Character names in 1981s: Jinmeiyō kanji list

Why does Japan have a kanji list for names? The koseki (family register) and ministry lists (jōyō and jinmeiyō) limit which characters can be filed for a given name. Do Statistics Korea tables use hanja? KOSTAT publishes given-name frequencies; families may still think in hanja even when the file is hangul. Read releases as counts, not as luck.

Is a “good” character one with lucky strokes? Not here. A good character is one the family intends, the registrar accepts, and the bearer can live with — no stroke-count science. Can I mix a Chinese generation character with an English name? People do, as stacked identities. Keep the kin logic and the English fashion logic in separate columns.

Are character names more “meaningful” than English names? They are often more compositional. Composition is not destiny. See meaning-and-etymology. Outside East Asia, clerks may treat the romanisation as the only name — a practical, not spiritual, problem. Literary Chinese supplied a shared character inventory across East Asia. Local readings and laws then diverged.