why do people in anime put a -san or -kun after a name?

Question

can anyone give me like a list of what they mean I know there are more, kk thxs

Answer 1

San
San is the most common honorific title, used when addressing most social outsiders, for example, non-family members. San is used unless the addressee's status warrants one of the other terms below. San is often translated as "Mr.", "Ms.", "Mrs.", and the like. San may also be used in combination with things other than the name of the person being addressed. For example, a bookseller might be addressed as honya-san ("Ms. Bookseller") and a butcher as nikuya-san ("Mr. Butcher"). San is also used when talking about entities such as companies. For example, the offices or shop of a company called Kojima Denki might be referred to as "Kojima Denki-san" by another nearby company. This may be seen on the small maps often used in phone books and business cards in Japan, where the names of surrounding companies are written using san.San is also applied to some kinds of foods. For example, fish used for cooking are sometimes referred to as sakana-san. Likewise, this suffix is sometimes applied to animals—a rabbit might be usagi-san.

Kun
Kun is an informal and intimate honorific primarily used towards males. (It is still used towards females, but rarely.) It is used by persons of senior status in addressing those of junior status, by males of roughly the same age and status when addressing each other, and by anyone in addressing male children. In business settings, women, particularly young women, may also be addressed as kun by older males of senior status. It is sometimes used towards male pets as well. Schoolteachers typically address male students using kun, while female students are addressed as san or chan. The use of kun to address male children is similar to the use of san when addressing adults. In other words, not using kun would be considered rude in most situations, but, like the rule for using san in reference to family members, kun is traditionally not used when addressing or referring to one's own child (unless kun is part of a nickname: "Akira-kun"—Akkun).

Chan
Chan is the suffix used to refer to children, animals, and people whom one has known since they were children. Chan is used less for women than for men and requires considerable intimacy to be used with adults with whom one has not known for an extended period of time or since their childhood. Chan may also be used for celebrities as a title of affection. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger gained the nickname Shuwa chan in Japanese. Although traditionally honorifics are not applied to oneself, some young women occasionally develop the habit of referring to themselves in the third person using chan. For example, a young woman named Maki might call herself Maki-chan rather than using a first person pronoun. Chan is also used for pets' names and when referring to animals, such as usagi-chan (or, more frequently, usa-chan: rabbit+chan) (e.g. Tama-chan, the flying turtle in Love Hina and Hunny's stuffed bunny in "Ouran High School Host Club"), or when speaking to small children. If the speaker were to use this suffix to a person his/her age then he/she would have to realize that the ~chan suffix is a casual suffix and is mainly used only for girls, if they are the same age or only a little bit younger than the speaker. If a boy was to call another boy his name and add -chan onto the other boy's name, then it could be deemed as an insult, unless it was said as a joke, or under other circumstances.

Senpai and kōhai
Senpai is used by students to refer to or address senior students in an academic or other learning environment, in athletics and sports clubs, and also in business settings to refer to those in more senior positions. Kōhai is the reverse of this. It is used to refer to or address juniors, though it might be considered somewhat insulting or overly condescending in some circles to refer to someone as kōhai directly--kun is frequently used toward kōhai in direct address.

Sensei
Sensei is used to refer to or address teachers, practitioners of a profession such as doctors and lawyers, politicians, and other authority figures. It is used to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill. For example, Japanese manga fans refer to manga artists using the term sensei, as in Takahashi sensei for manga artist Rumiko Takahashi; the term is used similarly by fans of other creative professionals such as novelists, musicians, and artists. It is also a common martial arts title when referring to the instructor. A further, similar use is to address or refer to someone who acts in a self-important or self-aggrandizing manner. This suffix is a little different than others used in the Japanese language in that -sensei can also be used just by itself when talking to someone. So instead of having to add the person's name and then the suffix, the speaker can just say sensei which is the same as just saying Professor or Teacher.

Sama
Sama is the formal version of san. This honorific is used primarily in addressing persons much higher in rank than oneself and in commercial and business settings to address and refer to customers. It also appears in words used to address or speak of persons or objects for which the speaker wishes to show respect or deference, such as okyaku-sama (customer) or Tateishi-sama (a stone revered as a deity). Additionally, Japanese Christians will refer to God in prayer as Kami-sama. People will also affix sama to the names of personages who have a special talent or are considered particularly attractive, though this usage can also be tongue-in-cheek, exaggerated, or even ironic. Examples include "Tanaka-sama" to refer to a young man named Tanaka who is considered rather handsome by his admirers and the "Leo-Sama" (or "Reo-sama") that has become the media's pet name for Leonardo DiCaprio. Further, sama can be used to express arrogance (or self-effacing irony), such as in the arrogant male pronoun ore-sama ("my esteemed self") for "I". Referring to oneself with -sama is considered to be highly egotistical. Sama also follows the addressee's name on postal packages and letters and is frequently seen in business e-mails.

Answer 2

Its a sign of respect. The same as Mr. Or Mrs. or Sir or Madam. -kun is proper respect to a young male whom you are freindly with. -San would be the equal to mr. or mrs. There are many other suffixes that go around. -sama is how you would addess someone who you would consider superior to yourself in the given setting. -sensei is given to anyone whom's purpose is to educate you in some manner.

Answer 3

The suffix is a Japanese language convention to show different levels of respect and relationship. -san is for people of equal rank whom you respect (coworkers), -kun is for those socially below you that you are fond of (younger siblings), -sama is for those who you greatly respect (honored elder teachers). There are others, but these are the most common.

Answer 4

It is a very formal and/or proper way to address someone

like -sama -chan -san -kun