Means name in Japanese. History and meaning of names

Kotone - F - Sound of koto

Kumiko - F - Forever beautiful

Kuri - F - Chestnut

Kuro - M - Ninth Son

Kyo - M - Agreement (or redhead)

Kyoko - F - Mirror

Leiko - F - Arrogant

Machi - F - Ten thousand years

Machiko - F - Lucky Child

Maeko - F - Honest child

Maemi - F - Sincere smile

Mai - F - Bright

Makoto - M - Sincere

Mamiko - F - Child Mami

Mamoru - M - Earth

Manami - F - The beauty of love

Mariko - F - Child of Truth

Marise - M/F - Infinite

Masa - M/F - Straightforward (person)

Masakazu - M - First son of Masa

Mashiro - M - Wide

Matsu - F - Pine

Mayako - F - Child Maya

Mayoko - F - Child Mayo

Mayuko - F - Child Mayu

Michi - F - Fair

Michie - F - Gracefully hanging flower

Michiko - F - Beautiful and wise

Michio - M - A man with the strength of three thousand

Midori - F - Green

Mihoko - F - Child Miho

Mika - F - New Moon

Miki - M/F - Stalk

Mikio - M - Three woven trees

Mina - F - South

Minako - F - Beautiful child

Mine - F - Brave Defender

Minoru - M - Seed

Misaki - F - The Bloom of Beauty

Mitsuko - F - Child of Light

Miya - F - Three arrows

Miyako - F - Beautiful child of March

Mizuki - F - Beautiful Moon

Momoko - F - Child Peach

Montaro - M - Big Guy

Moriko - F - Child of the Forest

Morio - M - Forest Boy

Mura - F - Country

Mutsuko - F - Child Mutsu

Nahoko - F - Child Naho

Nami - F - Wave

Namiko - F - Child of the Waves

Nana - F - Apple

Naoko - F - Obedient child

Naomi - F - “First of all, beauty”

Nara - F - Oak

Nariko - F - Sissy

Natsuko - F - Summer child

Natsumi - F - Wonderful Summer

Nayoko - F - Baby Nayo

Nibori - M - Famous

Nikki - M/F - Two trees

Nikko - M - Daylight

Nori - F - Law

Noriko - F - Child of the Law

Nozomi - F - Nadezhda

Nyoko - F - Gemstone

Oki - F - Middle of the Ocean

Orino - F - Peasant meadow

Osamu - M - Firmness of the Law

Rafu - M - Network

Rai - F - Truth

Raidon - M - God of Thunder

Ran - F - Water lily

Rei - F - Gratitude

Reiko - F - Gratitude

Ren - F - Water lily

Renjiro - M - Honest

Renzo - M - Third Son

Riko - F - Child of Jasmine

Rin - F - Unfriendly

Rinji - M - Peaceful Forest

Rini - F - Little bunny

Risako - F - Child Risa

Ritsuko - F - Child Ritsu

Roka - M - White wave crest

Rokuro - M - Sixth Son

Ronin - M - Samurai without a master

Rumiko - F - Child Rumi

Ruri - F - Emerald

Ryo - M - Excellent

Ryoichi - M - First son of Ryo

Ryoko - F - Child Ryo

Ryota - M - Strong (fat)

Ryozo - M - Third son of Ryo

Ryuichi - M - First son of Ryu

Ryuu - M - Dragon

Saburo - M - Third Son

Sachi - F - Happiness

Sachiko - F - Child of Happiness

Sachio - M - Fortunately born

Saeko - F - Child Sae

Saki - F - Cape (geographical)

Sakiko - F - Child Saki

Sakuko - F - Child Saku

Sakura - F - Cherry blossoms

Sanako - F - Child Sana

Sango - F - Coral

Saniiro - M - Wonderful

Satu - F - Sugar

Sayuri - F - Little lily

Seiichi - M - Sei's first son

Sen - M - Spirit of the Tree

Shichiro - M - Seventh Son

Shika - F - Deer

Shima - M - Islander

Shina - F - Decent

Shinichi - M - First son of Shin

Shiro - M - Fourth Son

Shizuka - F - Quiet

Sho - M - Prosperity

Sora - F - Sky

Sorano - F - Heavenly

Suki - F - Favorite

Suma - F - Asking

Sumi - F - Purified (religious)

Susumi - M - Moving forward (successful)

Suzu - F - Bell (bell)

Suzume - F - Sparrow

Tadao - M - Helpful

Taka - F - Noble

Takako - F - Tall child

Takara - F - Treasure

Takashi - M - Famous

Takehiko - M - Bamboo Prince

Takeo - M - Bamboo-like

Takeshi - M - Bamboo tree or brave

Takumi - M - Craftsman

Tama - M/F - Gemstone

Tamiko - F - Child of Abundance

Tani - F - From the Valley (child)

Taro - M - Firstborn

Taura - F - Many lakes; many rivers

Teijo - M - Fair

Tomeo - M - Cautious person

Tomiko - F - Child of Wealth

Tora - F - Tigress

Torio - M - Bird tail

Toru - M - Sea

Toshi - F - Mirror image

Toshiro - M - Talented

Toya - M/F - House door

Tsukiko - F - Moon Child

Tsuyu - F - Morning Dew

Udo - M - Ginseng

Ume - F - Plum blossom

Umeko - F - Plum Blossom Child

Usagi - F - Rabbit

Uyeda - M - From the rice field (child)

Yachi - F - Eight thousand

Yasu - F - Calm

Yasuo - M - Mirny

Yayoi - F - March

Yogi - M - Yoga practitioner

Yoko - F - Child of the Sun

Yori - F - Trustworthy

Yoshi - F - Perfection

Yoshiko - F - Perfect Child

Yoshiro - M - Perfect Son

Yuki - M - Snow

Yukiko - F - Snow Child

Yukio - M - Cherished by God

Yuko - F - Kind child

Yumako - F - Child Yuma

Yumi - F - Bow-like (weapon)

Yumiko - F - Child of the Arrow

Yuri - F - Lily

Yuriko - F - Lily's Child

Yuu - M - Noble Blood

Yuudai - M - Great Hero

Nagisa - "coast"

Kaworu - "to smell"

Ritsuko - "science", "attitude"

Akagi - "mahogany"

Shinji - "death"

Misato - "beautiful city"

Katsuragi - "fortress with walls entwined with grass"

Asuka - lit. "love-love"

Soryu - "central current"

Ayanami - "strip of fabric", "wave pattern"

Rei - “zero”, “example”, “soul”

KENSHIN name means "Heart of the Sword".

