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The Meaning of "Yasha"
If you break apart Inuyasha’s name into its component parts, “inu” (犬) and “yasha” (夜叉), and plug those two words into an online translator, you end up with something like this:
Because of this I’ve seen plenty of people remark, “What the hell, why did Takahashi name him ‘Female Demon Dog’?! Doesn’t she understand what that word means?! Wow, talk about stupid!”
Because, obviously, Google Translate knows infinitely more about the meaning and nuances of words than someone native to the language and culture.
Contrary to what Google Translate claims, “yasha” does not mean “female demon”.
And in my research into this word, I honestly have no idea where the “female demon” translation even came from, since a “yasha” is exclusively male.
“Yasha” is the Japanese reading of the Sanskrit word “Yaksha”. And “Yaksha” is, well, pretty much the Hindi word for “youkai” (seriously, why do all these other languages have a word for this but English doesn’t?). In Hindu, the yaksha (male) and yakshini (female) represent a variety of supernatural creatures. Some of them are good, and serve the gods or protect nature, and some of them are evil, and are instead called “rakshasa” (male) or “rakshasi” (female).
The yaksha were adopted into Buddhist mythology, and in Japanese the word became “yasha”. The yasha became part of the Eight Legions that defend righteousness, serving the Heavenly King Bishamonten, who defends the northerly direction.
But most of that doesn’t matter. What matters is that a Japanese yasha looks like this:
Yasha are typically depicted as having long, fluffy hair and horns. In Inuyasha’s case, instead of horns he has dog ears. Thus, well, “Inu” Yasha.
But the term “yasha” in general usage still has pretty much the same definition as “youkai”, however it has that “exotic” feel to it due to it being imported from another language. It would be the equivalent of translating “youkai” as “demon” and “yasha” as “daemon”. They mean more or less the same thing, one just looks “fancier”.
