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Mirai ... (and Mira's popularity)
WDYT of Mirai? I think it's pronounced mih-rye, but feel free to correct me. It is a Japanese word/name meaning "the future".Also, WDYT of Miriana (see Mirjana) and Meira (meh-EE-ra?)
I was rather surprised to find that my favorite name, Mira, has actually gone down in popularity. It currently stands at #981, last year it was #928.
It seems to me that it would be a name that would gain in popularity. What reasons can you see for it to have dropped and remained so low on the charts?

This message was edited 5/20/2008, 9:18 PM

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Yea that would be the correct pronounciation of Mirai. Except maybe roll the r a bit. Well...I'm having trouble describing it, but the Japanese r actually sounds a little bit like an l. But Mih-rye is fine. I do quite like it though.I'm having real trouble saying all of the others though. Miriana is nice, although I always quite like Mariana.
Meira is okay but NMS.I don't follow the popularities of names that much but I think maybe if a name is really low down on the charts it can change it's position a lot for no particular reason. Looking at the origins of Mira, it doesn't strike me as a name most Americans would be familiar with.
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I am not a native Japanese speaker, but I took a class in college (and I listen to a lot of Japanese music). The best way I can describe it is halfway between an "r" and an "l". It's a sound that basically doesn't exist in English. :)
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Yea that's what I was trying to say-good way of describing it!
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I think people are more apt to use Mira as a nicknameLonger names with nicknames tend to be the vogue in the US. As you know my niece is Miranda nn Mira (but goes by nothing else) and I suspect many others are. I wonder what its' stats would be if you combined it with the amount of little girls with the nn Mira. (I have to say that I'm rather disappointed my SIL had such good taste. :-D)As for the other names:
Mirai - I love it and will be adding it to my list. It's very much my style, which means that my boyfriend wouldn't use it. And pretty cool (and apt) meaning.Miriana - Would get lost in the tons of Anas out there, I think. It's very pretty...but sooo close to Mariana, Brianna, Liliana, Tatiana - shall I continue? Too bad, I love it.Meira - Ditto Mirai. Very much my style, great name, lovely sound. Earthy without being ordinary. Two thumbs up for me. :-D
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Thanks for replying Siri ; )I think you're right about the nicknames, I bet there are several other Mira's out there that have a longer full name. The similar name Amira is actually #522, I was rather surprised to see that it's popularity is so much higher than Mira.I'm really liking Mirai lately, though if I say it too fast it comes out as MRI. Which means my family would pick up on it quickly and tease about it.I completely agree about Miriana and I don't think I would actually use it, but I do think that it has a pretty sound.
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So your family is full of teasers, too?I was talking to my brother about Raphael and he couldn't get the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles out of his head. I told him he couldn't tease my son about it...and he replied "So no going 'So, you like pizza?'"ARGH!
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Haha, yep. And your brother sounds exactly like my brothers. Everytime I come up with a name I start thinking about how my family will react to it.
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