Akito - Sparkling Man

Kuramori Reika - "Treasure Protector" and "Cold Summer" Rurouni - Wandering Wanderer

Himura - "Burning Village"

Shishio Makoto - True Hero

Takani Megumi - "Sublime Love"

Shinomori Aoshi - "Green Bamboo Forest"

Makimachi Misao - "Run the City"

Saito Hajime - "The Beginning of Human Life"

Hiko Seijuro - "Justice Prevailed"

Seta Sojiro - “Comprehensive Forgiveness”

Mirai - the future

Hajime - boss

Mamoru - protector

Jibo - earth

Hikari - light

Atarashiki - transformations

Namida - tears

Sora - sky

Ginga - the universe

Eva - alive

Izya is a doctor

Usagi - hare

Tsukino - Lunar

Rey - soul

Hino - fire

Ami - rain

Mitsuno - merman

Corey - ice, icy

Makoto is true

Cinema - aerial, forest

Minako - Venus

Aino - loving

Setsuna - guard

Mayo - castle, palace

Haruka - 1) distant, 2) heavenly

Teno - heavenly

Michiru - the way

Kayo - sea

Hotaru - light

Tomo is a friend.

Kaori - soft, affectionate

Yumi - "Fragrant Beauty"

Hakufu - Noble Sign

What to name the child?

For future parents in Japan, special collections of names are published - just like here in general - so that they can choose the most suitable one for their child. In general, the process of choosing (or coming up with) a name comes down to one of the following ways:

1. a keyword can be used in the name - a seasonal phenomenon, a shade of color, a precious stone, etc.

2. the name may contain the parents’ wish to become strong, wise or brave, for which the hieroglyphs of strength, wisdom and courage are used, respectively.

3. You can also go from choosing the hieroglyphs you like most (in different spellings) and combining them with each other.

4. It has recently become popular to name a child based on hearing, i.e. depending on how pleasant the desired name is to the ear. Having chosen the desired pronunciation, they determine the hieroglyphs with which this name will be written.

5. It has always been popular to name a child after celebrities - heroes of historical chronicles, politicians, pop stars, TV series characters, etc.

6. Some parents rely on various fortune telling, believing that the number of traits in the hieroglyphs of the first and last names should be combined with each other.

The most common endings for Japanese names are:

Male names: ~aki, ~fumi, ~go, ~haru, ~hei, ~hiko, ~hisa, ~hide, ~hiro, ~ji, ~kazu, ~ki, ~ma, ~masa, ~michi, ~mitsu , ~nari, ~nobu, ~nori, ~o, ~rou, ~shi, ~shige, ~suke, ~ta, ~taka, ~to, ~toshi, ~tomo, ~ya, ~zou

Female names: ~a, ~chi, ~e, ~ho, ~i, ~ka, ~ki, ~ko, ~mi, ~na, ~no, ~o, ~ri, ~sa, ~ya, ~yo

Nominal suffixes

Personal pronouns

Japanese nominal suffixes and personal pronouns

Nominal suffixes

In the Japanese language, there is a whole set of so-called nominal suffixes, that is, suffixes added in colloquial speech to first names, surnames, nicknames and other words denoting an interlocutor or a third party. They are used to indicate the social relationship between the speaker and the one being spoken about. The choice of suffix is ​​determined by the character of the speaker (normal, rude, very polite), their attitude towards the listener (common politeness, respect, ingratiation, rudeness, arrogance), their position in society and the situation in which the conversation takes place (one-on-one, in a circle of loved ones friends, between colleagues, between strangers, in public). What follows is a list of some of these suffixes (in order of increasing respectfulness) and their usual meanings.

Tian (chan) - A close analogue of the “diminutive” suffixes of the Russian language. Usually used in relation to a junior or inferior in a social sense, with whom a close relationship develops. There is an element of baby talk in the use of this suffix. Typically used when adults address children, boys address their girlfriends, girlfriends address each other, and small children address each other. The use of this suffix in relation to people who are not very close and equal to the speaker in position is impolite. Let's say, if a guy addresses a girl his age in this way, with whom he is not “having an affair,” then he is being inappropriate. A girl who addresses a guy of her own age in this way, with whom she is not “having an affair,” is, in essence, being rude.

Kun (kun) - An analogue of the address “comrade”. Most often used between men or in relation to guys. Indicates, rather, a certain “officiality” of, nevertheless, close relationships. Let's say, between classmates, partners or friends. It can also be used in relation to juniors or inferior in a social sense, when there is no need to focus on this circumstance.

Yang (yan) - Kansai analogue of "-chan" and "-kun".

Tti (cchi) - Children's version of "-chan" (cf. "Tamagotti".

Without a suffix - Close relationships, but without “lisping.” The usual address of adults to teenage children, friends to each other, etc. If a person does not use suffixes at all, then this is a clear indicator of rudeness. Calling by last name without a suffix is ​​a sign of familiar, but “detached” relationships (a typical example is the relationship of schoolchildren or students).

San (san) - An analogue of the Russian “Mr./Madam”. A general indication of respect. Often used to communicate with strangers, or when all other suffixes are inappropriate. Used in relation to elders, including older relatives (brothers, sisters, parents).

Han (han) - Kansai equivalent of "-san".

Si (shi) - “Master”, used exclusively in official documents after the surname.

Fujin - “Lady”, used exclusively in official documents after the surname.

Kouhai - Appeal to the younger. Especially often - at school in relation to those who are younger than the speaker.

Senpai (senpai) - Appeal to an elder. Especially often - at school in relation to those who are older than the speaker.

Dono (dono) - Rare suffix. Respectful address to an equal or superior, but slightly different in position. Currently considered obsolete and practically not found in communication. In ancient times, it was actively used when samurai addressed each other.

Sensei - “Teacher”. Used to refer to teachers and lecturers themselves, as well as doctors and politicians.

Senshu - “Sportsman”. Used to refer to famous athletes.

Zeki - “Sumo wrestler”. Used to refer to famous sumo wrestlers.

Ue (ue) - “Elder”. A rare and outdated respectful suffix used for older family members. Not used with names - only with designations of position in the family (“father”, “mother”, “brother”).

Sama - The highest degree of respect. Appeal to gods and spirits, to spiritual authorities, girls to lovers, servants to noble masters, etc. Roughly translated into Russian as “respected, dear, venerable.”

Jin (jin) - “One of.” "Saya-jin" - "one of Saya."

Tachi (tachi) - “And friends.” "Goku-tachi" - "Goku and his friends."

Gumi (gumi) - “Team, group, party.” "Kenshin-gumi" - "Team Kenshin".

Japanese names and their meanings

Personal pronouns

In addition to nominal suffixes, Japan also uses many different ways to address each other and refer to themselves using personal pronouns. The choice of pronoun is determined by the social laws already mentioned above. The following is a list of some of these pronouns.

Group with the meaning "I"

Watakushi - A very polite female version.

Washi - An outdated polite option. Doesn't depend on gender.

Wai - Kansai equivalent of washi.

Boku (Boku) - Familiar youth male version. Rarely used by women, in this case “unfemininity” is emphasized. Used in poetry.

Ore - Not a very polite option. Purely masculine. Like, cool. ^_^

Ore-sama - "Great Self". A rare form, an extreme degree of boasting.

Daiko or Naiko (Daikou/Naikou) - Analogous to “ore-sama”, but somewhat less boastful.

Sessha - Very polite form. Typically used by samurai when addressing their masters.

Hishou - “Insignificant.” A very polite form, now practically not used.

Gusei - Similar to hisho, but somewhat less derogatory.

Oira - Polite form. Typically used by monks.

