User:Cckerberos/HistoricalName

This article describes historical Japanese name usage, covering the period up the Meiji Restoration when modern name practices entered usage. Due to the nature of the historical record, unless otherwise stated, most of the below should be understood as primarily applying to upper-class male Japanese.

Family Names

Pre-Taika Asuka Period (to 645)

The pre-Taika Yamato polity was marked by the presence of powerful lineage groups known as uji (氏; commonly translated as clans). The imperial dynasty itself had evolved as one of these uji and despite its theoretical claims to power, in practice, it was merely primus inter pares, sharing power with the most powerful uji, most notably the Mononobe and Soga. Information on pre-Taika uji and government are primarily based on post-Taika documents such as the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, and Fudoki. As one of the goals of these documents was justifying the new political structure in which the imperial dynasty had asserted its authority, reliable knowledge of pre-Taika uji is limited.

Ujina

The first names to take the role of surnames were the names of these uji, known as ujina or shimei (氏名) in Japanese. According to post-Taika documents, these names were granted or confirmed by the imperial dynasty as it absorbed these uji during the expansion of its geographical control over Japan.

Ujina were commonly derived from:

• A geographical location that the clan controlled or originated from

• the Soga clan (蘇我氏) was named after what is now part of Kashihara, Nara.
• the Kazuraki clan (葛城氏) was named after what is now Katsuragi, Nara.

• The clan's professional role

• the Mononobe clan's (物部氏) name describes their role as warriors by referencing mononoke.
• the Nakatomi clan's (中富氏) use of the character 中 ("middle") references their priestly role as intermediaries between the kami and humanity.

• The location of actual or claimed origin for immigrants

• the Hata clan's (秦氏) name is written with the same character as the Qin Dynasty, showing their Chinese origin.

Each uji was hierarchical in structure. Led by a leader known as the uji-no-kami (氏上), each uji was controlled by the ujibito (氏人), a loosely formed kinship group. Those under the control of the uji, peasant or otherwise, who were outside of this group were known as be (部民), or in the case of the imperial family, tomobe (品部). The names of these be groups all ended with the suffix "-be" (部).

As with the clan names themselves, the names of the be groups took a multitude of forms. They could be derived from the Emperor they served, as in the case of the Takarabe (宝部) who served Takara no Miko (Empress Kōgyoku). They could make reference to their profession role, such as with the Nuribe (塗部), lacquerware makers whose name comes from the word for painting. They could also just derive from the uji they were subordinate to, as in the case of the Sogabe (蘇我部), who served the Soga. Others had more complicated origins: the name of the Chōsokabe clan (長宗我部氏), who gained control of Shikoku during the late Sengoku period, is formed from the first character of Nagaoka (長岡), a location in Tosa, an alternative writing of the Soga name, and "-be". They were thus identified as the be who served the Soga in Nagaoka. The Mononobe, as their name indicates, were initially a be serving the imperial line that managed in time to become a powerful uji themselves.

Kabane

Originating in honorifics used by ujibito towards the uji-no-kami from as early as the fourth century, kabane (姓) were ranked titles. Over time their application expanded from a title held by a particular uji head to a hereditary one held by all members. There were numerous kabane (as many as 30, depending on the definition), and which one an uji was entitled to use was determined by a complicated series of factors, including their position in the government, whether they claimed descent from the imperial line or the kami, and whether they were immigrants from the Asian mainland, among others. As kabane became widespread and hereditary, they began to serve as part of surnames alongside ujina.

The uji as a whole were known as the "hundred kabane" (百姓, hyakushō) from this practice, a term that would later come to refer to the public.

Post-Taika Asuka Period to Early Heian Period (645-857)

In 645, a palace coup eliminated the main line of the Soga, a powerful uji who had come to exert considerable control over the imperial dynasty through intermarriage. Beginning with the Taika Reform, the decades following the elimination of the Soga saw a fundamental revamping of the Japanese state as uji-based government was replaced (in theory, at least) by a centralized bureaucratic state based on the Chinese model headed by an unquestionably dominant Emperor.

