Nanori

Nanori (名乗り^?, literally "self-introduction") are kanji character readings (pronunciations) found almost exclusively in Japanese names.

In the Japanese language many names are constructed from common kanji characters with standard pronunciations. However, some characters occur only in names, and some standard characters have special pronunciations in names which must be learned separately in each case. For example, the character 希, meaning "hope" or "rare", usually has the pronunciation ki (or sometimes ke or mare). However, as a female name it can be pronounced Nozomi.

In compounds, nanori readings can be used in conjunction with other readings, such as in the name Iida (飯田^?). Here, the special nanori reading of 飯 (いい, ii) and a standard kun'yomi reading of 田 (だ, da) are combined. Often (as in the previous example), the nanori of a kanji still is related to its general meaning, being an old fashioned way to read the character, but one that has since fallen into disuse.