Underground Journal

History of Japanese Names And Meanings

The history of Japanese names is actually quite intriguing.  Beginning around 645 with the Taika Reform, Japanese family names become evident. The reward for supporting the Emperor gained a prominent clan a new name. Once this clan began to grow, a way to differentiate between the different sectors was needed. The Japanese began the practice of coupling the clan name with the person’s location, official title, or prominent architecture.

Before the Reformers of the Meiji Period (1868-1012)the use of personal (first) names were taboo in Japan. The Empirical Family had them, yet they were not allowed to be addressed by them. Personal names were given as a mark of the divine or to garner political favor. To say the persons name would bring them bad luck, so designators endings were used instead. For girls and boys these ancient designators are still used today to form popular modern Japanese names and meanings. Some examples are as follows:

Girls Names
ko – child = Keiko
mi – beauty = Yumi
ka – perfume = Reika
na – greens = Haruna

Boys Names
ro – son = Ichiro
ta – great = Kenta
ichi – first son = Kenichi
ji – second son = Jiro
dai – large = Daiichi

After the 1875 Meiji Reformation ended feudalism in Japan, everyone was required to take a surname (last name)for census and tax purposes. Most chose a historic name, those ending in ‘to’ or ‘do’ are from ancient samurai clans. Others decided to make one up; this in part explains the large number of surnames in Japan, versus other oriental countries, who have only a few hundred.

There is not a large diversity in first (personal) names due to government regulations surrounding the maximum number of name kanji and commonly used character kanji that can be used. In order to be read or written by those fluent in Japanese, people are not allowed to make up names. Only those on the approved list are allowed. In Japanese the last name is placed before the first name.

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