Aizen

Aizen is a Japanese reading whose meaning depends on how it is written. In the religious name Aizen Myōō, the characters refer to being dyed in love, a concept in esoteric Buddhism. This is different from a universal translation such as “love and goodness,” which cannot be established from the Latin-letter spelling alone.

The name is also familiar through the character Sōsuke Aizen in Bleach, where Aizen functions as a surname. A family choosing it as a first name may be drawing on that fictional association rather than traditional given-name usage. Understanding the intended writing and reference is therefore especially helpful, since the same spoken form can carry different meanings and cultural contexts.