Miroku
[miːroʊku]Miroku is the Japanese name of Maitreya, the bodhisattva who is to become the next Buddha. The Sanskrit name comes from maitrī, loving-kindness — not, as our listing says, a description of a character's powers.
Temperament
Related Names
Makoto
From Japanese 誠 (makoto), meaning "sincerity"
Megure
Minato
From Japanese 港 or 湊, both meaning "harbour"
Osamu
From japanese 修 (osamu), meaning "discipline, study", and other kanji with the same pronunciation
Hibiki
From Japanese 響 (hibiki), meaning "sound, echo"
Hotaka
Recorded as a masculine given name in Japanese
Katari
Means 'the one who is respected' in Japanese
Mako
Recorded as a given name in Japanese, English (New Zealand) and Hawaiian
Marine
French, Armenian and Georgian form of Marina
Marlow
Referred to as 'driftwood' or 'remains of a tree'.
The future Buddha
Miroku is not primarily a character name. It is 弥勒, the Japanese reading of Maitreya — the bodhisattva regarded in all schools of Buddhism as the future Buddha of this world. He is prophesied to come, attain enlightenment and teach, and the name has been in use across Asia for well over a thousand years in forms that are recognisably the same word: Maitreya in Sanskrit, Metteyya in Pali, Miroku in Japanese, Mile in Chinese.
The name itself comes from the Sanskrit maitrī, which means loving-kindness or benevolence. It is related to the Indo-Iranian name Mitra, and in Tibetan tradition he is called the Lord of Love. So Miroku means something close to "the loving one" — a name about a quality rather than a title.
The figure is not confined to Buddhism either. In Hinduism, Maitreya is prophesied to be the king of Shambala. It is one of a small number of religious names that crossed between traditions and kept their shape while doing so.
Why our listing says something else
Our own listing gives the meaning as "a character known for spiritual powers and wisdom". That is not a meaning at all; it is a description of a character, and it is the sort of sentence a machine produces when it has been asked for a definition and has only been given a plot summary. The background note on the same page is closer to the mark, because it names Inuyasha and the monk Miroku, which is where most English speakers meet the word.
That character is real and worth knowing about. Miroku in Inuyasha is a wandering Buddhist monk, and the series uses him the way it uses most of its cast: a genuine religious figure or concept, borrowed and turned into a person with a personality. The name is not invented for the manga. The manga borrowed it.
Miroku on a dog
mee-ROH-koo. Three syllables, and in Japanese there is no stress to speak of, which means English speakers will put one somewhere and disagree about where. The k in the middle is the part that carries; the opening m is a nasal and gets lost in wind.
Three syllables is long for recall, and this name has no obvious short form — Miro is a different name, and Roku means something else entirely in Japanese, where it is the number six. If you want the name, plan on using the whole thing and saying it the same way every time, or choose a nickname deliberately and stick to it.
Common questions
What does Miroku mean?
It is the Japanese name of Maitreya, the future Buddha, from the Sanskrit maitrī, meaning loving-kindness. Our listing's "a character known for spiritual powers" is a description rather than a translation.
Is Miroku from Inuyasha?
The character is, but the name is far older. Miroku is the Japanese form of Maitreya, a bodhisattva recognised across Buddhism, and the manga borrowed an existing religious name rather than inventing one.
Sources
Page reviewed .