Japanese Name - Customs

Customs

In ancient times, people in Japan were considered the property of the Emperor and their surname reflected the role in the government they served. An example is Ōtomo (大友 'great attendant, companion'). Names would also be given in the recognition of a great achievement and contribution.

Until the Meiji Restoration, Japanese common people (people other than kuge and samurai) had no surnames, and when necessary, used a substitute such as the name of their birthplace. For example, Ichirō born in Asahi mura (Asahi village) in the province of Musashi would say "Ichirō from Asahi-mura of Musashi". Merchants were named after their stores or brands (for example, Denbei, the owner of Sagamiya, would be Sagamiya Denbei), and farmers were named after their fathers (for example, Isuke, whose father was Genbei, would be "Isuke, son of Genbei"). After the Meiji Restoration, the government ordered all commoners to assume surnames in addition to their given names, as part of modernization and Westernization; this was specified in the Family Register Law of 1898. Many people adopted historical names, others simply made names up, chose names through divination, or had a Shinto or Buddhist priest choose a surname for them. This explains, in part, the large number of surnames in Japan, as well as their great diversity of spelling and pronunciation, and makes tracing ancestry past a certain point extremely difficult in Japan.

During the period when typical parents had several children, it was a common practice to name sons by numbers suffixed with rō (郎, "son"). The first son would be known as "Ichirō", the second as "Jirō", and so on. Girls were often named with ko (子, "child") at the end of the given name; this should not be confused with the less common male suffix hiko (彦). Both practices have become less common, although many children still have names along these lines.

While some people now may believe this, Lafcadio Hearn (see below), in Shadowings, makes it clear that at least in his time (1880 to 1905, the date of publication), the ending -ko (子) was not any part of the name, but an honorific suffix like さん -san. Particularly, even though the symbol was "child," it meant "Lady," was used only to upper-class females, and would have been ridiculous applied to middle-class or lower-class women. Pretty much the same names were used by all classes, but Hana-ko was upper class, while lesser women would be O-Hana-san, with honorific prefix as well as suffix.