Chin - A special form that only the emperor has the right to use.

Ware - Polite (formal) form, translated as [I/you/he] “himself.” Used when the importance of “I” needs to be particularly expressed. For example, in spells (“I conjure.” In modern Japanese it is rarely used in the meaning of “I”. It is more often used to form a reflexive form, for example, “forgetting about oneself” - “ware in wasurete.”

[Speaker's name or position] - Used by or when communicating with children, usually within the family. Let's say a girl named Atsuko might say "Atsuko is thirsty." Or her older brother, addressing her, may say, “Brother will bring you juice.” There is an element of “lisping” in this, but such treatment is quite acceptable.

Group meaning “We”

Watashi-tachi - Polite option.

Ware-ware - Very polite, formal option.

Bokura - Impolite option.

Touhou - Regular option.

Group with the meaning “You/You”:

Anata - General polite option. It is also common for a wife to address her husband (“dear”).

Anta - Less polite option. Typically used by young people. A slight hint of disrespect.

Otaku - Literally translated as “Your home.” A very polite and rare form. Due to the ironic use by Japanese informals in relation to each other, the second meaning was fixed - “feng, crazy.”

Kimi - Polite option, often between friends. Used in poetry.

Kijo (Kijou) - “Mistress”. A very polite form of addressing a lady.

Onushi - “Insignificant.” An outdated form of polite speech.

Omae - Familiar (when addressing an enemy - offensive) option. Usually used by men in relation to a socially younger person (father to daughter, say).

Temae/Temee - Offensive male version. Usually in relation to the enemy. Something like “bastard” or “bastard.”

Honore (Onore) - Insulting option.

Kisama - A very offensive option. Translated with dots. ^_^ Oddly enough, it literally translates as “noble master.”

Japanese names

Modern Japanese names consist of two parts - the surname, which comes first, and the given name, which comes second. True, the Japanese often write their names in “European order” (first name - surname) if they write them in romaji. For convenience, the Japanese sometimes write their last name in CAPITAL letters so that it is not confused with their first name (due to the inconsistency described above).

The exception is the emperor and members of his family. They don't have a last name. Girls who marry princes also lose their surnames.

Ancient names and surnames

Before the Meiji Restoration, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames. The rest of the Japanese population was content with personal names and nicknames.

Women of aristocratic and samurai families also usually did not have surnames, since they did not have the right of inheritance. In those cases where women did have surnames, they did not change them upon marriage.

Surnames were divided into two groups - the surnames of aristocrats and the surnames of samurai.

Unlike the number of samurai surnames, the number of aristocratic surnames has practically not increased since ancient times. Many of them went back to the priestly past of the Japanese aristocracy.

The most respected and respected clans of aristocrats were: Konoe, Takashi, Kujo, Ichijo and Gojo. All of them belonged to the Fujiwara clan and had a common name - “Gosetsuke”. From among the men of this family, regents (sessho) and chancellors (kampaku) of Japan were appointed, and from among the women, wives for the emperors were chosen.

The next most important clans were the Hirohata, Daigo, Kuga, Oimikado, Saionji, Sanjo, Imaidegawa, Tokudaji and Kaoin clans. The highest state dignitaries were appointed from among them.

Thus, representatives of the Saionji clan served as imperial grooms (meryo no gogen). Next came all the other aristocratic clans.

The hierarchy of nobility of aristocratic families began to take shape in the 6th century and lasted until the end of the 11th century, when power in the country passed to the samurai. Among them, the clans Genji (Minamoto), Heike (Taira), Hojo, Ashikaga, Tokugawa, Matsudaira, Hosokawa, Shimazu, Oda enjoyed special respect. A number of their representatives at different times were shoguns (military rulers) of Japan.

The personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai were formed from two kanji (hieroglyphs) with a “noble” meaning.

Personal names of samurai servants and peasants were often given according to the principle of "numbering". The first son is Ichiro, the second is Jiro, the third is Saburo, the fourth is Shiro, the fifth is Goro, etc. Also, in addition to “-ro”, the suffixes “-emon”, “-ji”, “-zo”, “-suke”, “-be” were used for this purpose.

Upon entering the period of adolescence, the samurai chose a different name for himself than the one given to him at birth. Sometimes samurai changed their names throughout adult life, for example, to emphasize the onset of a new period (promotion or moving to another duty station). The master had the right to rename his vassal. In cases of serious illness, the name was sometimes changed to that of Amida Buddha to appeal to his mercy.

According to the rules of samurai duels, before the fight, the samurai had to say his full name so that the enemy could decide whether he was worthy of such an opponent. Of course, in life this rule was observed much less often than in novels and chronicles.

The suffix "-hime" was added to the end of the names of girls from noble families. It is often translated as "princess", but in fact it was used to refer to all noble ladies.

The suffix “-gozen” was used for the names of samurai wives. They were often called simply by their husband's surname and rank. Personal names of married women were practically used only by their close relatives.

For the names of monks and nuns from the noble classes, the suffix “-in” was used.

Modern names and surnames

During the Meiji Restoration, all Japanese people were given surnames. Naturally, most of them were associated with various signs of peasant life, especially with rice and its processing. These surnames, like the surnames of the upper class, were also usually made up of two kanji.

The most common Japanese surnames now are Suzuki, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Saito, Sato, Sasaki, Kudo, Takahashi, Kobayashi, Kato, Ito, Murakami, Oonishi, Yamaguchi, Nakamura, Kuroki, Higa.

Men's names have changed less. They also often depend on the “serial number” of the son in the family. The suffixes "-ichi" and "-kazu" meaning "first son" are often used, as are the suffixes "-ji" ("second son" and "-zō" ("third son").

Most Japanese female names end in “-ko” (“child” or “-mi” (“beauty”). Girls, as a rule, are given names associated with everything beautiful, pleasant and feminine. Unlike male names, female names names are usually written in hiragana rather than kanji.

Some modern girls do not like the ending “-ko” in their names and prefer to omit it. For example, a girl named "Yuriko" might call herself "Yuri".

According to a law passed during the time of Emperor Meiji, after marriage, husband and wife are legally required to adopt the same surname. In 98% of cases this is the husband's last name. For several years now, parliament has been discussing an amendment to the Civil Code allowing spouses to keep premarital surnames. However, so far she cannot get the required number of votes.

After death, a Japanese person receives a new, posthumous name (kaimyo), which is written on a special wooden tablet (ihai). This tablet is considered to be the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased and is used in funeral rites. Kaimyo and ihai are purchased from Buddhist monks - sometimes even before the person's death.

The surname in Japanese is called "myoji" (苗字 or 名字), "uji" (氏) or "sei" (姓).

The vocabulary of the Japanese language has long been divided into two types: wago (Japanese 和語?) - native Japanese words and kango (Japanese 漢語?) - borrowed from China. Names are also divided into these types, although a new type is now actively expanding - gairaigo (Japanese 外来語?) - words borrowed from other languages, but components of this type are rarely used in names.

Modern Japanese names are divided into the following groups:

kunnye (consisting of vago)

onny (consisting of kango)

mixed

The ratio of kun and on surnames is approximately 80% to 20%.

