Is 波状雲 a well-known word, and how related are 波状雲 and 波状?


First of all, I hope this question is acceptable. It is KINDA subjective and
KINDA cultural, I guess, but it does still refer to language, I think.

This question was difficult for me to word, so I will expand a bit: I'm tasked
with helping with a writing project for a friend. I can only really do
cultural research, as I don't speak Japanese beyond understanding some very
rudamentary words and phrases.

For the project, the idea is to come up with a nickname for a character with a
cloud motif. We wanted to avoid using 雲 so as to not be too on the nose (think
those anime characters that use kanjis like 闇 or 死 in their name), and also
because we don't like spiders. So what I thought was that we could use 波状?
はじょう is short and sounds pleasant, but basically I'm unsure if it's a good
suggestion.

Is the word 波状雲, or maybe rather the type of cloud well-known enough in
average Japanese vocabulary for a reader to understand the relation between 波状
and the cloud-motif?

Thank you very much for any help, and I again apologize if this question falls
outside of what's allowed.




  1. 波状雲 is a very understandable word if you can see the kanji. Less so with just the sound, since it's not _that_ common, but still understandable with context.
  2. 波状 (approximately "wave-shaped") is common and understandable, but it's unlikely to be associated with 波状雲 by most people, unless they were already primed for some reason.
  3. 波状, with those characters, is odd as a name. Wouldn't you find "wavelike" or "waveshaped" to be a weird name in English?

