Names signifying light or color seem to us the most æsthetic of all yobina; and they probably seem so to the Japanese. Nevertheless the relative purport even of these names cannot be divined at sight. Colors have moral and other values in the old nature-philosophy; and an appellation that to the Western mind suggests only luminosity or beauty may actually refer to moral or social distinction,—to the hope that the girl so named will become "illustrious."
NAMES SIGNIFYING BRIGHTNESS
| O-Mika | "New Moon."[82] |
[82] ] Mika is an abbreviation of Mikazuki, "the moon of the third night" [of the old lunar month].
| O-Mitsu | "Light." |
| O-Shimo | "Frost." |
| O-Teru | "The Shining." |
| O-Tsuki | "Moon." |
| O-Tsuya | "The Glossy,"—lustrous. |
| O-Tsuyu | "Dew." |
| O-Yuki | "Snow." |
COLOR-NAMES
| O-Ai | "Indigo." |
| O-Aka | "Red." |
| O-Iro | "Color." |
| O-Kon | "Deep Blue." |
| O-Kuro | "Dark,"—lit.,"Black." |
| Midori[83] | "Green." |
| Murasaki[83] | "Purple." |
[83] ] Midori and Murasaki, especially the latter, should properly be classed with aristocratic yobina; and both are very rare. I could find neither in the collection of aristocratic names which was made for me from the records of the Peeresses' School; but I discovered a "Midori" in a list of middle-class names. Color-names being remarkably few among yobina, I thought it better in this instance to group the whole of them together, independently of class-distinctions.