蒼空 優奈 Michael 心愛William Mia 心咲 悠人

Liam 大輝 心春 美結Mason 凜 Olivia Madison

颯太 龍生 Alexander 美桜Sophia Ethan 結愛 翔太

大翔 Abigail 大和 蓮Jayden Emily Elizabeth 衣

Emma Noah 芽依 ひなたJacob 陽菜 Isabella Ava

Aiden 湊 結菜

Changing naming practices in Japan and the United States: Similar values, differing social

impacts?Giancarla Unser-Schutz

Rissho Universitygiancarlaunserschutz@ris.ac.jp

The International Association for Japan StudiesDecember 12, 2015

Changes in names in Japan and the US

• Both Japan and the US undergoing major changes in naming practices• Increased turn-over in top-ranking names• Increased diversification in names given

• Similarities in changes may speak to shared characteristics and values of contemporary society•However . . .

Differences in motivations/distributions of change Differing impact and social meaning

US Top-Ranked Male NamesRank 1912 1945 1978 2012

1 John James Michael Jacob2 William Robert Jason Mason3 James John Christopher Ethan4 Robert William David Noah5 Joseph Richard James William6 George David Matthew Liam7 Charles Charles John Michael8 Edward Thomas Robert Jayden9 Frank Michael Brian Alexander

10 Thomas Ronald Joseph Aiden

Data from Social Security Popular Names: https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi

Colored cells = repeats

US Top-Ranked Female NamesRank 1912 1945 1978 2012

1 Mary Mary Jennifer Sophia2 Helen Linda Melissa Emma3 Dorothy Barbara Jessica Isabella4 Margaret Patricia Amy Olivia5 Ruth Carol Heather Ava6 Mildred Sandra Amanda Emily7 Anna Nancy Angela Abigail8 Elizabeth Sharon Sarah Mia9 Frances Judith Michelle Madison

10 Marie Susan Nicole ElizabethData from Social Security Popular Names: https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi

Colored cells = repeats

Japanese Top-Ranked Male NamesRank 1912 1945 1978 2012

1 正一 勝 誠 蓮2 清 勇 大輔 颯太3 正雄 進 直樹 大翔4 正 清 剛 大和5 茂 勝利 亮 翔太6 武雄 博 大介 湊7 正治 勲 聡 悠人8 三郎 弘 健 大輝9 正夫 稔 健一 蒼空

10 一郎 修 学 龍生Data from Meiji Yasuda Seimei Umare Nenbetsu Besuto 10: http://www.meijiyasuda.co.jp/enjoy/ranking/year_men/boy.html

Green = similar pattern; yellow = repeats;

orange = numbers

Japanese Top-Ranked Female NamesRank 1912 1945 1978 2012

1 千代 和子 陽子 結衣2 ハル 幸子 久美子 陽菜3 ハナ 洋子 智子 結菜4 正子 節子 裕子 結愛5 文子 弘子 恵 ひなた6 ヨシ 美智子 理恵 心春7 千代子 勝子 香織 心愛8 キヨ 信子 愛 凜9 静子 美代子 真由美 美桜

10 はる 京子 恵子 芽依・優奈・美結・心咲

Data from Meiji Yasuda Seimei Umare Nenbetsu Besuto 10: http://www.meijiyasuda.co.jp/enjoy/ranking/year_men/girl.html

Yellow = -ko names; green = 1-character names; orange = kana names

Trends in baby names

• Both Japan and US: Increase diversity at top 10• Few names in 2012 top 10 from previous years• Percentage taken up by #1 name in US down• 2012: M 0.94%, F 1.15%• 1912: M 5.45%, F 5.51%

• Ties frequent in top-10 in recent years in Japan

• Changes seem to be especially effecting women•Men’s names also changing, but # of repeats higher

Three ways of looking at changing names

1. Licensing of changes• What factors allow changes to happen?Legal restrictions on naming

2. Direction of changes• What factors affect how names change?Differences in writing systems

3. Motivation behind changes• What factors instigate changes?Societal transformations

• All three relevant to Japan and US, but realized differently

1. Licensing of changes

• Legally: Japan and the United States both offer parents a relatively high degree of freedom in naming• Naming process relatively unregulated• Few overarching restrictions

