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In order to be sure of the meaning the parents (or other namegivers) intended for a Japanese name, you must find out the kanji characters the name is written in and then get a Japanese language expert who can interpret those characters to explain it to you. Most Japanese given names have several different possible interpretations.

I don't speak Japanese, I'm not finely tuned to Japanese culture and I'm no etymologist, so don't run with this. I've never heard the name Hideto, but is it possible that the name was Hideo? I remember reading somewhere that it means "he who walks toward the sun," or something to that effect.