Kan'i

Because kabane were so numerous, it was difficult at times to understand the relative ranks of individuals. In an attempt to address this problem, Prince Shōtoku introduced the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System in 603. Unlike kabane, these kan'i (冠位) ranks were granted to individuals in recognition of their personal accomplishments. This system was reformed four times in the following decades, ultimately culminating in a system of 48 ranks established in 685. These ranks did not replace kabane; both were used at the same time.

Kabane

In 684, Emperor Tenmu reformed the kabane system, establishing a new system of just 8 ranks (八色の姓). These new ranks were still inheritable, but only by the male descendants of the leaders of the clans. This revision had both practical and political motivations behind it: with so many ranks existing, it was difficult to be certain of how two ranks compared hierarchically and since kabane were hereditary, many uji had kabane that were out of sync with their actual status in the government. By implementing a new system, Tenmu was also able to reshuffle the existing hierarchy, giving higher ranks to those uji of imperial descent, emphasizing the importance of the imperial house.

Granting of New Names

The Taika Reforms abolished the be groups under the control of the uji as part of its attempts to weaken private power. All peasants were given new be names, which had to be different from their previous names. As these new names were assigned arbitrarily by the government, the extent to which they were actually used by the peasants themselves is unclear.

The eighth and ninth centuries saw a movement away from the comparatively loose uji groupings towards more tightly bonded patrilineal descent groups. Individuals petitioned the Emperor for new ujina, especially after assuming a new position, because by receiving one, they escaped the control of their current uji. Emperors were easily convinced to grant such names, as they created new bonds between the imperial dynasty and the recipient and weakened the power of the uji. Over time, the uji gave way to the ie ("household", referred to here as "family" or "clan"). Clan leadership became patrilineal and no longer required the confirmation of the Emperor. The holding of private lands (and their income) and government offices became hereditary, leading to these clans to become the new source of non-Imperial power, pushing out the uji.

Genpeitōkitsu

It was during this period that the four great clans that were dominant in the Heian period and that the vast majority of later clans claimed descent from were created: the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, the Minamoto, and the Taira. These four clans are sometimes referred to as the Genpeitōkitsu (源平藤橘), a word created by combining the characters for their names together.

The first of these was created in 669, when Emperor Tenji granted the name Fujiwara no Ason (藤原朝臣) to a dying Nakatomi no Kamatari (Fujiwara was the name of the area that Kamatari lived in, and ason one of the highest kabane). Katamari had been a leader of the anti-Soga coup and the chief of the imperial advisors during the Taika Reforms. Although it was not unusual for a kabane to be granted as a reward, this act revived the act of granting both a kabane and an ujina. All members of the Nakatomi accordingly adopted the Fujiwara name. However, the Emperor Tenmu declared in 698 that the name was only to be used by Kamatari's heir Fuhito and his direct descendants. As such, the other clan members returned to the Nakatomi name and the Fujiwara remained a more close-knit group.

In 708, Empress Gemmei granted the name Tachibana no Sukune (橘宿禰) to Agata Inukai no Michiyo, one of her attendants, after a fruit. This name was only used by her, not her family. In 736, shortly after Michiyo's death, two of her sons received permission to adopt the name, however, as they were fifth generation imperials and their family was soon to leave the imperial household (see below).

By the early Heian period, the size of the imperial household was causing significant budgetary strains on the government as the children of an Emperor and their descendants were entitled to membership for five generations. In 753, Empress Kōken established a new precedent by removing a number of princes, granting them the name Oka no Mahito (岡真人) and making them nobles. Thereafter, the household was periodically reduced in size and the former princes and princesses were granted new names depending on their heritage. In 814, Emperor Saga, granted 8 of his children the name Minamoto no Ason (源朝臣) in 814. He then granted the same name to another 24 in the following year. This was unprecedented as the princes removed from the imperial household previously had always been of lower rank, and never before had the same name been granted to so many at once. Minamoto became the standard name granted by Emperors to their children as 20 Emperors followed Saga's example. Because so many princes had been granted the surname, it became common to preface Genji (an alternate reading of Minamoto) with the name of the Emperor who had granted the name when referring to them. Thus, Seiwa Genji, the name of the branch of the clan that would be the most successful, refers to those who were granted the Minamoto name by Emperor Seiwa. The name Minamoto itself, meaning "source" or "origin", originated from a quote from the Book of Wei.

