name they're naming baby girls these days is:

Phelony!

Felony, which is the worst type of crime you can be charged with in America.

With the letter F? Felony? -Yes, with the letter F.

I mean, it sounds pretty as a word by itself,

but you have to understand the connotations of, like, the actual words

that are pronounced the same way.

Like there's not just this but another name that I've been seeing

for years and years and years in America on these lists is the name Chlamydia.

which sounds like a pretty girl name

but it's the name of a sexually transmitted disease. -Ughh!

So, so I feel really bad for any Chlamydias.

Apparently in America there are now over, or as of a couple years ago, there are over 300 children named:

"Abcde". The first 5 letter of the alphabet, pronounced "Ob-siddy",

which I mean, if you want to create a name that's cool,

but maybe don't, like, give your child a novelty name

and just write down the first five letters of the alphabet. That's weird!

That would be like naming your child in Japanese "a-i-u-e-o". -Yeah, that's horrible.

I feel like with names, names are supposed to be unique because

that's how you differentiate yourself from everyone else,

so I have no problem with people creating new names.

I think that's cool to have like, unique new names.

A lot of people these days they make fun of newer names

like, Nevaeh. I'm not sure how to pronounce it.

Heaven spelled backwards. Like that's a common name these days.

I don't have any problems with that because... -I think it's cool.

All of our names didn't exist at one point.

They all had to be created at some point,

so I don't think there's anything wrong with creating new names.

I just think you shouldn't name your child something that they're going to be made fun of for, -Yeah.

or something that's like, a joke.

Like that's just kind of cruel to your child.

So, apparently this is just a world wide thing.

This is not unique to America and England and Australia and Canada.

Japan also has it.

Anyway, thank you guys for watching!

Thank you for your request too!

See ya later!

Bye! -Bye!