The most common surnames in Japan:

Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 Sato:?)

Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木?)

Takahashi (Japanese: 高橋?)

Tanaka (Japanese: 田中?)

Watanabe (Japanese: 渡辺?)

Ito (Japanese: 伊藤 Ito:?)

Yamamoto (Japanese: 山本?)

Nakamura (Japanese: 中村?)

Ohayashi (Japanese: 小林?)

Kobayashi (Japanese: 小林?) (different surnames, but spelled the same and have approximately the same distribution)

Kato (Japanese: 加藤 Kato:?)

Many surnames, although read according to the onon (Chinese) reading, go back to ancient Japanese words and are written phonetically, and not by meaning.

Examples of such surnames: Kubo (Japanese: 久保?) - from Japanese. kubo (Japanese 窪?) - hole; Sasaki (Japanese 佐々木?) - from the ancient Japanese sasa - small; Abe (Japanese 阿部?) - from the ancient word ape - to connect, mix. If we take into account such surnames, then the number of native Japanese surnames reaches 90%.

For example, the character 木 (“tree”) is read in kun as ki, but in names it can also be read as ko; The character 上 (“up”) can be read in kun as either ue or kami. There are two different surnames, Uemura and Kamimura, which are written the same - 上村. In addition, there are dropouts and fusions of sounds at the junction of components, for example, in the surname Atsumi (Japanese 渥美?), the components individually are read as atsui and umi; and the surname 金成 (kana + nari) is often read simply as Kanari.

When combining hieroglyphs, it is typical to alternate the endings of the first component A/E and O/A - for example, 金 kane - Kanagawa (Japanese 金川?), 白 shiro - Shiraoka (Japanese 白岡?). In addition, the initial syllables of the second component often become voiced, for example 山田 Yamada (yama + ta), 宮崎 Miyazaki (miya + saki). Also, surnames often contain the remainder of the case indicator but or ha (in ancient times it was customary to place them between the first and last names). Usually this indicator is not written, but is read - for example, 一宮 Ichinomiya (ichi + miya); 榎本 Enomoto (e + moto). But sometimes the case indicator is displayed in writing in hiragana, katakana or hieroglyph - for example, 井之上 Inoue (and + but + ue); 木ノ下 Kinoshita (ki + katakana no + shita).

The vast majority of surnames in Japanese consist of two characters; surnames with one or three characters are less common, and surnames with four or more characters are very rare.

One-component surnames are mainly of Japanese origin and are formed from nouns or medial forms of verbs. For example, Watari (Japanese 渡?) - from watari (Japanese 渡り crossing?), 　Hata (Japanese 畑?) - the word hata means “plantation, vegetable garden.” Significantly less common are surnames consisting of one hieroglyph. For example, Cho (Japanese 兆 Cho:?) means “trillion”, In (Japanese 因?) means “reason”.

The majority of Japanese surnames consisting of two components are reported as 60-70%. Of these, the majority are surnames from Japanese roots - it is believed that such surnames are the easiest to read, since most of them are read according to the usual kuns used in the language. Examples - Matsumoto (Japanese 松本?) - consists of the nouns matsu “pine” and moto “root” used in the language; Kiyomizu (Japanese 清水?) - consists of the adjective stem 清い kiyoi - “pure” and the noun 水 mizu - “water”. Chinese two-part surnames are less numerous and usually have one single reading. Often Chinese surnames contain numbers from one to six (excluding four 四, since this number is read in the same way as “death” 死 si and they try not to use it). Examples: Ichijo: (Japanese: 一条?), Saito: (Japanese: 斉藤?). There are also mixed surnames, where one component is read as on, and the other as kun. Examples: Honda (Japanese 本田?), hon - “base” (on reading) + ta - “rice field” (kun reading); Betsumiya (Japanese 別宮?), betsu - “special, different” (on reading) + miya - “temple” (kun reading). Also, a very small part of surnames can be read both in onam and kun: 坂西 Banzai and Sakanishi, 宮内 Kunai and Miyauchi.

In three-component surnames, Japanese roots are often found, written phonetically. Examples: 久保田 "Kubota (probably the word 窪 kubo "hole" is written phonetically as 久保), 阿久津 Akutsu (probably the word 明く aku "to open" is written phonetically as 阿久). However, ordinary three-component surnames consisting of three kun readings are also common. Examples: 矢田部 Yatabe, 小野木 Onoki.There are also three-component surnames with Chinese reading.

Four or more component surnames are very rare.

There are surnames with very unusual readings that look like puzzles. Examples: 十八女 Wakairo - written in hieroglyphs for “eighteen-year-old girl”, and read as 若色 “young + color”; The surname denoted by the hieroglyph 一 “one” is read as Ninomae, which can be translated as 二の前 ni no mae “before two”; and the surname 穂積 Hozue, which can be interpreted as “gathering ears of grain,” is sometimes written as 八月一日 “the first day of the eighth lunar month” - apparently on this day in ancient times the harvest began.

Japanese names consist of a surname followed by a given name, and as a rule, Japanese names are written in kanji. However, parents may also sometimes use Japanese hiragana and katakana to write their children's names. Moreover, in 1985, the list of officially permitted characters for recording Japanese names was expanded and now you can use Latin characters (Romanji), hentaiganu, man'yogana (syllabary alphabet), as well as special characters and symbols like * % $ ^ and the like. But in practice, hieroglyphs are almost always used to write Japanese names.

In the past, people in Japan were the property of the emperor, and their surname reflected their role in government. For example, Otomo (大友 "great friend, comrade"). Names were also given to let people know that the person had made some great achievement, contribution, etc.

Before the Meiji Restoration, ordinary people did not have surnames, but, if necessary, used the name of the place of birth. For example, a person named Ichiro: could introduce himself as: "Ichiro: from Asahi Village, Musashi Province. Merchants used the names of their shops or brands. For example, Denbei, the owner of Sagamiya, could introduce himself as "Sagamiya Denbei." Peasants could name themselves after their father (for example, Isuke, whose father was called Genbei, could say: “Iseke, son of Genbei”).

After the Meiji Restoration, the government ordered all commoners to create a surname for themselves as part of a plan to modernize and westernize. Some people chose historical names, others simply made them up, for example by fortune telling, or turned to priests to choose a surname. This explains the fact that in Japan there are many different surnames, both in pronunciation and spelling, and creates difficulties in reading.

Japanese surnames are extremely diverse, with an estimated over 100,000 different surnames. Typical, most common Japanese surnames include: Sato (佐藤), Suzuki (铃木) and Takahashi (高桥).

However, Japanese surnames vary in prevalence in different regions of Japan. For example, the surnames Chinen (知念), Higa (比嘉), and Shimabukuro (岛袋) are common in Okinawa, but not in other parts of Japan. This is due mainly to the differences between the language and culture of the people of Yamato and Okinawa.

Many Japanese surnames come from characteristic features of the rural landscape, for example: Ishikawa (石川) means “stone river”, Yamamoto (山本) means “base of the mountain”, Inoue (井上) means “above the well”.