The final great Heian-era clan, the Taira were, like the Minamoto, former members of the imperial household. The name Taira no Ason (平朝臣) was granted to the descendants of Emperor Kanmu and three others. As with the Minamoto, these four branches are referred to by the name of the Emperor they were descended from and the word Heishi (平氏). However, unlike with the Minamoto, who was first granted the name and when is disputed, although the most common theory is that it was in 825 to Prince Takamochi. The meaning of the name is also unclear. The traditional explanation is that it comes from the verb "to suppress" (平らぐ, tairagu), in honor of Takamochi's suppression of a rebellion against the throne. However, contemporary evidence of any such rebellion is slim, and modern historians have suggested that Taira instead commemorates Kanmu's establishment of the new capital, Heian-kyō, because the name is the same as the first character in Heian.

From the Mid-Heian Period (858-)

Chimei

As clans flourished and grew, a clan name became insufficient to easily distinguish one individual from another. As a result, members came to be commonly referred to by names deriving from their addresses or other places they were associated with. Thus, Fujiwara no Kanemichi was referred to as Horikawa-dono (堀川殿) because his residence was on Horikawa-dōri, one of the major streets in Kyoto. These names were initially temporary and changed as an individual moved. Because it was customary for a man to move into his wife's residence following marriage, multiple generations of the same family would have different names. This custom had changed by the end of the Heian period, however, leading to multiple generations all using the same name.

This increased permanence in a name gradually caused them to cease to serve as a form of address for a single individual and instead become surnames used by a family as a whole. For example, the five regent houses, all branches of the Fujiwara, adopted their names in this manner. Another common choice, adopted by the Saionji branch, was adopting a name from the temple where their founding ancestor was honored.

Myōji

Similarly, branches of the clans which had established themselves outside of the capital area began adopting family names deriving from their local bases of power. These names were known as myōji (名字), from the term myōden (名田) for privately held lands. As with the names of the nobility in Kyoto, these myōji would change as the family's holdings changed. Thus, when Oyamada Shigenari, a member of the Kanmu Heishi, was moved by Minamoto no Yoritomo from Oyamada to Inage (both in Musashi) following the Genpei War, he adopted the name Inage Shigenari. Those local clans without ties to the noble families of the capital also adopted the practice of referring to themselves by their areas of control.

Some of these families also adopted names based upon their positions in the government. For examples, the Shōni clan (少弐氏) draws their name from a position within the Dazaifu and the Rusu (留守) clan's name derives from their position of rusushiki (留守職) in Mutsu. Many branches of the Fujiwara combined the first character of the name (藤, pronounced "tō") with a character from their position to create names such as Katō (加藤, "Fujiwara governor of Kaga"), Itō (伊藤, "Fujiwara governor of Ise"), and Andō (安藤, "Fujiwara governor of Awa"). By doing so, they could hold on to some of the prestige associated with the Fujiwara name.

Inheritance customs during the period meant that property was divided among all heirs, creating geographically disparate branches, each of which adopted their own myōji. As the number of collateral branches (分家, bunke) proliferated, the main branch (本家, honke) of each clan took steps to retain control over them. One important way of doing so what by threatening to strip them of their right to use the clan's name, the loss of which symbolized the removal of the main clan's protection and access to imperial government positions through the main clan's status. As generations passed and the collateral branches became more more independent, the power of such threats declined, however.

