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Every now and then, Konata calls Kagami Kagamin. Why? Does this change the meaning of the name?

coleopterist
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1 Answers1

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It's just a suffix that makes the name a little more cute, it's roughly the same as having a friend called, I don't know, Sam, and calling him "Sammy".

It is also similar to adding "-chan" to the name. I guess Konata does that partly to annoy Kagami a little.

In case you're wondering, the name Kagami means "mirror".

SingerOfTheFall
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  • Thanks :) Are you aware of other examples beside Kagamin? Could, say, _Hikari_ become _Hikarin_? (There's actually an episode where Tsukasa offers _Kyou-chan_ as a nickname for her sister. Kagami doesn't like it and asks Kona-chan to call her Kagami-sama instead.) – coleopterist Apr 24 '13 at 08:49
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    As far as I know, one kanji character read as `Kyou` means `demon`. – xjshiya Apr 24 '13 at 09:03
  • Tsukasa suggests Kyou since it can also mean _mirror_. Konata agrees with her on _Kyou_ since it can mean both _powerful_, and with a minor change, _evil_. – coleopterist Apr 24 '13 at 09:36
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    @coleopterist, yea, though "Kagami-sama" didn't last long after Konata actually started calling her so :P As for other examples, unfortunately I don't know. I guess it might be different for every specific name, since some names probably _can_ change their meaning if you add -n to them. I'm not sure though. – SingerOfTheFall Apr 24 '13 at 09:37
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    @coleopterist for another example Akari in Yuruyuri is occasionally interchanged with Akarin. – Toshinou Kyouko Apr 24 '13 at 11:43
  • Late to this party, but IIRC, Hiyori Tamura is called Hiyorin by Konata. As one more example, in Ro Kyu Bu, Maho forms several nicknames by adding *-n* (Tomoka becomes Mokkan, Airi becomes Airin, Subaru becomes Subarun, etc.) – Torisuda Aug 31 '14 at 07:07
  • @coleopterist, in Azumanga Daioh. Kimura sensei calls himself Kimurin. He also calls Kaori Kaorin. – Han Oct 01 '15 at 08:29
  • In KareKano: Yukino -> Yukinon – Seva Alekseyev Nov 26 '18 at 19:17