Baby Names Japanese Style

Hanging out with kids in Japan over the past nineteen months, I've learned a thing or two about trends in kids' names.  Parents of every generation tend to gravitate towards the same names thinking they've some how picked the most unique name out there.  Japan is no exception.  Perhaps all parents in all countries go through a "let's-name-our-kid-this-incredibly-different-sounding-name" thing, only to find out other parents had that exact same idea.  This was certainly the case for us.  We thought the name for our son was so special, unusual, new, and bold.  It didn't take long for us to find out there were boys in every class with the same name, K-12.  How does this happen??

Japanese parents seem to have found a new crop of names for the kids of this generation.  I'd not heard of most these until I started spending time here.  Here's a partial list of the most unusual names I've come across to date.

Girls

Kokoro (heart)
Lin
Minto (mint??)
Hina
Juli (Julie?)
Miyu
Luna
Noai
Lea
Anon
Nagi
Karen
Sherin (Sharon?)
Kokoa (Cocoa?)
Kokona
Yubi

Boys

Shion
Linku (link?)
Alen (Allen?)
Taiyo (sun)
Kaze (wind)
Noa (Noah?)
Ren
Ginga (galaxy)

...and so on.

Step aside, Emily, Alexander, Brittney, Jake, and Ava.  These new Japanese names, some made up, some borrowing (presumably?) from other languages make western names sound bland.  Not a criticism of parents who borrow heavily from the Bible or any other What To Name Your Baby book mind you.  Just my random Sunday musings.