「来夏」Can I use this for a boy's name?

Question

Is it acceptable to use「来夏」as a boy's name? I am currently making a character and am still choosing a name. Can this name be read as らいが? If so, would it make this name more masculine?

Answer 1

The answer will depend on what you want.

You can use the name with reading らいが. It would sound definitely uncommon, and reading 夏 as が should be a deviation which looks somehow acceptable (to me). らいが itself does sound masculine, so if it is just a name of a fictional character, I suppose you can go ahead.

Note that currently reading is not part of a name when registering a child (unless it is in hiragana/katakana). You can choose whatever combination of kanjis listed in the set of characters for names, and decide arbitrarily its reading. The name 来夏 with reading らいが looks irregular but not entirely impossible in this sense. (The rule may be changed in near future.)

On the other hand, if you want something that sounds/looks like a common name, the answer is simply no.

Answer 2

Yes, you can go. Parents name their children unique year by year in Japan. It is called キラキラネーム. In the news on TV: 『人と同じは嫌？“キラキラネーム”どこまで認める…「毎回名前を発明」する日本人 戸籍に読み仮名で変化は』, they say it is okay to invent name as you like unless it sounds too weird like "[悪魔]{あくま}" which means "a devil" in Japanese.

[来夏]{らいが} should be okay in general for girls' name. It may sound for professional female wrestlers in the past like 80s though it should be alright if you do not use the each kanji for masculine stuff a lot.