Hi from New York City!

While watching the show K-ON, one of the female characters has the name 平沢 憂 Hirasawa Ui.

But no matter where I look, whether it be Wiktionary, RikaiChan, EDICT, or other sources, the kanji 憂 "ui" is associated with melancholy, grieving, anxiety, and sadness. I've read that Japanese names can fluctuate greatly with trends and times and that sometimes auditory aesthetics render original etymology nearly irrelevant.

Still, it puzzles me why anyone would name their child with this kanji. Especially when certain Japanese place value in stroke count of a name or other linguistic traditions. Why not 有為 or 羽衣？ I understand there are many rules and lists and customs that those suggestions ignore (Hagoromo), but the reasoning behind naming a girl 憂 truly escapes me. Please help.

拙者に説明して下さい。宜しくお願い申し上げます。

Perhaps it was a particularly grueling childbirth?

けいおん！　is an anime... i'm not sure if that is a real name to begin with... could be a made up 1 right?

FWIW - I have the rikaichan plugin with the names database, and 憂 shows up with a name reading of うい.

Thanks for the replies 皆さん。

Yes, K-ON is the new Haruhi, especially since KADOKAWA loves trolling its fans, but none of the other　characters' names are unorthodox in any way.

Nor are unconventional names common in these slice of life comedies about "ordinary" but "intriguing" characters. Like "山田" or "Smith"　these names are supposed to be　普通　ordinary。

Take for example the real-life model, 前田憂佳 Maeda Yuuka, her name has the 憂 in it as well.

Is there no stigma attached to the word as a name?

my Japanese wife says "i don't know why" -_- maybe they are trying to be Emo or something...

Maybe there's an additional connotation of, like, concern the hardships of others, a sort of sympathetic pain? 憂国 (patriotism) isn't so depressing, but still has that element of sort of supportive worry.

Or...maybe they just think the character looks pretty. It is pretty close to 愛 in appearance, maybe there's some sort of implied connection based on that.

Just guessing, really. It certainly doesn't seem like an optimistic character choice overall though.

It used to be the norm to give your child an awful name until they become adults so that spirits or whatever avoid them. There was a girl in Genji Monogatari named "Dog girl".

So is this societal amnesia with regards to a pre-modern custom? I'm supposing that the child changes their name to something less negative when they mature? But I haven't read of any custom or pattern of re-naming children once they come of age in Japan.

It used to be common, but probably not during the life of anyone alive today.
You still change your name when you die though.

Of course that might not be the reason (to give it a classical feeling) she has a depressing name. It seems in many anime there is always the tragic character, so maybe it really is just for emo's sake.

Well, I looked the cast up, and it seems that the first names of all the girls in the show, including side characters, are a single kanji long. It looks like an intentional design decision, and as for Ui, they probably tried to choose a common name one character long which also pairs with her sister's name 唯 (Yui)

Regarding the last names, they are all taken from members of famous bands (P-MODEL and the pillows). Reference here.

Regarding the first names, there's an interesting article that studies them here. In particular, it says:
所謂、萌え四コマではキャラクターの名前は、「音」や「響き」を重要視して付けられているような印象を受けます。
...
近年では赤ちゃんの名前を付けるのに文字の意味よりも、音の方が重要視されている傾向があるそうです。

Then it goes on analysing all the girls names. He appears to be perplexed at the choice of 憂 too, anyway.

Interesting article to digest!　ありがとう

But outside of the show, people have those names as well right、albeit uncommonly? Perhaps bringing the show up as a first example wasn't the best idea. But　real persons with this Kanji in their name:

Model:　前田憂佳　Maeda Yuuka
Baby boy:　憂哉（ゆうや）くん　from http://rkk.jp/h-baby/archives/2009/03/post-74.html


Here's a Japanese forum thread discussing this very kanji in names:
http://oshiete1.goo.ne.jp/qa788741.html

If an advanced literati could please enlighten us　初心者　as to the crux of the discussion going on in that forum,　that would be supremely helpful.　お願いします