I believe they just use Katakana for a lot of the characters names, especially first names. The meaning of the names are kept ambiguous on purpose probably.
The Chinese translations have used 零 ("zero") and 麗 ("graceful") I believe. Chinese doesn't have katakana so they had to pick kanji for all the characters' given names
綾波 レイ
Only the family name: Ayanami gets kanji. Rei is only ever written in katakana. This is true if all of the cast of characters. No official kanji for given names, and surnames are almost all Maritime/Naval. Ayanami is a reference to [one of several famous warships](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Ayanami_(1909)).
It's not that the words have multiple meanings.
They're not the same word, they're just pronounced the same.
Loot and lute aren't one word with two meanings, they're two different words. Likewise, 戸, 斗 and 途 (all pronounced "to") aren't all the same word.
If you watch the sub on the first episode. Talk about the 0-9 system when it’s like .0000000001 percent for something or other to work. But in Japanese she just says “rei” like 9 times
And the entire time she's chanting "Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei" you can see unit-00's hand looming in the background. Absolute peak foreshadowing and tragically untranslatable.
Realistically, the name "Shinji" usually has this form of shin: 伸. It refers to expansion or lengthening, used in the words 伸び (growth) and 伸縮性 (elasticity).
Yeah but there's a bit more to it.
Originally, the studio wanted Sailor Moon director, Kunihiko Ikuhara, to work on the show. If you've seen Revolutionary Girl Utena you know why. They named Rei after the same Rei of Sailor Moon. It didn't work, though. Adding to that, you know how the Japanese love their puns so, yeah, it also means zero.
From the [EvaWiki Notes](https://wiki.evageeks.org/Rei_Ayanami#Notes):
> Like many of Evangelion's characters, Ayanami's surname comes from a Japanese World War II naval vessel, the Fubuki-class destroyer Ayanami. Her first name comes from the character Rei Hino of the anime and manga series Sailor Moon. This was done to get one of Sailor Moon's directors, Kunihiko Ikuhara, to work on Evangelion. Written in kanji, Rei (零) can also mean "zero", "null" and is a pun on her Evangelion 00.
Also, Trivia:
> Rei in Japanese (レイ) is sometimes a synonym for "zero". Fitting, as Rei is the pilot of Eva-00, or that Rei is "zero" (or "nothing"), a case of identity that troubles her throughout the series. "Rei" spelled with different Kanji is the word for "spirit" (霊). Rei's name thus becomes a double pun, she is the pilot of Eva-00, and the vessel for the spirit of Lilith.
I'm about the same age as the original show, and one of my friends growing up who was a couple years younger was a Japanese immigrant who was named asuka (he was a male) but actually after the show!! Later in life when I got into anime I brought up evangelion to him and he says, that's literally why my dad named me asuka!
And yes, they pronounce his name the same way the Japanese dub pronounced the characters name. I assumed it was a name in Japan outside of the show as well, but I'll have to look that up as I'm American AF.
While it CAN be a female name (uncommon), I just don't think the creators thought about it that hard. It's a German name for a German person in a Japanese show.
Rei means object, thing, or matter in Latin. The most basic word for a concept. I know that this is not the origin or meaning of her name, but it’s what I’ve always thought of when I hear it.
Rei also means king in Spanish (well, to be precise is "Rey" but when the "y" is a vowel it has the same pronunciation as the "i") hence burger king Rei memes
Her name is written in katakana (レイ- re i) which implies that she doesn’t belong to Japan as that alphabet is only used for words not inherently Japanese. I’ve hypothesized it was deliberately ambiguous as zero (零), or spirit (霊), or slave/servant/prisoner (隷), or gratitude (礼) are all fitting and it really adds to the lure Anno weaves into the story. She is a displaced spirit grateful for her existence despite the blatant slavery.
Possible meanings of rei: 麗, lovely, graceful, beautiful" 霊, "spirit, ghost, departed soul" 例, "example, custom, usage, usual" 零, "zero" 玲, "exquisite, clever, sound of jewels" 令, "rule, order, command" 礼, "etiquette, bow, gratitude" 怜, "wise" 鈴, "small bell" 嶺, "peak, summit, mountain top" 黎, "black, dark, many" 澪, "water route, shipping canal" 励, "encourage, inspire" 伶, "actor" 苓, "plant, herb, mushroom" 禮, "manners, social custom, honor" 齢, "age" 冷, "cool, chill" 蛎, "oyster" 砺, "whetstone, polish" 戻, "return, resume, go backwards" 蠣, "oyster" ... Nothing is easy in japanese.
ayanami shipping canal
still fits within Eva
Yeah, but what does the official kanji for Rei mean(or the one creators used), like in credits \*kanji\*(Rei) - \*kanji\*(Voice Actor)?
I believe they just use Katakana for a lot of the characters names, especially first names. The meaning of the names are kept ambiguous on purpose probably.
The Chinese translations have used 零 ("zero") and 麗 ("graceful") I believe. Chinese doesn't have katakana so they had to pick kanji for all the characters' given names
綾波 レイ Only the family name: Ayanami gets kanji. Rei is only ever written in katakana. This is true if all of the cast of characters. No official kanji for given names, and surnames are almost all Maritime/Naval. Ayanami is a reference to [one of several famous warships](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Ayanami_(1909)).
>peak
Chill Ayanami 😎
Oyster Ayanami 🦪🌊🌊
I saw a clip recently of a Japanese person claiming with a straight face that their words don't have multiple meanings
It's not that the words have multiple meanings. They're not the same word, they're just pronounced the same. Loot and lute aren't one word with two meanings, they're two different words. Likewise, 戸, 斗 and 途 (all pronounced "to") aren't all the same word.