In general, surnames usually have some patterns and their reading does not cause any particular difficulties, but Japanese names are very diverse both in pronunciation and spelling.

Although many typical Japanese names can be easily written and read, many parents choose names with unusual characters or pronunciation. Such names do not have a clear reading or spelling.

The tendency to give such names has especially appeared since 1990. For example, the popular name for boys 大翔 is traditionally read as Hiroto, but alternative readings of this name have appeared: Haruto, Yamato, Daito, Taiga, Sora, Taito, Masato, and all of them have come into use.

Male names often end in –ro: (郎 “son”, but also 朗 “clear, bright”, e.g. Ichiro), –ta (太 “big, thick”, e.g. Kenta), contain ichi (一 “first [ son]), ji (二 - second [son]", or 次 "next", for example "Jiro"), or dai (大 "great, great", for example "Daiichi").

In addition, in male names with two hieroglyphs, hieroglyphs that indicate a male name are often used: 夫(o) - “husband”, 男(o) - “man”, 雄(o) - “hero”, 朗(ro:) - “ cheerful", 樹 (ki) - "tree", 助 (suke) "helper" and many others.

Japanese female names

Most Japanese female names have an abstract meaning. Usually in such names such characters are used as 美 mi “beauty”, 愛 ai “love”, 安 an “calmness”, 知 ti “mind”, 優 yu: “tenderness”, 真 ma “truth” and others. As a rule, names with similar hieroglyphs are given to girls as a wish to have these qualities in the future.

There is another type of female names - names with hieroglyphs of animals or plants. Names with the animal characters 虎　"tiger" or 鹿 "deer" were considered to promote health, but such names are now considered old-fashioned and are rarely used, with the exception of the character 鶴 "crane". Names containing hieroglyphs associated with the plant world are still often used, for example 花 hana - “flower”, 稲 ine - “rice”, 菊 kiku - “chrysanthemum”, 竹 take - “bamboo”, 桃 momo - “peach” ", 柳 yanagi - "willow", and others.

There are also names with numerals, but they are very few in number and are quite rare. Such names most likely come from the old tradition of naming girls of noble families by birth order. Currently, the following characters are usually used among numerals: 千 ti "thousand", 三 mi "three", 五 go "five" and 七 nana "seven".

Quite often there are names with meanings of seasons, natural phenomena, time of day and many others. For example: 雪 yuki "snow", 夏 natsu "summer", 朝 asa "morning", 雲 kumo "cloud".

It happens that instead of hieroglyphs, syllabic alphabet are used. Moreover, the recording of such a name is constant, unlike words that can be written in different ways (in alphabet, in hieroglyphs, mixed). For example, if a woman’s name is written in hiragana, then it will always be written that way, although in terms of its meaning it can be written as a hieroglyph.

By the way, it is very fashionable and exotic to use foreign names instead of classic female names: Anna, Maria, Emiri, Rena, Rina and others.

Indicator of Japanese female names.

A typical Japanese female name ends in the character -子 (child) – ko. (Maiko, Haruko, Hanako, Takako, Yoshiko, Asako, Naoko, Yumiko, etc.). And currently, about a quarter of Japanese female names end in -ko. Until 1868, this name was used only by members of the imperial family, but after the revolution this name became very popular, especially in the mid-20th century. However, after 2006, this indicator of a female name ceased to be fashionable due to the emergence of a new fashion for names, and many girls eliminated it from their names and began to call them simply Yumi, Hana, Haru, etc.

The second most frequently used character is 美 mi "beauty" (up to 12%), unlike many other indicators of the gender of a name, it can appear anywhere in the name (Fumiko, Mie, Kazumi, Miyuki).

Also, about 5% of Japanese female names contain the component 江 e "bay" (Mizue, 廣江 Hiroe).

Many other characters are used to indicate that this is a female name, each of which is found in less than 4% of female names: 代 yo "era", 香 ka "smell", 花 ka "flower", 里 ri "measure of length ri" ( often used phonetically), 奈 na is used phonetically, 織 ori "cloth" and others.

However, there are female names consisting of several hieroglyphs that do not have indicators that this is a female name. Examples: 皐月 Satsuki, 小巻 Komaki.

Popular Japanese names and their meanings

Since 2005, the Japanese company Benesse Corporation has annually published a ranking of popular Japanese names among newborns. In 2011, from January 1 to May 31, 34,500 people were born, of which 17,959 were boys and 16,541 were girls.

Popular Japanese male names

Popular Japanese female names

Japanese pet names/nicknames/nicknames

From each name you can form one or more diminutive names by adding the nominal suffix -chan or -kun to the stem. There are two types of name stems. One consists of the full name, such as Taro: -chan (Taro:), Kimiko-chan (Kimiko) and Yasunari-chan (Yasunari).

Another type of stem is an abbreviation of the full name. Ta:-chan (Taro:), Kii-chan (Kimiko), Ya:-chan (Yasunari), Ko:-kun, Ma:-kun, Sho:-chan, etc. The second type of diminutive name is of a more intimate nature (for example, between friends).

There are other ways to form diminutive names, for example, a girl with the name Megumi can be called Kei-chan, since the character with which the name Megumi begins (恵) can also be read as Kei.

The common Japanese practice of creating abbreviations, which involves combining the first two syllables of two words, is sometimes applied to names (usually celebrities).

For example, Kimura Takuya (木村拓哉), a famous Japanese actor and singer, becomes Kimutaku (キムタク). This is sometimes applied to foreign celebrities: Brad Pitt, whose full name in Japanese is Buraddo Pitto (ブラッド ピット), is fairly well known as Burapi (ブラピ), and Jimi Hendrix is ​​shortened to Jimihen (ジミヘン). Another slightly less common method is to double one or two syllables in a person's name. For example, Mamiko Noto may be called MamiMami.

Japanese names in Chinese

As a rule, Japanese names are written in hieroglyphs. And the Japanese, like many other things, borrowed hieroglyphs from the Chinese. Those. Japanese and Chinese will read the same character differently. For example, 山田太郎 (Yamada Taro:) the Chinese will read approximately as “Shantien Tailang”, and 鳩山由紀夫 (Hatoyama Yukio) as “Jiushan Youjifu”. That's why the Japanese don't understand their names when they read them in Chinese."

Reading Japanese first and last names

Reading names in Japanese is very difficult. The hieroglyphs of one name can be read in different ways, and at the same time, the pronunciation of one name can also be written in different ways... You can learn more about the features of reading Japanese names

Japanese nominal suffixes

In Japan, when addressing a person, it is customary to use nominal suffixes to refer to the surname or first name (usually the Japanese address each other by surname), more details about them are briefly written

Names and Surnames of Japanese Emperors

Japanese emperors do not have surnames, and their lifetime Japanese names are taboo and not used in official Japanese documents, and instead the emperor is addressed by his title without a given name. When an emperor dies, he receives a posthumous name, which consists of two parts: the name of the virtue glorifying him and the tenno title: “emperor.” For example:

During the life of the emperor, it is also not customary to address him by name, since in general it is not polite to address him by name, much less to the emperor, and instead various titles are used. For example, as a child, Akihito had a title - Tsugu-no-miya (Prince Tsugu). Such titles are mainly used while a person is an heir or has not received a special name.

