Just FYI - 清水 is not a "difficult example", but technically, there is no "wrong" in Japanese names - if the person with the name tells you it's pronounced that way, then it's pronounced that way. 

They can have Kanji that look nothing like the pronunciation...  ...don't fight the person for having a different name!

kfmfe04 wrote:

Just FYI - 清水 is not a "difficult example", but technically, there is no "wrong" in Japanese names - if the person with the name tells you it's pronounced that way, then it's pronounced that way. 

They can have Kanji that look nothing like the pronunciation...  ...don't fight the person for having a different name!

Although this is certainly true of given names, family names tend to be set. Especially with the really common names like the ones from that list.

So, with the 清水 example, I really doubt that you'll find anyone with that last name pronouncing it something other than きよみず or しみず.

Given names, however, can pretty much be at the whim of the parents. I've literally met a girl with the name 空. I said, "oh, your name's Sora." "Nope," she said. "It's Sky (すかい)."

It should be noted that this happens in English as well, if rarely. There's a man from the US whose information I can't find offhand who changed his last name as per the requirements on some relative's will, but declared that it was pronounced the same way as his old last name.

~J