For example, if Katsuki can be “Kacchan” then can I add the “cchan” to any name? Can Shouto became Shoucchan and Takashi or Takumi become “Tacchan”? Or does there have to have a “tsu” present in the name? Would something like “Takkun” be more appropriate? Can Keita became Takkun as well? Or do there have to be certain characters present in the name? And does the character placement in the name matter?
Is there a relation between cchan and -chan?
These are also some “cutesy” honorifics(?) that I don’t know what names to pin them on. Are all names fair game for these?
– tan
– yan
– rin
– min
– pin
– chin
– chii
– ppe
– pipi
– poyo
– nyan
Furukawa can become Furyu-popo?? Why does the “ru” become a “ryu”?
I’m grateful to anyone who can help!
4 comments
Basically -chan is the most common one used in a relationship with some intimacy. But in some cases, mostly when the last syllable of the (used part of the) name is *chi* or *tsu*, said syllable collapses into *sokuon*, namely the *t* sound in this case.
* Katsuki → *Katsu-chan → Katchan (sometimes written *Kacchan*).
* Uchimura (a surname) → *Uchi-chan → Utchan (Ucchan)
And if that is not the case,
* Shouto → Shouchan
* Takumi → Takuchan (or Takkun)
* Takashi → Takachan ~~(though I think just Takashi is more common)~~
As for those “cutsey” ones, every one has its own nuance. Some are rare. Some are only used for specific category of people (girls, men, etc.)
Edit: I don’t know Furyu-popo, but the name seems to be a self-named one. If so anything is OK. I guess the *y* sound was inserted so the name sounds more kawaii.
I never thought too hard before on how nicknames are formed in Japanese, so I tried to find any good articles on it before commenting. [Here is one that is short and decently written enough with a variety of examples.](https://japanese-names.info/column/the-rules-of-japanese-nicknaming/)
Overall, while there may not truly be “rules” for Japanese [diminutives](https://www.behindthename.com/glossary/view/diminutive) (since it’s an informal aspect of the language), there are common patterns. Which is what you’re starting to notice as evident by your questions.
Most nicknames derived from a person’s name (versus their personality) seem to come from “whatever sounds best or cutest,” so I believe that nickname-making is one of things you get better at intuiting as you come across more examples.
For instance, in English, it’s commonly accepted that Bob can be short for Robert and Bill can be short for William because the “b” beginnings may sound more pleasing to the ear than Rob or Will. However, a non-native speaker might not understand that at first.
As Japanese learners, we’ll encounters things that don’t make sense to us yet but native speakers naturally understand from the get-go simply because it “sounds right” to them.
To wrap up this comment that’s gone on longer than I expected, I’m sorry that what I said above doesn’t help that much, but thank you for reading my words anyway. Although I may not have addressed any of your specific questions, they’re good ones to ponder!
I think especially because shou and kei are elongated vowels, it’s unlikely to get the cchan.
tan and yan are cutesy forms of chan (tan is how a little kid would pronounce chan) and with this amazing list of nickname endings i think you could probably figure out the patterns based on where youve seen the endings used! Good luck!
long before I read this essay about Japanese nicknames in which the author realized there were some distinction and hierarchy between each nickname like -chan, -yan, -sa, -pe, -kun, -mon etc. in a countryside where he moved from Tokyo when he was a kid in 1960s or something. It was really interesting and eye-opening even to a Japanese, but I forgot almost everything including the author’s name. People, don’t get old. anyway one thing sticking to my mind is he had been called -san because “from a city” which made him feel alien. obvs nicknames discussed in the essay are oldies not cutesy one.