Japan is a unique country. What is behind these words? Special, unlike anything else nature, culture, religion, philosophy, art, way of life, fashion, cuisine, harmonious coexistence of high technology and ancient traditions, as well as the Japanese language itself - as difficult to learn as it is fascinating. One of the most important parts of the language is given names and surnames. They always carry a piece of history, and Japanese ones are doubly curious.

Decipher the name

Why do we, foreigners, need to know all this? Firstly, because it is informative and interesting, because Japanese culture has penetrated into many areas of our modern life. It is very interesting to decipher the surnames of famous people: for example, the animator Miyazaki - “temple, palace” + “cape”, and the writer Murakami - “village” + “top”. Secondly, all this has long and firmly become part of

Fans of comics (manga) and animation (anime) simply love to take various Japanese names and surnames as pseudonyms. Samp and other online games also actively use such nicknames for player characters. And it’s not surprising: such a nickname sounds beautiful, exotic and memorable.

These mysterious Japanese first and last names

The Land of the Rising Sun will always find something to surprise an ignorant foreigner. It is noteworthy that when recording or officially introducing a person, his last name comes first, and then his first name, for example: Sato Aiko, Tanaka Yukio. This sounds unusual to the Russian ear, and therefore it can be quite difficult for us to distinguish Japanese names and surnames from each other. The Japanese themselves, in order to avoid confusion when communicating with foreigners, often write their surname in capital letters. And it really makes the task easier. Fortunately, it is customary for the Japanese to have only one first name and one surname. And such a form as patronymic (patronymic) is absent among these people at all.

Another unusual feature of Japanese communication is the active use of prefixes. Moreover, these prefixes are most often added to the surname. European psychologists say that there is nothing more pleasant for a person than the sound of his name - but the Japanese apparently think differently. Therefore, names are used only in situations of very close and personal communication.

What attachments are available in

• (last name) + san - universal polite address;
• (surname) + sama - address to government members, company directors, clergy; also used in stable combinations;
• (surname) + sensei - an appeal to martial arts masters, doctors, as well as professionals in any field;
• (surname) + kun - addressing teenagers and young men, as well as senior to junior or superior to subordinate (for example, boss to subordinate);
• (name) + chan (or chan) - appeal to children and among children under 10 years old; parents' appeal to their offspring of any age; in an informal setting - to lovers and close friends.

How common are Japanese first and last names? It's surprising, but even family members rarely call each other by name. Instead, special words are used meaning "mom", "dad", "daughter", "son", "elder sister", "little sister", "elder brother", "little brother", etc. To these words The prefixes “chan (chan)” are also added.

Female names

Girls in Japan are most often called names that mean something abstract, but at the same time beautiful, pleasant and feminine: “flower”, “crane”, “bamboo”, “water lily”, “chrysanthemum”, “moon”, etc. similar. Simplicity and harmony are what distinguish Japanese names and surnames.

Female names in many cases contain the syllables (hieroglyphs) “mi” - beauty (for example: Harumi, Ayumi, Kazumi, Mie, Fumiko, Miyuki) or “ko” - child (for example: Maiko, Naoko, Haruko, Yumiko, Yoshiko, Hanako , Takako, Asako).

Interestingly, some girls in modern Japan consider the ending “ko” unfashionable and omit it. So, for example, the name "Yumiko" turns into the everyday used "Yumi". And her friends call this girl “Yumi-chan.”

All of the above are quite common Japanese female names these days. And the girls’ surnames are also strikingly poetic, especially if you translate the exotic combination of sounds into Russian. Most often they convey the image of a typical Japanese village landscape. For example: Yamamoto - “base of the mountain”, Watanabe - “cross the surrounding area”, Iwasaki - “rocky cape”, Kobayashi - “small forest”.

Japanese names and surnames open up a whole poetic world. Women's ones are especially similar to works in the haiku style, surprising with their beautiful sound and harmonious meaning.

Male names

Men's names are the most difficult to read and translate. Some of them are formed from nouns. For example: Moku (“carpenter”), Akio (“handsome”), Katsu (“victory”), Makoto (“truth”). Others are formed from adjectives or verbs, for example: Satoshi (“smart”), Mamoru (“protect”), Takashi (“tall”), Tsutomu (“try”).

Very often, Japanese male names and surnames include hieroglyphs indicating gender: “man”, “husband”, “hero”, “helper”, “tree”, etc.

Often used This tradition originated in the Middle Ages, when families had many children. For example, the name Ichiro means “first son”, Jiro means “second son”, Saburo means “third son”, and so on until Juro, which means “tenth son”.

Japanese boys' names and surnames can be created simply on the basis of the hieroglyphs available in the language. During the imperial dynasties, great importance was attached to what to call oneself and one’s children, but in modern Japan, preference is given simply to what one liked in sound and meaning. At the same time, it is not at all necessary that children from the same family bear names with a common hieroglyph, as was traditionally practiced in the imperial dynasties of the past.

All Japanese male names and surnames have two characteristics in common: semantic echoes of the Middle Ages and difficulty in reading, especially for a foreigner.

Common Japanese surnames

Surnames are distinguished by their large number and diversity: according to linguists, there are more than 100,000 surnames in the Japanese language. For comparison: there are 300-400 thousand Russian surnames.

The most common Japanese surnames today are: Sato, Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Saito, Kudo, Sasaki, Kato, Kobayashi, Murakami, Ito, Nakamura, Oonishi, Yamaguchi, Kuroki, Higa.

Fun fact: Japanese first and last names vary in popularity depending on the area. For example, in Okinawa (the country's southernmost prefecture), the surnames Chinen, Higa and Shimabukuro are very common, while in the rest of Japan very few people have them. Experts attribute this to differences in dialects and culture. Thanks to these differences, the Japanese can tell just by the surname of their interlocutor where he is from.

Such different names and surnames

European culture is characterized by certain traditional names, from which parents choose the most suitable one for their baby. Fashion trends often change, and one or the other becomes popular, but rarely does anyone come up with a unique name on purpose. In Japanese culture, things are different: there are many more isolated or rarely encountered names. Therefore, there is no traditional list. Japanese names (and surnames too) are often formed from some beautiful words or phrases.

Poetry of the name

First of all, female names are distinguished by a clearly expressed poetic meaning. For example:

• Yuri - "Water Lily".
• Hotaru - "Firefly"
• Izumi - "Fountain".
• Namiko - "Child of the Waves".
• Aika - “Love Song”.
• Natsumi - "Summer Beauty".
• Chiyo - "Eternity".
• Nozomi - "Hope".
• Ima - "Gift".
• Rico - "Child of Jasmine"
• Kiku - "Chrysanthemum".

However, among male names you can find beautiful meanings:

• Keitaro - "Blessed One".
• Toshiro - "Talented".
• Yuki - “Snow”;.
• Yuzuki - "Crescent".
• Takehiko - "Bamboo Prince".
• Rhydon - "God of Thunder".
• Toru - "Sea".