By the early thirteenth century, these clan names had become largely fixed. As clans were given new territory and moved, they ceased to adopt new names and instead kept their current names. By the late Kamakura/early Muromachi periods, primogeniture had become common to prevent the further dispersal of clan holdings and some clans had, with the approval of the shogunate, restricted the right to use the clan name to the main branch.

Personal Names

Imina

Imina (lit. "taboo name", written 諱 or 忌み名): an individual's formal given name. The term comes from the practice, known as hiki (避諱) and derived from the animistic custom of associating names with power, of avoiding use of this name while an individual was alive. Because of this custom, the imina of many important historical figures are unknown. This naming taboo was especially strong in the case of women, for whom revealing their imina to an outside male meant they were surrendering themselves to him.

In the case of imperial names, this practice drew heavily on the contemporary Chinese naming taboo for rulers. The names of the Emperors were not allowed to be used and individuals, villages, and clans with similar-sounding names had to change them. The degree to which this taboo was actually obeyed varied in accordance with the level of imperial power, however.

Early Imina

Many early Japanese names included the characters for animals, especially those for horse (馬), deer (鹿), monkey (猿), tiger (虎), and cow (牛). Male names commonly ended with the "-ko" (子・古) suffix and the related "-hiko" (彦・比古). The suffix "-iratsuko" (郎子) was also used as an honorific. Female names followed the same pattern, substituting "-me" (女・売) for "-ko", thus using "-hime" (比女・媛・姫) and "-iratsume" (郎女). Another common male suffix (without a female counterpart) was "-maro" (麻呂・麿).

From the late 9th century on, usage of the "-maro" suffix fell out of favor with the male aristocracy. Instead, it entered use as a first person pronoun. At the same time, the suffix "-maru" (丸), believed to be a variation of "-maro", entered popular use among commoners.

Heian Changes

The Emperor Saga, who reigned from 809 to 823, was enamored with Chinese culture and introduced a number of elements to Japan. One of these was the adoption of two-character long personal names as commonly used in China (earlier imina would commonly have as many as four characters in them.)

Contemporary to this change was the introduction of the keiji ("lineage character", 系字), a character shared by all the sons of a given father. For example, all of the sons of Emperor Ninmyō had 康 as the second character in their imina and his son, Emperor Montoku, used the character 惟 in all of his son's names. Prior to this custom, a child's name had not usually been similar to that of their siblings.

Tsūji

By the 11th century, the practice of keiji began to morph into that of tsūji ("common character", 通字). While keiji linked names within the same generation, tsūji were characters passed along between generations in the same family. Specific tsūji customs differed by family. Some, like the Saionji, had two tsūji characters, alternating use between generations.

Granting of Characters

As Japanese warrior society developed, a custom of granting another the use of a character from one's one name emerged, known as henki chodai (偏諱頂戴). This was a special honor for the recipient, given that use of a superior's imina was generally to be avoided. For the superior, this could be a method of strengthening bonds of loyalty with a subordinate as well as a way of offering a reward without a material cost.

The grant could be made as a reward following a battle, but it was especially common at the gempuku coming of age ceremony. As part of the ceremony, an adult known as the ebōshioya (烏帽子親) would place the ebōshi (烏帽子), a piece of headwear, on the child undergoing the ceremony. The ebōshioya was usually not related to the child; his participation would either represent the creation of a relationship between the ebōshioya and the child or of an alliance between each's clan. After undergoing the ceremony, the child would now be an adult and be allowed to use an imina. In many cases, this new name would take the form of one character taken from the imina of the ebōshioya and his own family's tsūji.

During the Muromachi period, the use of granting characters as a way of confirming or strengthening already existing lord-vassal bonds became stronger, especially following the Ōnin War. The shogun granted characters to the shugo and sengoku daimyo, who in turn granted characters from their names to their vassals. For example, the name of Takeda Harunobu (better known as Shingen) was made up of a "haru" (晴) granted by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu and the Takeda clan's tsūji of "nobu" (信). Shingen granted that same "nobu" to his general Oyamada Nobushige.

