名称
めいしょう · meishou · JLPT N1 · noun
name
📛 名 (name) + 称 (call, designate): the word you are called by, a title.
名 means name; 称 means to call or designate. Together they mean the name by which a thing is called. Reading: めい + しょう, from the same 名 as 名前.
名 — evening 夕 + mouth 口
A compound ideograph: in the dark of evening (夕), one cannot recognize others by sight, so the mouth (口) calls out a name to identify oneself. The original sense of 'name' broadened to include reputation, fame, and a measure word for people.
称 — grain 禾 + 尔 (phonetic)
称 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the grain radical 禾 on the left points to weighing grain on a balance, while 尔 hints at the sound. It originally meant 'to weigh' on a steelyard, then extended to 'to state the weight of,' and finally to general senses like 'to call,' 'to name,' or 'title.'