American characters with Asian names.

[Saya Ikeda]

gonk
Gah!
Let's say that an Irish person has a German name; who really cares? This is the 21st century people, names DON'T stay in the countries anymore.
And plus, celebrities are naming their kids Apple and Jermajesty. What about keeping fruits and positions names the same?
Personally, I don't really care.
If an american decided to name their kid "Chocolate" or "Kiyoshi"; or an asian decided to name their kid "Kiwi" or "John" It doesn't matter.
The same with stories. They are stories, nothing more.

If you don't like the book, then quit reading it. If you don't like a person's name, quit talking to them. That simple.

ninja

[phantomkitsune]

I write primarily white American characters with fairly normal parents, so they all tend to have fairly WASP names. I have one character who was adopted from China, so she has both a Chinese name and an Anglicized version of that name, because her parents wanted her to have something pronounceable for school. The only characters I have who don't have normal, boring names are the ones in sci-fi (they're aliens, so they have lots of apostrophes) and one particular set of siblings whose mother is a crazy hippie artist.

I do this because random 'cool' names bother me. 'Raven Starfire' just as much as 'Akira Yamamoto' if there's not a reason for it. People aren't named so that it will perfectly fit their personalities and be the most symbolic thing ever. People are named by their parents. So I find it implausible that normal, middle-class parents (race excluded - being middle class in the US is a more powerful force than ethnicity except in rare cases) would name their children either of the things above. If the parents make it plausible, I don't have a problem with it.

*edited because of the person above me. Celebrities are all crazy, so their name choices don't count.

[DarknessofHeavenandDreams]

Next you'll be telling me my elf can't have an Arabic name because there's no Middle East in my fantasy world.

[reading_is_sexy]

Japanese names are fine even if the person isn't Japanese... but it just seems to be a current fad, which leads to mild/and or extreme annoyance with readers. You know, kind of like the Twilight thing. For the most part, people either love it or hate it... but lets not forget the indifferent middle group who is, well, indifferent.
Do what you will. Its up to the writer and if your story is good enough, the name really shouldn't matter.

[Sabner]

{Have fun with that...}

Names are names. You can name your characters anything you want, just as parents can give their children any names they want.

Names are all over the place today. The world has experienced cultural diffusion and names have become a part of it.

[Coute Coquette]

Names are names, but I will remind you to be respectful of the names origin.
My Mom and my Dad are both Ghanaian and Ashanti so I was given an Ashanti name.
(Kojo/Kwadwo) The names are given to you based off what day you are born. It something Special the Ashanti people have. I would mind if I saw someone with my same name that wasn't either African or Ashanti, It would urk me though if the said person was given the name and didn't know it's meaning. Especially if they weren't born on the day that matched their name. It would be like, wear Friday sucks on a Monday.

[Makihyu Hiashin]

Being Asian, it does annoy me to an extent; if there's a reason behind it, like if the parents just really loved the name, sure, why not? But if it's just there because the author is a ******** Japanophile/otaku, then for goodness sake, cut the name. It's just like those idiot guys who try to be manly by getting Chinese tattoos that they think means one manly thing but in reality means something completely different...

[pumpkinmilk]

xxxxxx/color]
Some parents do name their kids some pretty odd things though.
I know someone whose Mom would only consider names that fit a Supreme Court Justice.
She ended up being named Christine, her sister's name is Karen Elizabeth.

[code4destruction]

Sugary Tiger

How do you feel about it?

Personally, it annoys me unless the author has a reason for doing this. If it's just an, "Oh, well I like this name." and the characters happens to be like, African or something...It'd be weird to meet a black chick with the name "Akemi."
Like I said, if the author has a reason for naming their character this, then I don't mind.

What do you think of it?

I know what you mean, however, I've found that a lot of African names sound Japanese. The linguistics and prounuciations of some African words is the same as Japanese. I asked my friend Akikio about this and she agreed, so I know it's not just me. Besides, what is American anyway? Our language is a compilation of many languages. Abraham is Hebrew, as is Sarah which you can also find many Chinese with a similar name. I knew a Taiwanese girl named Fanny. Apparently it's popular overseas.

It's not what's in the name, but the meaning behind the name. If there is a meaning in Japanase that we can't get across in English, then by all means use the word. I very well wouldn't call my daughter Cherry Blossom...but the name Sakura sounds nice. Of course, many people also want to try to give their characters unique names, so they look outside their country's language for it. Japanese names just so happen to be popular now.

Personally, I think a black girl named Akemi would be pretty. It's better than Abigale which I have heard often. Or Susie. I suppose a black chick with a "white" name is also strange? Would it be better for you than if every black girl was named Ashanti (no reference to the singer, it's actually the name of a powerful African empire, possibly originating in Ghana)?