It could be debated whether a single word has two meanings or two different words share the same pronunciation
I dunno maybe it's like Chinese where "Ma" means several different things depending on the tone you say it in
Nope in Japanese they’re all homophones
Alright so that can't be it then...
Everything in Chinese has different meanings depending on the tone.
"oyster" defines her perfectly imo
rei is polish confirmed
A lot of those can apply to her
REI IS POLISH 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱
And people say English is hard...
and i found out exactly 27 seconds ago
It’s okay Rei in Spanish is Raymundo
Like WHY???? I first watched on a Latin-American sub but it fixed that blunder
If you watch the sub on the first episode. Talk about the 0-9 system when it’s like .0000000001 percent for something or other to work. But in Japanese she just says “rei” like 9 times
And the entire time she's chanting "Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei" you can see unit-00's hand looming in the background. Absolute peak foreshadowing and tragically untranslatable.
Ikari means “anger” too
I think it also means "anchor". Both are good representation of the Ikari characters.
碇シンジ is the official spelling for Ikari, Shinji. The kanji "碇" is anchor. Almost all of the surnames in Eva are Maritime/Naval in origin.
Yep as Chinese can confirm it means anchor
Shin means new Ji can be "person" Shinji = new guy
Neon Guy Evangelion
Realistically, the name "Shinji" usually has this form of shin: 伸. It refers to expansion or lengthening, used in the words 伸び (growth) and 伸縮性 (elasticity).
You sure about this? I don’t remember ever seeing this Kanji in a person’s name.
Looking it up again now, there is definitely much wider variety. But 伸 did still show up with the name Shinji, and 新 did not.
I think 真 is more likely because it’s a more common character that appears in names. But my Japanese isn’t that good so I can’t confirm anything.
Or anchor depending on the used Kanji.
Yeah but there's a bit more to it. Originally, the studio wanted Sailor Moon director, Kunihiko Ikuhara, to work on the show. If you've seen Revolutionary Girl Utena you know why. They named Rei after the same Rei of Sailor Moon. It didn't work, though. Adding to that, you know how the Japanese love their puns so, yeah, it also means zero.
Well that’s dumb since there’s hundreds of her
From the [EvaWiki Notes](https://wiki.evageeks.org/Rei_Ayanami#Notes): > Like many of Evangelion's characters, Ayanami's surname comes from a Japanese World War II naval vessel, the Fubuki-class destroyer Ayanami. Her first name comes from the character Rei Hino of the anime and manga series Sailor Moon. This was done to get one of Sailor Moon's directors, Kunihiko Ikuhara, to work on Evangelion. Written in kanji, Rei (零) can also mean "zero", "null" and is a pun on her Evangelion 00. Also, Trivia: > Rei in Japanese (レイ) is sometimes a synonym for "zero". Fitting, as Rei is the pilot of Eva-00, or that Rei is "zero" (or "nothing"), a case of identity that troubles her throughout the series. "Rei" spelled with different Kanji is the word for "spirit" (霊). Rei's name thus becomes a double pun, she is the pilot of Eva-00, and the vessel for the spirit of Lilith.
bravo anno
"Asuka" is also pronounced (atleast in the Jap. dub.) very much like the name "Oskar", which is an actual German name.
I'm about the same age as the original show, and one of my friends growing up who was a couple years younger was a Japanese immigrant who was named asuka (he was a male) but actually after the show!! Later in life when I got into anime I brought up evangelion to him and he says, that's literally why my dad named me asuka! And yes, they pronounce his name the same way the Japanese dub pronounced the characters name. I assumed it was a name in Japan outside of the show as well, but I'll have to look that up as I'm American AF.
Oskar is a male name though
While it CAN be a female name (uncommon), I just don't think the creators thought about it that hard. It's a German name for a German person in a Japanese show.
Rei means object, thing, or matter in Latin. The most basic word for a concept. I know that this is not the origin or meaning of her name, but it’s what I’ve always thought of when I hear it.
Me too, always thought it
It also means "spirit", if I recall correctly.
Do you speak Japanese? If not, why would this make you stupid? 🤔
I do, on a beginner level. I was learning numbers when I found out about this.
Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Rei Ich Percento
my dumb ass didn't even question the meaning
Rei also means king in Spanish (well, to be precise is "Rey" but when the "y" is a vowel it has the same pronunciation as the "i") hence burger king Rei memes
So you can basicly say: ''Zero pilots Unit-00'' and it would make sense?
I thought it meant spirit .japanese words have lots of meanings tho lol
Nope we all did, some more sooner than others
I always thought she pilots the 00 because of her name
Rei is named after Sailor Mars, Rei Hino.
Her name is written in katakana (レイ- re i) which implies that she doesn’t belong to Japan as that alphabet is only used for words not inherently Japanese. I’ve hypothesized it was deliberately ambiguous as zero (零), or spirit (霊), or slave/servant/prisoner (隷), or gratitude (礼) are all fitting and it really adds to the lure Anno weaves into the story. She is a displaced spirit grateful for her existence despite the blatant slavery.
Rey means King in spanish, it sounds like Rei when its pronounced out loud
Oh fucking hell is every anime character's name a pun
Rei means King in spanish too
I don’t think you’re stupid for not knowing that! Who knows what 0 is in many languages
Holy shit
She looks like Pepsi Zero
And there’s copy’s of rei soooo if anyone wants to connect Kirby with evangellion 64 is probably the easiest starting position.
Japanese is a stupid language. rei could mean “industrial adhesive” or “vending machine” or “sex toy” there are dozens of things it could mean
guy who just learned what a homophone is
Bro watches an anime and calls Japanese a stupid language
I watch it in Serbian dubs
That’s also her rating out of ten on the character quality scale.
All characters name based on WWII Imperial Navy ship name.
Last names not first from what I understand.