Meaning Of Onii-chan, Onee-chan - Siblings In Japanese - Suki Desu

Have you ever wondered what onii-chan, onee-chan, onii-san, onee-san and other variations mean in Japanese? Do you know the meaning of Imouto, Otouto, Kyoudai and Shimai? Have you heard the term Aniki? Do you know how to say brother and sister in Japanese?

Previously, we wrote an article discussing family members in Japanese. In this article, we will conduct an in-depth research to understand the meaning and difference of these words.

The relationship between younger and older siblings is highly valued in Japan, not to mention that the Japanese have a tendency to include younger sisters who call their brother onii-chan in anime.

Have you noticed how anime exaggerates this younger sister scheme? Most of the time they are lolis, but do you know what loli means? Click here and read our article about loli, lolicon, and lolita.

Older Brother – What does Onii-chan mean

Onii-chan is simply an informal way to say older brother in Japanese. The ideogram Onii [お兄] literally means older brother. The chan is a childlike, informal, and intimate honorific, like a diminutive (little brother).

The more formal and common way is to use the suffix san, which is why we also hear the words onii-san for older brother. You can use these expressions after the person’s name as an honorific (Kevin-oniichan).

This form of address is used for any older brother you have; sometimes it is even used with people you consider a brother, even without any kinship.

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Oniichan or Onii-chan, which is correct?

There is no correct form; this trait is just an option for romanization that we use to separate the word brother from the suffix chan or another suffix like san. Be careful not to write just onichan because then you will be referring to the demon, ogre, or monster Oni [鬼].

Older Sister – What does Onee-chan mean

Onee-san is the informal way to say older sister in Japanese. The ideogram “Onee” [お姉] literally means older sister. As we mentioned, the suffix “chan” is an informal diminutive (little sister).

Onee-san is the more formal way to say older sister. Due to having greater respect for women, men usually tend to use more onee-san than onee-chan depending on the family situation.

What does Ane mean?

“Ane” [姉] is another way to refer to an older sister, especially when talking about your own sister to others. An even more formal and archaic way is “aneue” [姉上].

The different ways to say older brother in Japanese

In Japanese, there is a hierarchy of address, a formal, common, and informal language. This is one of the main reasons there are so many variations and ways to say older brother in Japanese. To make it easier, we will provide a list of words below exemplifying the idea:

Remember that all the words in the list below refer to older sisters or brothers:

Description	Older Brother	Older Sister
Keigo – Too formal – Sovereign	onii-sama [お兄さま]	onee-sama [お姉さま]
Sonkeigo (older siblings)	aniue [兄上]	aneue [姉上]
Formal – Everyday – Common	onii-san [お兄さん]	onee-san [お姉さん]
A bit more informal	nii-san [兄さん]	nee-san [姉さん]
No respectful suffix, informal	nii [兄]	nee [姉]
Informal and diminutive suffix	onii-chan [お兄ちゃん]	onee-chan [お姉ちゃん]
Completely informal with diminutive suffix	nii-chan [兄ちゃん]	nee-chan [姉ちゃん]
Alternative to nii and nee	ani [兄]	ane [姉]
Precious, esteemed, honorable	Aniki [兄貴]	aneki [姉貴]

Aniki is often used by the yakuza; it is like a comrade brother, where the ideogram [貴] refers to something precious, esteemed, and valuable.

Imouto and Otouto – Younger Sister and Younger Brother

To refer to younger siblings, we use the word otouto [弟]. Younger sisters are called imouto [妹].

These words usually do not use a suffix, except when referring to members of another family, like your friend’s younger sister, you should use imouto-san.

Unlike the terms onii-san and onee-san, “imouto” and “otouto” are not used as frequently to talk to your younger siblings. Generally, Japanese people call younger individuals by their names.

If you search for “younger sister” in a Japanese dictionary, you will see that there are countless ways to convey the idea of a younger sister, although uncommon.

Different ways to say siblings in Japanese

We have already learned the main ways to refer to younger and older siblings. Now let’s look at other Japanese words used to refer to siblings in Japanese:

Japanese	Kana	Romaji	Portuguese
兄弟	きょうだい	kyoudai	Siblings
姉妹	しまい	shimai	Sisters
兄	あに	ani	Older brother
姉	あね	ane	Older sister
弟	おとうと	otouto	Younger brother
妹	いもうと	imouto	Younger sister
双子	ふたご	futago	Twins
義弟	ぎてい	gitei	Half younger brother
義妹	ぎまい	gimai	Half younger sister

Futago – When are they twin siblings?

If both are twin siblings, how do they call each other? Who decides to be the younger or older brother? The Japanese word for twins is futago [双子], which literally means children in pairs or sets.

In reality, everyone is aware that even twins, born at the same time, are taken out in an order, so those who come out first from their mother’s womb are considered older. Therefore, it can be said:

• futago no ani [双子の兄] twin brother;
• futago no ane [双子の姉] twin sister;
• futago no oniisan [双子のお兄さん] older twin brother;
• futago no oneesan [双子のお姉さん] older twin sister;
• futago no otouto [双子の弟] younger twin brother;
• futago no imouto [双子の妹] younger twin sister;
• tsuin [ツイン] from English twins;

Kyoudai and Shimai – Other ways to talk about siblings

If we want to talk about siblings in the plural, we can use the combination of the ideograms for older brother and younger brother. Siblings in Japanese is written “kyoudai” [兄弟] and sisters in Japanese is written “shimai” [姉妹].

Kyoudai can encompass all siblings, including females; although rare, you may find Kyoudai written in other ways using 2 of the 4 ideograms used for siblings [兄-弟-姉-妹].

I hope this article has clarified all doubts about the words onii-chan, onee-chan, onii-san, and onee-san, as well as other related to siblings in Japanese like imouto, otouto, kyoudai, and shimai! Thank you for the comments and shares!

If you want to know the names of family members, we recommend the video below:

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