Recently, Japanese names given to children are said to be undergoing dramatic change, particularly
in the ways that they use kanji, making them difficult to read. Criticism of such names—often called
DQN neemu （‘stupid/ill-educated names’） or kirakira neemu （‘glittery names’）—has been generally
negative, focusing on a perceived ignorance of parents for using kanji‘ inappropriately’ and their lack
of consideration for those who must read them. However, by looking at how such names are talked
about in the media and their emergence as a phenomenon, I show that such criticism may not be
entirely fair, particularly in that it has primarily been made not by parents or children involved in the
giving of such names, but by third parties lacking a full vision of the naming process. In addition, criticism
of new names has generally lacked appropriate consideration of history and processes of change,
in the sense that it tends to be based on faulty considerations of（ 1） previous naming practices and
（2） how such changes will affect the name-landscapes, so to speak, of the future. Instead, I suggest
that new names may be seen as part of the larger discourse on youth problems, thus locating the
sense of crisis often expressed within their criticism within a larger framework of socialization and
social change.
「キラキラネームといわないで！」：新しい名前に対する評価とその現象に取り巻く言説
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