•Not so in other countries• Germany: Names must show gender; must be previously

extant name• France: Can’t give name against child’s best interest (1993~)

• Freedom in naming practices = Potential for change

Specific legal restrictionsJapan United States

Centrally regulated under Family Registrar law

Protected centrally under freedom of speech, due process laws

Some court cases supported regional variation (e.g., the Ryū-chan case)

Individual states have own regulations

Must use kana, jōyo-kanji, jimmei-yō kanji or odoriji

Some state restrictions based upon practicality, e.g., 141 characters in Arizona, no numerals in Wisconsin

Court cases may suggest limitations when deemed to be abuse of parental rights, e.g., the Akuma-chan case

Some states limit names using obscenities, e.g., New Jersey

No gender-based restrictions No gender-based restrictions

Details on Akuma-chan, Ryū-chan case: Yasuoka (2011); details on US restrictions: Larson (2011)

2. Direction of changes / Japan• Japanese linguistically open to new names (Honda, 2005)

• Kanji to create variations within same phonetic realization

• Name-exclusive suffixes usable with other bases

• Result: Majority of changes concern structural use of kanji• Decline in previous name-exclusive suffixes for both sexes

• -ko, -e, -mi for women’s names; -rō, -o for men’s names (Komori, 2002)

• Decline in use of numerical kanji (e.g., -ichi, -ji, -zō/saburō)

• Characteristics of recent names (Satō, 2007):• Mix kanji reading types, use non-established readings

• Can generally be considered difficult to read

2. Direction of changes / US• English comparatively not open to new names

• Characteristics like -a for women not consistent

• Standardization typical of Western Europe (Wilson, 1998)

• Result: Changes characterized by recycling (Lieberson, 2000)• Older names rediscovered (Elizabeth); surnames as personal

names; switch malefemale (Madison)

• However: Spelling manipulated to create diversity• Crystal (815), Krystal (325), Cristal (188), Kristal (72), Christal (42),

Cristel (33), Crystel (13), Crystelle (7), etc. in 2012

• Ethnic/immigrant group differences increase pool of names• African Americans particularly open? (Lieberson, S., & Mikelson, 1995)

3. Motivations: Similarities• Naming practices have strong relationship with core cultural

values (Lieberson & Bell, 1992)• Changes in patterns may reflect greater changes in values

• Increase of unique names reported to be associated with individualism for both Japan and the US • Twenge et al (2010): Increased variety corresponds to rise in

individualistic traits after controlling for immigration rates• Ogihara et al (2015): Uniqueness through pronunciation

common, also associated with increase in individualistic traits

• Commonness of unusual names (!)= Function of individualism in modern society?

3. Motivations: Differences• Some US changes associated with ethnic groups

• 1960s~: African American children far more likely to be given unique name than white children (Lieberson & Mikelson, 1995)

• Human rights movement, Black Panthers (Fryer & Levitt, 2004)

• Japan: Changes not clearly associated with ethnicity, region• Own research of 9 rural/suburban towns shows no difference

• However: New names sharply criticized for use of kanji• Derogatory name for new-type names: DQN neemu

‘stupid/uneducated names’

• Focus seems to be on parents’ inability to appropriately use kanji Question of education?

The social impact of new names• US: In general, individualistic names do not appear to have

negative impact on people

• However: While life outcomes for African American children do not appear to differ by names (Fryer & Levitt, 2004) . . .• Some reports suggest that individuals with ‘Black’ names are negatively

impacted at interviews, etc. (Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004)• Recent scandal over TV personality Ravyn’s comments

• Japan: Concern over names very strong• Frequent warnings about negative impact on children (Makino, 2012)

• However: Criticism may be more reflection of class crisis?• Education often seen as key part of class differences

• Similarities with Satō’s (1984) bōsōzoku and rebellious ateji?

Conclusions• Similarities in naming trends suggest they reflect common

changes in value in contemporary society

• How changes in naming play out = Dependent on legal, linguistic issues• Legal issues may change over time? E.g., France, Japan

• Impact on people and society = May depend on how they are used by different groups• Unique names in Japan may be shocking to some—but not

clear if they are truly associated with an identifiable group• Further research based upon income, educational

backgrounds needed to confirm validity of popular opinion

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This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 70632595