(Untitled)

[iwakura_l_ain]

Here is a little teaser for you. But, warning to some, it's a question that contains spoilers for the series.

Comments

[ex_karldorn235]

Most human names have absolutely no reasoning behind them.

Why am I named Karl? Is that really the best name for me? No, it probably isn't... but we need something so we can tell eachother apart, and most consider numbers to be too cold and stuffy.

[zyphlar]

extremely deep and irrelevant ;P

[ex_karldorn235]

Aren't we talking about names?

[the_grl_peaches]

We're saying where'd it come from, not what significance it has in actually word-meanings....Just who gave it to her and was it entirely picked out of the big-book-o-names?

[ex_karldorn235]

Kyra, is your LJ is broken?

[iwakura_l_ain]

No, it shouldn't be anyway. Why, can you not access my lj page?

[ex_karldorn235]

It just loads a big gorgeous picture of Lain with "hello" written all over it, and that picture covers everythin up when I click on your journal... :_(

[iwakura_l_ain]

Also, one question. How did you know I went by the name of Kyra?

[neofox]

Iwakura is Lain's last name.. its the last name of the family itself. Thusly like all people- they get it when they are apart of the family X3 Lain is her first name. Lain Iwakura.

[dontcallmejesus]

But we don't know if the name Iwakura was assigned to that family, since her parents aren't actually her real parents.

[neofox]

I believe it's the father's.... I think its mentioned later on... I don't know if that's really his wife and that other girl is really his daughter.. But I'm pretty sure its the dad-- who was in on the whole thing

[ex_karldorn235]

that other girl being mika?

[henry_jones]

Well, perhaps if we had the Japanese meaning of the word, that would help things. Anyone know it?

[zyphlar]

iwakura is a common and powerful name throughout history, some battles, generals, etc. being named iwakura.

i found two references, one being from shintoism ("rock seat", later taking on more deistic properties, meaning "seat for the gods") the other from a haiku:

Iwakura no kyco - (Mad woman of Iwakura)
Koi seyo (Make love)
Hototogisu (Hototogisu)

Apparently Iwakura is a powerful word there, referring to a Buddhist temple in Iwakura, which was a town near Kyoto. There's alot of cultural contexts surrounding the word though, so I get the idea that Iwakura is another one of those meanings in Lain that has alot of meaning for nihon-jin but hidden from others.

[a_grilled_fish]

If one believes that Lain's father is her 'creator,' (the scene in the last episode makes me believe this) and Lain's father's last name is Iwakura, he probably just named her after himself.