Haikyuu has gotten a lot of lively discussions over the years. Among these are the various fan theories about the Haikyuu characters’ names each having an interesting meaning.
This isn’t too surprising if you have some familiarity with the Japanese language. That’s because even real-life Japanese names have surprisingly deep meanings.
Aside from the character names though, even the schools in Haikyuu have their own meanings that should be apparent for long-time fans.
Even the Haikyuu School Names Have Surprising Meanings
Given the nature of the Japanese language, names of people and places often have meanings.
This is perhaps most apparent in the Haikyuu schools. For instance, the school of Shoyo Hinata, which is Karasuno High, has a meaning that fans should no doubt be familiar with.
In Japanese, karasu means "crow", hence the team is often referred to as the crows.
Karasuno High isn’t the only school with a different meaning, as Karasuno’s rival, Nekoma High, also has an unusual meaning.
Neko means "cat" in Japanese. Thus, the names of these schools hold the key to understanding why their match is called the "Battle of the Garbage Dump" in the upcoming Haikyuu movie.
Fan Theories About the Meaning of Haikyuu Characters’ Names
The names of the schools are fairly obvious for Japanese speakers and most fans. As for the names though, there are no official meanings given by the series’ creator.
Despite this, fans do have some pretty detailed theories about the meaning of the Haikyuu characters’ names.
Among these fans are Blake Steen of Nihon Narratives and Mix, who have shared their interpretations of the Karasuno High members’ names.
The meanings based on these fans’ theories are:
- Shoyo Hinata - Shoyo means "fly to the sun" while Hinata means "head towards the sun"
- Tobio Kageyama - Tobio means "flying hero" while Kageyama means "shadowed mountain"
- Ryunosuke Tanaka - Ryunosuke means "son of the dragon" while Tanaka means "middle of the rice field"
- Daichi Sawamura - Daichi means "great earth" while Sawamura means "swamp village"
- Koshi Sugawara - Koshi means "filial piety and support" while Sugawara means "original reed field"
- Yu Nishinoya - Yu means "evening" and Nishinoya means "western valley"
- Asahi Azumane - Asahi means "rising sun" while Azumane means "easter summit"
- Kei Tsukishima - Kei means "fireflies" while Tsukishima means "moon island"
- Tadashi Yamaguchi - Tadashi means "loyalty or devotion" while Yamaguchi means "entrance to the mountain"
- Chikara Ennoshita - Chikara means "power" while Ennoshita means "under the veranda"
Take note, these are not exact interpretations as kanji can be interpreted in different ways.
Still, it’s interesting that these meanings closely match the personalities and traits of each character.
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