But like I said, I know what you mean. I see people are overdoing it a bit with the Japanese names. There a many beautiful languages out there that can express wonderful phrases, no need to stick to Japanese. It's lost its uniqueness. I'm pretty sure Saudi Arabian or Indian names will be popular next. Mhmmm....Shadi.

[code4destruction]

Coute que coute

Names are names, but I will remind you to be respectful of the names origin.
My Mom and my Dad are both Ghanaian and Ashanti so I was given an Ashanti name.
(Kojo/Kwadwo) The names are given to you based off what day you are born. It something Special the Ashanti people have. I would mind if I saw someone with my same name that wasn't either African or Ashanti, It would urk me though if the said person was given the name and didn't know it's meaning. Especially if they weren't born on the day that matched their name. It would be like wear Friday sucks on a Monday.

omg i so just read your post after writing mine o.O read mine! >.> you've already cleared some things up for me =3

[I_Write_Ivre]

There is a character in the Clone Wars cartoon named Shakti. While Lucasarts would LOVE for this to be original, it's not. It's indian. So is Padme.

[Ophiucha]

The only people I know with Asian names are Asians, so I presume...
NOWAIT. I do know one non-Asian who will have an Asian name.
A girl I used to know, a total weeaboo, got knocked up and wants to name her son Sora.
So... as a general rule, unless they nicknamed themselves (or others nickname them) something Asian, they probably won't have Asian names. I mean, there are some parents who choose 'exotic' names for their children, but given that they aren't the norm and that, should one of these rarities be your character, it would require an explanation every time they introduced themselves... it should either be avoided or played for laughs. Or they can be Asian-Americans - then it's fine.

[Vi Jade]

Surgeonfish

I'd like to read a story where a character's parents were so obsessed with anime that they gave him/her a Japanese name. . . even though he/she is very, very white.

It'd be funny to have them have to explain to people.

HAH! I'm not the only one. I love my best friend but she is very very white and wants to name her son Azrael....which is pretty but for a boy? Does she want him to get beat up?

[I_Write_Ivre]

Vi Jade

Surgeonfish

I'd like to read a story where a character's parents were so obsessed with anime that they gave him/her a Japanese name. . . even though he/she is very, very white.

It'd be funny to have them have to explain to people.

HAH! I'm not the only one. I love my best friend but she is very very white and wants to name her son Azrael....which is pretty but for a boy? Does she want him to get beat up?

Azrael: angel of death; 'whom God helps'

Also the name of a male character of mine

[code4destruction]

I_Write_Ivre

Vi Jade

Surgeonfish

I'd like to read a story where a character's parents were so obsessed with anime that they gave him/her a Japanese name. . . even though he/she is very, very white.

It'd be funny to have them have to explain to people.

HAH! I'm not the only one. I love my best friend but she is very very white and wants to name her son Azrael....which is pretty but for a boy? Does she want him to get beat up?

Azrael: angel of death; 'whom God helps'

Also the name of a male character of mine

thank you. Azrael is just as good a boy name as Micheal or Gabriel. I'd avoid using Uriel as a name though >.> Hell, even i'd pick on my kid if I named him that. I like the name Balthazar though >.> so perhaps I shouldn't name kids. Ptolemy is also a good one >.< I want to bring back the old philosopher names and not just in cats.

Ophiucha

The only people I know with Asian names are Asians, so I presume...
NOWAIT. I do know one non-Asian who will have an Asian name.
A girl I used to know, a total weeaboo, got knocked up and wants to name her son Sora.
So... as a general rule, unless they nicknamed themselves (or others nickname them) something Asian, they probably won't have Asian names. I mean, there are some parents who choose 'exotic' names for their children, but given that they aren't the norm and that, should one of these rarities be your character, it would require an explanation every time they introduced themselves... it should either be avoided or played for laughs. Or they can be Asian-Americans - then it's fine.

Well there are a lot of Asians with "american" names. Off the top of my head: John, Mark, Mike, David, Jeremy, Susie, Jennifer, Cherry...and these aren't just "Oh that's my English name my real name is..." These are their real names. But I've never thought it odd. Well one of my friends calls himself Anslem...>.> no not after Ansem (KH) either.

Naming a kid Sora...meh. That's one of those overused Japanese names I was talking about. It's fine and all because if she names him Sky she'll sound like a hippie. *cough* River Phoenix *cough*

In a strongly male dominated society, or household, one will find that the child will take the name of the father's origin. For example, my half thai/american friend has a 100% american name because it's his dad that is american. He looks hawaiian or somewhat asian. My half japanese/german friend has a 100% japanese name because his dad is japanese. He doesn't even look asian sometimes...mostly german with black hair and eyes. heck when i first saw him i thought he was white.