I’d like to share a short story about my name, Harumi. Haru (春) means spring and Mi (美) means beauty, although my father used to say the name means “bright spring.”
Do you believe that the meaning of a name influences a person’s character? I do. As a child, I was told that my name suited me, that I was as happy and fresh as the springtime. That was always my favorite season of the year.
But I was almost given a very different name. My father told me that he and my mother almost named me Naoko, which means “dutiful girl.” I’m sure that after seeing how terrible and naughty I was as a child, more than once they regretted not choosing that name. But why did they end up naming me Harumi instead of Naoko? I’ll tell you.
My father, Don Jorge, was a charming young man and eventually married four times. He always yearned for a daughter. It was one of his dreams and long before I was born, he had already chosen the perfect name for a daughter: Harumi.
He fell deeply in love and married his first wife, but sadly they were unable to have children. Some time later he met the mother of his first child, my brother Cristian. A few years later he married again, and with his wife had two boys, William and Jorge, although after some years they separated. His children were adults by the time he met my mother. At first, he had no intention of falling in love due to their large age difference, but destiny had other plans and eventually they were married. And that’s when the dream of having a daughter came up once again.
During my mother’s first pregnancy, my father was sure the baby would be a girl, and even bought girls’ clothing and toys. Of course he mentioned his desire to name the girl Harumi, and how meaningful and important the name was for him. Mother agreed that it was a beautiful name.
But once again destiny changed their plans. His fourth son was born, my brother Yoshiaki, who was given my father’s Japanese name, which means “warrior general.” Only two years later, my mother became pregnant again and gave birth to another boy. He was given my uncle’s name, Hakaru, which means “calculating thinker.”
With five sons, it seemed to be time to “throw in the towel,” that a daughter would never arrive. Soon his first granddaughter was born. Of course that brought him a great deal of joy and he suggested that his son give her the name he loved so dearly: Harumi.
Who would have imagined that the next year, my mother would become pregnant? This time they confirmed it: It was a girl! But his granddaughter was already named Harumi and using the same name could cause confusion. My father proposed another name, Naoko, but my mother was adamantly opposed. Her daughter was going to be named Harumi just as they had agreed years earlier, and the existence of another Harumi wasn’t going to stop her.
So after five sons and a granddaughter with the same name, here I am, Harumi Murakami. That’s my name, which was decided many years before I was born, before my brothers were born, and even before my father married for the first time. My name is very important to me because my father dreamed of it, but my mother fought to make sure it is mine.
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Our Editorial Committee selected this article as one of her favorite Nikkei Names 2 stories in Spanish. Here is her comment.
Comment from Monica Kogiso
The act of choosing a name is special because the person given the name will live with it for a lifetime, and the person choosing it has a responsibility to pick an appropriate name. The number of strokes, the sound of the name, and symmetry all play important roles in the choice of Japanese names.
And as in almost all the stories I’ve read, Nikkei have one name in the language of the country where they were born and a Japanese name, which may or may not be included in their birth certificate. On top of this, the chosen Japanese name should be harmonious with the Spanish name.
The article I chose is “The Long-Awaited Harumi,” where the author tells the story of her name in a simple yet entertaining way. She describes how her name was conceived, beloved, and dreamed about by her father and made reality by her mother. She also explains how choosing a person’s name defines their character and destiny.
© 2024 Harumi Murakami Giuria
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