“Seimei-Handan” – Fortunetelling based on your name

Choosing a favorite baby name can feel intimacy and affectionate. When parents name their children, they put a lot of thoughts and consideration into it.

Here are some ways to pick the perfect baby name in Japan

In Japan, those are how parents choose a name for their children.

1. Choose specific kanji you like, then combine with another kanji to make a name.
   e.x. Choosing 翔 (meaning: flying high in the sky with wings)
   → 隼翔 Hayato、裕翔 Yūto、翔吾 Shōgo
   e.x. Choosing 美 (meaning: beauty)
   → 美緒 Mio、美月 Mitsuki、祐美 Yumi
2. Choose the sounds, then apply any of kanji you like.
3. Pick the same kanji from parents or grandparents, then combine other kanji.

In addition to the above, there is another method of naming that determines and matches the number of kanji stroke.

The method called “Seimei-Handan“ – 姓名判断

“Seimei-Handan“ is one of the Japanese fortunetelling system based on the number of the kanji stroke of the name and it says that it is predicted the person’s personality or fortune.

“Seimei-Handan“ was introduced from China. It was proposed after Meiji era (in the late 1800s), at a time when people started to use last names and were becoming more and more interested in the good or bad quality of the name.

It has been said that the number of strokes of the kanji is important to indicate good luck. Also, they say that the number of strokes within an individual kanji, or the total number of strokes in the name should be a “lucky number”, and this will be a name that brings joy and happiness.

Here is what else “Seimei-Handan“ has been told that we can find out from the name.

• What the person’s life will lead to the future
• What kind of occupations would suit the person’s life.
• The tendency of the person’s romantic relationship and the type of person they could fall in love with.
• Luck in marriage and making a family.
• What diseases that could fall victim to.

There are many styles of fortune-telling in “Seimei-Handan“ method. Depending on the method used, the result would vary but here is one example.

An example: 山本優子（Yuko Yamamoto / female name）

The total strokes of the family name are 8, fortune.
Result: It is believed that she would have a strength of influence in her later life.

The total strokes of the second and third kanji are 22, misfortune.
Result: the type of person who works hard for other people, but there is a sense it would be betrayed, suffer mental damage.

The total strokes of the given name are 20, misfortune.
Result: the person would not strong in the constitution and unlucky in childhood. But she would show the talent of the arts and academics.

The total strokes of the first and the last kanji are 6, great fortune.
Result: the person would be able to get opportunities for education or job as she wishes. A strong supporter may appear later in life.

Total strokes of the full name are 28, misfortune.
Result: If the person succeeds and feels too superior to it, she may fail. It would be easy to try too many things and end up doing everything halfway.  By focusing on the person’s goals and concentrating the efforts, she’ll find the way to success.

Reference: https://enamae.net

Some parents may focus on the interpretation of “Seimei-Handan“ to name their child. There are even paid websites that predict the name that matches their family names.

We don’t know if it’s believable, but when the kids grow up, they could tell them that their names were chosen based on “Seimei-Handan“. It’s kind of interesting, isn’t it?

There are no rules of naming. Believe it or not, it’s up to you but you might want to consider it as a naming option.