TENTEN > NAME
So what does Tenten mean?
This is what I found from doing a search around.
Tenten's name: テンテン
テン - "Ten".
Ten is the japanese word for "heaven". So if we were to add another テン, we would - as far as I know, have "heavenly".
Random fact: the kanji for heaven is 天.
"Tenten" can also mean "here and there", "little by little", or even "sporadically".
Ama is rumored to be Tenten's last name. Because a fansubbing group refered to Tenten as Ama. Which subbing-group this was, I don't know, as I never watched it. But this is the reason fans started to think it was Tenten's last name.
I can see where it's coming from though, as the Kanji "天" alone is "Ten", but if you combine it with some other kanji to make a word, its pronunciation changes to "Ama".
Ten-ten, Ten Ten or Tenten?
Okay, since so many people is spelling her name differently, I'm doing this. Her name is 'Tenten'. Not Ten-Ten or Ten Ten. And definitely not 1010. Why can I say that for sure? Alright..
- One: テンテン = Tenten's name in japanese characters. Do YOU see any spaces or -'s in there? Thought not.
- Two: In some of the official japanese books, they have the characters' names in both Katakana AND Romaji. And the romaji say "Tenten" - not Ten Ten/Ten-Ten.
- Three: In the english manga released by Viz, she goes by "Tenten".