Is the name Akihito commonly associated with the Japanese emperor?

Question:

I know that he was technically "re-named" Heisei when he became the emperor... But would it be weird if a rhetorical person was named Akihito in Japan? Is it like naming a child Obama or something? Would it be weird because it's, like, a common name for old people? I'm writing a story about a old-ish person in Japan, and I like the name. Any input would help!

Thanks!
-Mack.

Answer:

Akihito is a perfectly plausible (and not unusual) male name in Japan. It would, however, be very unusual for someone to use the exact same characters used in the former prince's name. There are plenty of other characters one could use, though: 明人, 昭仁, 秋人, 章仁, etc, etc.

(I've heard a story from before WW2 of a father who named his son Hirohito and used the same characters as the Emperor's name without really thinking about it. Once he realized what he had done, he killed himself and his son to apologize for his unspeakable crime. I have no idea if it's actually true, and obviously it's not a crime or anything these days, but it's still hard to imagine anyone actually using the exact same name/characters.)