-たん (-tan) suffix (honorific) meaning? Came across the honorific - in Re:Zero (episode 4, 6 minutes in): > You saved me, didn't you, Emilia-tan? **Does anyone know what it means?** The protagonist who said it clearly likes the female lead he addressed, but he also doesn't believe that anything is real. When she asks him what it means, he says: > Uh, you can just ignore that one.

- is a lisped version of -. It's probably the most cute-sounding, casual name suffix in Japanese. There are many fictional (usually female) characters who are always called with -.

* OS-tan (oh, this article has an explanation for -tan, too)
* Binchō-tan)



You should never use - in business settings even though it may be grammatically classified as an "honorific suffix".

Calling someone with - is one of the ways to show one's sense of intimacy/affection toward someone (like "honey" or "sweetie" in English), or to tease someone as if she were a child.