What's in a Name? The Reason Why Light Yagami is Called Kira in Death Note

What's in a name? Different cultures say different things.

In Western society, names are generally chosen from the Bible. Parents name their children after angels, after Jesus himself, or they look to the Latin roots in order to choose a name fitting for their child.

Sometimes, a name is simpler than people believe.

Kira.

Kira is the name assigned to Light Yagami by the public, when criminals mysteriously began to die of heart-attacks.  But what does Kira mean?

The pseudonym Kira is written in Katakana, one of the three writing systems of Japan. Katakana is generally used when words are from a different language – whether that language be Spanish or English.

Kira is a Japanese Romanization of the English word ‘Killer’. When said with a Japanese accent, out-loud, the word sounds like ‘Killer’.

But why use that instead of ‘Murderer’, or the actual Japanese word for a killer? The answer?

Because it’s cooler.

In Japan, Katakana is widely regarded as “cooler” than Hiragana, the main writing system for Japanese words. Katakana originally came about when a large group of people looked at Kanji and decided that it was difficult and took a very long time to write. Katakana was largely derived off of bits and pieces of different Chinese characters. Katakana tends to look sharper and thinner than Hiragana, which tends to be bubblier.
 
In my opinion, the name Kira was given by a younger generation of Japanese people. This explains the Katakana, and explains the use of English instead of Japanese.

It is short, cool, and extremely catchy.

(Article by Renchan)