mukade wrote:
> Brett Robson <info@secret-web.com> wrote in message news:<cggs67$7vk$2@nnrp.gol.com>...
> 
>>Kevin Gowen wrote:
>>
>>>Caspar Milquetoast wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Damn, got the eternal
>>>>problem of trying to impress the hell out of a beautiful woman--this
>>>>one happens to be Japanese. Her name is Asami. Can anyone help me out
>>>>with a definition of this name? I know that it also depends on how its
>>>>written in Kanji, but a general all-purpose definition for the name
>>>>would help.
>>>
>>>
>>>Jap names are just like ours, Cap. They don't mean shit. Make something 
>>>up on the spot and she'll wow over your memorization of baby name books.
>>>
>>
>>Complete bullshit, if that were true all given names would be 
>>written in hiragana or katakana.
> 
> 
> Do names written in hiragana or katakana have less meaning than those
> in kanji?
> 
> I think what Kevin is trying to say is, 

So you know what Kevin really means as well? Perhaps he should 
speak for himself.


> although parents may have
> spent a long time choosing a name,
 > most people pay little attention to
> its meaning. Many people would be unable to tell you the meaning
> without asking their parents.
>

Using a loser definition of meaning, the vast majority of 
Japanese given names have meaning. If a kanji was combined from 
the mothers and fathers name that has an important meaning. Yes 
in day to day life people aren't thinking "bright beauty" when 
they call Akemi, but they will notice the kanji and often comment 
on a beautiful name.