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Quick answers
What is a generation name?
In many Chinese lineages a poem or list assigns one character of the given name by generation, so cousins share a written coordinate.
What is 돌림자?
A Korean practice of sharing a hanja/syllable across siblings or a generation. It marks a set. It does not forecast fortunes in this atlas.
Why does Japan have a kanji list for names?
The koseki (family register) and ministry lists (jōyō and jinmeiyō) limit which characters can be filed for a given name.
Do Statistics Korea tables use hanja?
KOSTAT publishes given-name frequencies; families may still think in hanja even when the file is hangul. Read releases as counts, not as luck.
Is a “good” character one with lucky strokes?
Not here. A good character is one the family intends, the registrar accepts, and the bearer can live with — no stroke-count science.
Can I mix a Chinese generation character with an English name?
People do, as stacked identities. Keep the kin logic and the English fashion logic in separate columns.
Practical difficulty is high because you are choosing sound, sense, kin slot, registrar list and romanisation at once.
If a consultant leads with strokes, hire a different consultant — or none.
Steps
- 1Ask whether a generation slot exists
Poem, 돌림자, or free choice.
Do not discover this after the cards.
- 2Choose the free character(s) with a dictionary, not an app
Sense as hope is fine; sense as forecast is not.
Write the intended reading.
- 3Check the legal inventory
Jinmeiyō/jōyō in Japan; local registrar rules elsewhere.
Beauty is not a defence at the counter.
- 4Fix romanisation and order
Passport, school, hyphen rules.
This is the everyday-reach problem.
- 5Say it in both languages
Home language and school language.
Two mouths, one design.
- 6Document the kin logic
One paragraph for the child later: which syllable is shared and why.
Description, not a prophecy.
Checklist
- Generation slot known — Yes / no / optional.
- Readings written — Especially Japanese.
- List-legal characters — Japan and some others.
- KOSTAT/SSA curiosity optional — Fashion only, dated.
- No stroke-count step — Hard rule.
- Romanisation locked — One Latin form.
- Sibling-set consistency — If 돌림자 is in play.
- Child-facing story drafted — Without fate claims.
Pitfalls
- Luck-shop capture — Paying for a stroke or five-element optimisation.
- Ignoring the poem — Then fighting elders you could have designed with.
- Unreadable rare characters — Even if legal, clerks and phones may fail.
- Treating Kim-plus-hanja as one clan fate — Surname concentration ≠ shared destiny.
Tools
- Jinmeiyō / jōyō lists — Japan’s legal inventory.
- Hanja dictionaries — Senses without luck overlays.
- Family generation chart — The actual spec.
- Statistics Korea tables — Fashion context, year-stamped.
The successful craft output is a string that files, reads, and marks the kin set you actually intended.