Poetry of a surname

There are not only beautiful Japanese names. And last names can be very poetic. For example:

• Arai - "Wild Well".
• Aoki - "Young (green) tree."
• Yoshikawa - "Happy River".
• Ito - "Wisteria".
• Kikuchi - “Chrysanthemum Pond.”
• Komatsu - "Little Pine".
• Matsuura - "Pine Bay".
• Nagai - "Eternal Well".
• Ozawa - "Little Swamp".
• Oohashi - "Big Bridge".
• Shimizu - “Clean Water”.
• Chiba - “A Thousand Leaves”.
• Furukawa - "Old River".
• Yano - "Arrow on the Plain".

Makes you smile

Sometimes there are funny Japanese names and surnames, or rather, ones that sound funny to the Russian ear.

Among these are male names: Banka, Tikhaya (emphasis on the “a”), Usho, Joban, Soshi (emphasis on the “o”). Among the female ones, the following sounds funny for a Russian speaker: Hey, Osa, Ori, Cho, Ruka, Rana, Yura. But such funny examples are extremely rare, given the rich variety of Japanese names.

As for surnames, here you are more likely to find a strange and difficult to pronounce combination of sounds than a funny one. However, this is easily compensated for by numerous funny parodies of Japanese names and surnames. Of course, they were all invented by Russian-speaking jokers, but there is still some phonetic similarity with the originals. For example, this parody: Japanese racer Toyama Tokanawa; or Tohripo Tovisgo. Behind all these “names” a phrase in Russian is easily discernible.

Interesting facts about Japanese names and surnames

In Japan, there is still a law, preserved from the Middle Ages, according to which husband and wife must have the same surname. This is almost always the husband's surname, but there are exceptions - for example, if the wife is from a noble, famous family. However, it is still not the case in Japan that spouses have a double surname or each their own.

In general, in the Middle Ages, only Japanese emperors, aristocrats and samurai had surnames, and ordinary people were content with nicknames, which were often attached to their names. For example, the place of residence, or even the name of the father, was often used as a nickname.

Japanese women in the Middle Ages often also did not have surnames: it was believed that they had no need, because they were not heirs. The names of girls from aristocratic families often ended in "hime" (meaning "princess"). Samurai wives had names ending in "gozen". They were often addressed by their husband's surname and title. But personal names, both then and now, are used only in close communication. Japanese monks and nuns from the noble classes bore names ending in “in.”

After death, every Japanese person acquires a new name (it is called “kaimyo”). It is written on a sacred wooden tablet called "ihai". A nameplate with a posthumous name is used in burial and memorial rituals, as it is considered to be the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased person. People often acquire kaimyo and ihai u during their lifetime. In the Japanese view, death is not something tragic, but rather one of the stages on the path of the immortal soul.

By learning more about Japanese names and surnames, you can not only learn the basics of the language in a unique way, but also gain a deeper understanding of the philosophy of this people.

A Japanese name (人名 jinmei?) these days usually consists of a family name (surname) followed by a personal name. This is a very common practice in East and Southeast Asia, including Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and some other cultures.

Names are usually written using kanji, which can have many different pronunciations in different cases.

Modern Japanese names can be compared to names in many other cultures. All Japanese have a single surname and a single given name without a patronymic, with the exception of the Japanese imperial family, whose members do not have a surname.

In Japan, the surname comes first, and then the given name. At the same time, in Western languages ​​(often also in Russian), Japanese names are written in the reverse order first name - last name - according to European tradition.

Names in Japan are often created independently from existing characters, so the country has a huge number of unique names. Surnames are more traditional and most often go back to place names. There are significantly more first names in Japanese than surnames. Male and female names differ due to their characteristic components and structure. Reading Japanese proper names is one of the most difficult parts of the Japanese language.

Using the tables below you can see how preferences have changed when choosing names over the past almost 100 years:

Popular names for boys

Year/Place 1 2 3 4 5

1915 Kiyoshi Saburou Shigeru Masao Tadashi

1925 Kiyoshi Shigeru Isamu Saburou Hiroshi

1935 Hiroshi Kiyoshi Isamu Minoru Susumu

1945 Masaru Isamu Susumu Kiyoshi Katsutoshi

1955 Takashi Makoto Shigeru Osamu Yutaka

1965 Makoto Hiroshi Osamu Naoki Tetsuya

1975 Makoto Daisuke Manabu Tsuyoshi Naoki

1985 Daisuke Takuya Naoki Kenta Kazuya

1995 Takuya Kenta Shouta Tsubasa Daiki

2000 Shou Shouta Daiki Yuuto Takumi

Popular names for girls

Year/Place 1 2 3 4 5

1915 Chiyo Chiyoko Fumiko Shizuko Kiyo

1925 Sachiko Fumiko Miyoko Hirsako Yoshiko

1935 Kazuko Sachiko Setsuko Hiroko Hisako

1945 Kazuko Sachiko Youko Setsuko Hiroko

1955 Youko Keiko Kyouko Sachiko Kazuko

1965 Akemi Mayumi Yumiko Keiko Kumiko

1975 Kumiko Yuuko Mayumi Tomoko Youko

1985 Ai Mai Mami Megumi Kaori

1995 Misaki Ai Haruka Kana Mai

2000 Sakura Yuuka Misaki Natsuki Nanami

Ai - F - Love

Aiko - F - Favorite child

Akako - F - Red

Akane - F - Sparkling red

Akemi - F - Dazzlingly beautiful

Akeno - M - Clear morning

Aki - F - Born in autumn

Akiko - F - Autumn child

Akina – F – Spring flower

Akio - M - Handsome

Akira - M - Smart, quick-witted

Akiyama - M - Autumn, mountain

Amaya - F - Night rain

Ami - F - Friend

Amida - M - Name of Buddha

Anda - F - Met in the field

Aneko - F - Older sister

Anzu - F - Apricot

Arata - M - Inexperienced

Arisu - F - Japanese. form of the name Alice

Asuka – F – Scent of Tomorrow

Ayame - F - Iris

Azarni – F – Thistle flower

Benjiro - M - Enjoying the World

Botan - M - Peony

Chika - F - Wisdom

Chikako - F - Child of Wisdom

Chinatsu - F - Thousand Years

Chiyo - F - Eternity

Chizu - F - Thousand storks (implies longevity)

Cho - F - Butterfly

Dai - M/F - Great

Daichi - M - Great First Son

Daiki - M - Great Tree

Daisuke - M - Great Help

Etsu - F - Delightful, charming

Etsuko - F - Delightful child

Fudo - M - God of fire and wisdom

Fujita – M/F – Field, meadow

Gin - F - Silver

Goro - M - Fifth Son

Hana - F - Flower

Hanako - F - Flower Child

Haru - M - Born in spring

Haruka - F - Distant

Haruko - F - Spring

Hachiro - M - Eighth Son

Hideaki - M - Brilliant, excellent

Hikaru – M/F – Light, shining

Hide - F - Fertile

Hiroko - F - Generous

Hiroshi - M - Generous

Hitomi - F - Doubly beautiful

Hoshi - F - Star

Hotaka - M - Name of a mountain in Japan

Hotaru - F - Firefly

Ichiro - M - First son

Ima - F - Gift

Isami - M - Courage

Ishi - F - Stone

Izanami - F - Attractive

Izumi - F - Fountain

Jiro - M - Second Son

Joben - M - Loving cleanliness

Jomei - M - Bringing Light

Junko - F - Pure child

Juro - M - Tenth Son

Kado - M - Gate

Kaede - F - Maple leaf

Kagami - F - Mirror

Kameko - F - Turtle Child (symbol of longevity)

