Is there a single word in japanese that means "like the moon"?

Question

In my native language, Persian, there is a name meaning "like the moon", As in "beautiful like the moon". I wanna know if there is any single word in Japanese like this.

Answer 1

月状 (getsu-jō) means lunate, and 月状骨 (getsu-jō-kotsu) refers to lunate bone (骨 = bone). But it has nothing to do with the beauty of the moon, and it's not used as a person name, either.

Answer 2

If it's a name there's names in Japanese names that use moon like 結月 but I can't think of any Japanese names that use the form "like " so maybe there isn't an equivalent to what you have in Persian.

Answer 3

Yes, and the word is 月の如{ごと}く. Technically this is not a single word as it consists of 月(moon) and 如く(like, similar). The expression Xの如く means "like X" or "similar to X", but sounds quite literary. The word 如く itself is a pretty literary word and not common in daily speech. If you want, you can remove the の and any Japanese person should understand 月如く without any problems.

For a more common, less literary version, you'd want to use 月のよう. Xのよう means "like X" or "in the way of X" as well. Note that it's a　な adjective so to attach it to a noun, you'd have to say 月のような人, and to make it an adverb it's 月のように光る

Answer 4

I am reminded of the famous manga/anime character Sailor Moon, whose "true identity" name is 月{つき}野{の} うさぎ (Tsukino Usagi). So her family name 月野 literally means "moon field", but it also sounds like 月{つき}の which would mean "of the moon" or "from the moon".

This is not exactly which you asked for, which was something that means "beautiful like the moon". But perhaps it is close enough. After all, something that is "of the moon" might also be beautiful like the moon. And certainly, the surname 月野 is associated with the well-known Sailor Moon character, who is a beautiful girl character. After all, the series is called 美{び}少{しょう}女{じょ}戦{せん}士{し}セーラームーン, which translates as "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon".

In the spirit of creating names to have a certain meaning, you might also consider making up your own name. I don't know what purpose you want this word for, but Japanese given names are often created to have a certain meaning. Like how Tsukino Usagi was invented for the Sailor Moon character.

You could alter 月野 by adding the 美{び} character which means beauty to give a connotation of beautiful. For example, you could use the み reading of 美, as in the name 恵{めぐ}美{み} (Megumi), and create 月{つき}美{み} (Tsukimi). This could mean "moon beauty" or "beautiful like the moon".