Yōmyō

From the early Heian period, children were given names that known as yōmyō ("youth name", 幼名) that were only used until they came of age. Early yōmyō were simple one-character, one-syllable names such as ko (呼). Later on, yōmyō took on elements of tsūji in some families. For example, in the Hōjō clan, many yōmyō included the character 寿. In the case of the Hosokawa clan, from the 14th century on the heir to leadership of the clan was always given the same yōmyō, Sōmei (聡明). Many yōmyō appear to end in "-maru" (丸), but this was actually a diminutive suffix rather than part of the name itself.

Tsūshō

Tsūshō ("commonly called name", 通称) or azana (字): the name(s) an individual used in public. Because of the above custom of avoiding use of actual given names, individuals adopted a series of names that could be used. Common forms of these names were those based on birth-order, place of residence, title, or position. Also called shōgō (称号) and kemyō ("temporary name", 仮名).

Following the introduction of the ritsuryō system of ranks and positions, these became common sources of tsūshō.

Haikōmei ("birth order name", 輩行名): a common form of tsūshō deriving from order of birth. Examples include Jirō ("2nd son", 次郎), Saburō ("3rd son", 三郎), etc. These names sometimes had a distinguishing prefix. For example, Heisaburō ("3rd son of the Taira", 平三郎) or Hachimantarō, the tsūshō of Minamoto no Yoshiie, chosen because Yoshiie had had his genpuku ceremony at Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū. They could also be combined with a character from a position.

Hōgō

Hōgō (法号) Kaimyō (戒名): From the Muromachi Period

Women's Names

As mentioned above, the imina name taboo was especially strong for women; they were usually divulged "in marriage, love affairs, or, when they gave up their independence." Thus the names they are referred to in historical documents are often tsūshō. Women's tsūshō took many forms. They could be based on their court rank or position or those of a male relative, their place of residence, or some personal nickname. Unlike men, women did not change their names after coming of age.

Although imina were usually only used in private relationships, women who did manage to hold prominent public roles such as Hōjō Masako were often listed in official documents by their personal names (even if only posthumously). Less prominent women were only identified in records by the uji of their father (even if married), sometimes with an indication of kinship. When myōji were developed, women again kept that of their father. The adoption by women of their husband's name after marriage was not introduced until the Meiji period.

From the early Heian period, the suffix "-ko" (子) entered popular use in female names, largely replacing the earlier "-hime" use.

Yamato Period

The "-hime" ending, the female equivalent of the male "-hiko" and originally a complimentary suffix, was commonly used in the names of upper-class women. The equivalent for middle and lower class women was the "-me" ending. The "-hime" ending was replaced by the "-iratsume" ending later in the period, but the "-me" ending remained a common feature of women's names until the early Edo period. Other endings used by upper-class women until the early 7th century included "-tobe", and "-kimi". The "-ko" ending was also used by some women, but was still primarily a male ending.

Commoner's Names

Family Names

In the centuries following the decline of the be system, wealthier peasants were allowed to use the name of the fields they cultivated as a myōji.

As the shōen agricultural system disappeared during the 16th century Sengoku period, the social structure of the countryside changed to villages arranged around the ie system of monogamous, patrilineal families similar to that of the aristocracy. Depending on their wealth, these families could consist of a main branch and several collateral branches. Some of these continued to use their previous myōji, while others adopted a new surname based on a distinguishing geographical feature. The recruitment of commoners into armies also provided a source of limited social mobility which could also result in a commoner receiving or adopting a surname (whether they were entitled to it or not).

From as early as the 14th century, some peasants and merchants adopted yagō ("house name", 屋号), a surname-substitute taken from the name of their village or a distinctive geographical feature near their home. For merchants, yagō were usually the name of their business. These yagō were often changed after a peasant moved. For example, the late Edo period swordsman Kunisada Chūji's (国定忠治) surname was taken from the village of Kunisada in Kōzuke.

