Danica Davidson
May 27, 2025 
In Oshi no Ko, Ai Hoshino gives her kids “kirakira” names — Aquamarine and Ruby. Kirakira can be translated as sparkly, shiny, or glittery, and these are unusual names that employ kanji in an irregular way. Kirakira names have been a thing since the 90s, and they’re controversial in Japan — and, in fact, the government is cracking down on names it considers especially weird.
Going forward, parents have to offer regional authorities the phonetic reading of their new baby’s name. They might be told to explain their reasoning for the name (in writing) and they might even be told to change the name or how it’s written. There are 3,000 kanji still acceptable as names, and Japanese media is framing this as a situation where only the most outrageous of the most outrageous names will be affected.
The Japanese government has stressed that it’s making this move to be less confusing. Because of how the Japanese language can be written, some of these more unusual names can be near impossible for others to figure out how to read them. This can lead to mix-ups in paperwork, in schools, and in hospitals. The government wants there to be “standard pronunciations” for kanji. There are also reports of kids being bullied in school for having unusual names, and this seems to have been put into consideration as well.
There is additionally some disapproval in Japanese society in naming your kids, let’s say, Pikachu, Diamond (pronounced as Daiya), Nike (pronounced as Naiki), Greece (pronounced as Girishia), or Turin (pronounced as Torino). There’s also been disapproval over naming kids Akuma (translated as “devil”) or Ojisama (translated as “prince”). All the aforementioned are kirakira names that exist on record in Japan.
The popularity of kirakira names also show that some parents find conventional name choices to be stifling, and they want to try something new and different. We’ll have to see what the future holds for kirakira names.
Source: The Guardian
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
