Ive often heard it so I was just wondering does anyone know?

-- Rinku-kun (jbmanga@Hotmail.com), February 19, 2004

Answers

I think it means a circle but I'm quite sure there are some other meanings as well.

-- - Sirius-sama (caeliluminar@hotmail.com), February 20, 2004.

According to Chris Rijk over at wot-club, "'-maru' was often used in the names of young males of samurai families, too. They used such names until they were recognized as an adult in the society, and adopted a new name after that time." So it's a standard suffix for male names.

-- Controller J (kuochjoe@hotmial.com), February 23, 2004.

Hmmm....I did wonder about that in Inu Yasha, but Juuromaru and Kageroumaru don't have any connections to Sesshoumaru, so maybe not a circle...But it could mean something along the lines of what kind of demon. Hm, good question to ponder over.

-- Suupaa Gohan 2 (dragonballz@aol.com), February 23, 2004.

No, it doesn't have anything to do with demons in particular, since characters in other series have -maru names as well. For example Shikamaru in Naruto and Tobimaru in Urusei Yatsura.

-- Controller J (kuochjoe@hotmial.com), February 23, 2004.

like someone else said it's a common ending for oldern day japanese names(men). It has nothing to do with demons, and it would mean circle if it was just that word alone but not when it's a name.

-- animezukiG (mirai606@hotmail.com), February 24, 2004.

Yes, that would explain it. Any further questions?

-- Suupaa Gohan 2 (dragonballz@aol.com), February 25, 2004.

Umm...I may be stupid to ask this but what does -kun and -sama mean?

-- ultimate IY fan (whitefur_swiftblade@rogers.com), April 18, 2004.

I think that sama is usually used as a way of showing respect (kind of like Mister -----) and kun is used for your fellow peers. O yeah these are used after the person's birth name. There is also chan (same as kun exept for girls) and san(same as sama exept for women).

-- shortstop (dogboygoesberserk@sbcglobal.net), April 18, 2004.

hm...i might be wrong but i think

Kun – added at the end of a name of a young boy

San – indicating respect

Chan – indicating playfulness or nickname

Sama – indicating deep respect

also in anime you can hear them say san,sama,chan to both male and female

-- dark_warrior (dark_warrior_link@hotmail.com), April 19, 2004.

you can use -kun after girls or boys name. That thing I have noticed

-- Kiba (nekozuki@suomi24.fi), April 20, 2004.

Kun is typically used for men with whom the speaker is fairly close to; occasionally used with female names but I'm not sure of the rule for that particular usage

Chan is used for children or girls, or to be ingratiatingly cutesy. When used for a girl, usually denotes some sort of closeness.

San is a general name suffix, like a Miss/Mister/Mrs. Anyone you've just met or anyone you're not close to (acquaintance, classmate/peer you don't talk to much, whatever) receives a -san.

Sama is used as a show of respect; I've occasionally seen it translated as Master, though this is not necessarily the case. The sensei suffix can also be used as a show of respect, but more formally used to mean the wel-known 'teacher.'

As for the -maru ending, whoever explained the male naming system is correct. I've observed that often times it's added to the end of a noun to transform it into a name. (Ex: Shikamaru from Naruto- Shika means deer by itself, -maru for a name.)

-- PsychoMime (psycho_mime@mail.ev1.net), May 30, 2004.

Hum... I THINK Kun is used on boys to show that you know them well. I know my one friend (pen pal)used it on her boyfriend so... Ya.

-- Ichi Huna (Shippo123456@hotmail.com), June 17, 2004.

no wonder sakura says sasuke_kun on naruto,lol

-- Kikio Zayousho (cloudlover_22@hotmail.com), June 19, 2004.

Actually the sufix added to the ends of a lot of samarais names or to just common peoples names, "-maru", literaly means zero. Like the name "Amidamaru", Amida is part of a buddist's prayer but would be very cunfusing if it was just used like that. So -maru is added to the end to make it more filling or more of a name. Sometimes when you see it at the end of a samarais name, it's purpose is just basically as a filler until the samarai gets a new name or something close to that. Hope that helps ^_^

-- Rukia (chibi_chick52@hotmail.com), November 25, 2004.

Do people usually change their birthnames in japan or do u mean that they just adopt something new like another term that could mean the same as "maru"?

-- rinku (JBMANGA@hOTMAIL.COM), January 24, 2005.

Actually, Maru does mean 'circle', and it was a common suffix to male names. not really a suffix per say, because they never 'took off' the suffix over time, it was their name.

as far as san, sama, chan, kun, etc goes, here's pretty much what it is (i am japanese, so i know).

San is, as most know, "mister" or "miss". Hayashi san can either be Mr Hayashi or Mrs Hayashi, or anything along those lines.

Sama is a term of not so much great respect, but more of recognizing someone who is your superior.

Kun and chan are 'terms of endearment'. no, Kun is not only for males, and no, Chan is not only for females. you can say "yasuken kun" or "yasuken chan". "Chan" is more geared towards something that is cute, like a young child or baby, or a little brother or sister. It can also be used with friends (you could call your friend "Kaede chan", even if shes not cute and your are the same age and not related...if that makes sense). "Kun" is usually used for males but can also be used for females. most of the time it is not, because using it with a female is a slight sign of disrespect...akin to calling a girl a tomboy, but not in so many words. There is nothing respectful about Chan or Kun...they are just terms of endearment.

-- Shinoe (shengri_ken@yahoo.com), February 23, 2005.