Prior to the Edo period, the use of surnames by commoners was left up to local daimyo. This changed significantly after the reunification of the country. With the goal of stabilizing the country's society, Toyotomi Hideyoshi worked to eliminate the blurring of the warrior and peasant classes that had occurred during the Sengoku period through the Separation Edict and Sword Hunt. As part of this process, Hideyoshi forbade the usage of surnames by commoners and former samurai who had become farmers. This restriction was continued by the Tokugawa shogunate and continued until shortly after the Meiji Restoration in 1870.

In practice, these restrictions were only laxly enforced. Daimyo issued surnames to commoners as a token of merit, and merchants who held official positions for the shogunate were granted the use of surnames. These were nominally only to be used temporarily, but often became hereditary. Daimyo would also sell surnames as a way to raise funds or allow their use by villages as a reward for agricultural production. In many cases, the issue was not whether a commoner had a surname or not but rather whether they were allowed to use that surname officially.

Personal Names

Historical information on the personal names of commoners from earlier than the Kamakura period is relatively scarce. From what evidence that remains, the names for both men and women were roughly similar to those among the upper classes.

From the Kamakura period on, the names of members of the myoshu class (the highest strata of peasants) become widely available. Although the names of women are unlisted, the names of men are once again similar to that of the military class: two character first names and there are signs that tsuji customs may have existed. Among the lower levels of peasants, names indicating birth order such as those ending in "-taro" were extremely common. One village register shows that nearly half the men in the village had names following this pattern. Names based on ritsuryo titles were also common. Two character names such as those used by the military class were essentially non-existent. As time passed, ritsuryo-based names became the most common type, especially those ending in "-bei" (兵衛), "-saemon" (左衛門), and "-uemon" (右衛門).

For their part, the names of Edo period female commoners were simple, very few making use of kanji and most consisting only of two kana.

Examples of Full Names

Although the most common form for full names to appear in writing is [ujina no] + [kabane] + [imina], variations on this order are not unknown. As a representative example, Soga no Emishi (587-645) is referred to as "Soga no Ō-omi Emishi" (蘇我大臣蝦夷) in the Nihon Shoki.

This name breaks down in the following way:

Soga no	Ō-omi	Emishi
蘇我	大臣	蝦夷
Ujina	Kabane	Imina

In the Heike Monogatari, Fujiwara no Kanezane (1149-1207) is referred to as "the lord of Kujo" (九条殿, Kujo-dono).

For this reason, his full "name" could be described as "Kujo no Udaijin Fujiwara no Kanezane" (九条右大臣藤原兼実). Roughly translated as "Kanezane of the Fujiwara living at Kujo, Minister of the Right", this breaks down into:

Kujo no	Udaijin	Fujiwara no	Kanezane
九条	右大臣	藤原	兼実
Chimei	Office	Uji	Imina

Ashikaga Tadayoshi:

Ashikaga	Sama-no-Kami	Minamoto no	Ason	Tadayoshi
足利	佐馬頭	朝	朝臣	直義
Myoji	Tsusho	Ujina	Kabane	Imina

Miyamoto Musashi

Shinmen	Musashi-no-Kami	Fujiwara no	Harunobu
新免	武蔵守	藤原	玄信
Myoji	Tsusho	Ujina	Imina

References

• Miller, Richard J. (1974). Ancient Japanese Nobility: The Kabane Ranking System. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Okutomi Takayuki (2007). Myōji to Namae o Shiru Jiten. Tokyo: Tokyodō Shuppan.
• Plutschow, Herbert (1995). Japan's Name Culture: The Significance of Names in a Religious, Political and Social Context. Kent: Japan Library.
• Tsunoda Bunei (1980). Nihon no Josei-mei (1): Rekishiteki Tenbō. Tokyo: Kyoiku-sha.
• Tsunoda Bunei (1987). Nihon no Josei-mei (2): Rekishiteki Tenbō. Tokyo: Kyoiku-sha.