Kanaye - M - Diligent

Kano - M - God of Water

Kasumi - F - Fog

Katashi - M - Hardness

Katsu - M - Victory

Katsuo - M - Victorious Child

Katsuro - M - Victorious Son

Kazuki - M - Joyful World

Kazuko - F - Cheerful child

Kazuo - M - Dear son

Kei - F - Respectful

Keiko - F - Adored

Keitaro - M - Blessed One

Ken - M - Big Man

Ken`ichi - M - Strong first son

Kenji - M - Strong second son

Kenshin - M - Heart of the Sword

Kenta – M – Healthy and brave

Kichi - F - Lucky

Kichiro - M - Lucky Son

Kiku - F - Chrysanthemum

Kimiko - F - Child of noble blood

Kin - M - Golden

Kioko - F - Happy child

Kisho - M - Having a head on his shoulders

Kita - F - North

Kiyoko - F - Clean

Kiyoshi - M - Quiet

Kohaku – M/F – Amber

Kohana - F - Small flower

Koko - F - Stork

Koto - F - Japanese. musical instrument "koto"

Kotone - F - Sound of koto

Kumiko - F - Forever beautiful

Kuri - F - Chestnut

Kuro - M - Ninth Son

Kyo - M - Agreement (or red)

Kyoko - F - Mirror

Leiko - F - Arrogant

Machi - F - Ten thousand years

Machiko - F - Lucky child

Maeko - F - Honest child

Maemi - F - Sincere smile

Mai - F - Bright

Makoto - M - Sincere

Mamiko - F - Child Mami

Mamoru - M - Earth

Manami – F – Beauty of love

Mariko - F - Child of Truth

Marise – M/F – Infinite

Masa – M/F – Straightforward (person)

Masakazu - M - First son of Masa

Mashiro - M - Wide

Matsu - F - Pine

Mayako - F - Child Maya

Mayoko - F - Child Mayo

Mayuko - F - Child Mayu

Michi - F - Fair

Michie - F - Gracefully hanging flower

Michiko - F - Beautiful and wise

Michio - M - A man with the strength of three thousand

Midori - F - Green

Mihoko - F - Child Miho

Mika – F – New moon

Miki – M/F – Stem

Mikio – M – Three woven trees

Mina - F - South

Minako - F - Beautiful child

Mine - F - Brave Defender

Minoru - M - Seed

Misaki – F – The Bloom of Beauty

Mitsuko - F - Child of Light

Miya - F - Three arrows

Miyako – F – Beautiful child of March

Mizuki – F – Beautiful Moon

Momoko - F - Child Peach

Montaro - M - Big Guy

Moriko - F - Child of the Forest

Morio - M - Forest boy

Mura - F - Village

Mutsuko - F - Child Mutsu

Nahoko - F - Child Naho

Nami - F - Wave

Namiko - F - Child of the Waves

Nana - F - Apple

Naoko - F - Obedient child

Naomi – F – “First of all, beauty”

Nara - F - Oak

Nariko - F - Sissy

Natsuko - F - Summer child

Natsumi – F – Wonderful summer

Nayoko - F - Baby Nayo

Nibori - M - Famous

Nikki – M/F – Two trees

Nikko - M - Daylight

Nori - F - Law

Noriko - F - Child of the Law

Nozomi - F - Nadezhda

Nyoko - F - Gemstone

Oki - F - Middle of the Ocean

Orino – F – Peasant Meadow

Osamu - M - Firmness of the Law

Rafu - M - Network

Rai - F - Truth

Raidon - M - God of Thunder

Ran - F - Water lily

Rei - F - Gratitude

Reiko - F - Gratitude

Ren - F - Water lily

Renjiro - M - Honest

Renzo - M - Third Son

Riko - F - Child of Jasmine

Rin - F - Unfriendly

Rinji - M - Peaceful Forest

Rini - F - Little bunny

Risako - F - Child Risa

Ritsuko - F - Child Ritsu

Roka - M - White wave crest

Rokuro - M - Sixth Son

Ronin - M - Samurai without a master

Rumiko - F - Child Rumi

Ruri - F - Emerald

Ryo - M - Excellent

Ryoichi - M - First son of Ryo

Ryoko - F - Child Ryo

Ryota - M - Strong (fat)

Ryozo - M - Third son of Ryo

Ryuichi - M - First son of Ryu

Ryuu - M - Dragon

Saburo - M - Third Son

Sachi - F - Happiness

Sachiko - F - Child of Happiness

Sachio - M - Fortunately born

Saeko - F - Child Sae

Saki - F - Cape (geographical)

Sakiko - F - Child Saki

Sakuko - F - Child Saku

Sakura – F – Cherry blossoms

Sanako - F - Child Sana

Sango - F - Coral

Saniiro - M - Wonderful

Satu - F - Sugar

Sayuri - F - Little lily

Seiichi - M - Sei's first son

Sen - M - Spirit of the Tree

Shichiro - M - Seventh Son

Shika - F - Deer

Shima - M - Islander

Shina - F - Decent

Shinichi - M - First son of Shin

Shiro - M - Fourth Son

Shizuka - F - Quiet

Sho - M - Prosperity

Sora - F - Sky

Sorano - F - Heavenly

Suki - F - Favorite

Suma - F - Asking

Sumi - F - Purified (religious)

Susumi - M - Moving forward (successful)

Suzu - F - Bell (bell)

Suzume - F - Sparrow

Tadao - M - Helpful

Taka - F - Noble

Takako - F - Tall child

Takara - F - Treasure

Takashi - M - Famous

Takehiko - M - Bamboo Prince

Takeo - M - Bamboo-like

Takeshi - M - Bamboo tree or brave

Takumi - M - Craftsman

Tama – M/F – Gemstone

Tamiko - F - Child of Abundance

Tani - F - From the valley (child)

Taro - M - Firstborn

Taura - F - Many lakes; many rivers

Teijo - M - Fair

Tomeo - M - Cautious person

Tomiko - F - Child of Wealth

Tora - F - Tigress

Torio - M - Bird's tail

Toru - M - Sea

Toshi - F - Mirror image

Toshiro - M - Talented

Toya – M/F – House door

Tsukiko - F - Moon Child

Tsuyu - F - Morning dew

Udo - M - Ginseng

Ume - F - Plum blossom

Umeko – F – Plum Blossom Child

Usagi - F - Rabbit

Uyeda - M - From the rice field (child)

Yachi - F - Eight thousand

Yasu - F - Calm

Yasuo - M - Peaceful

Yayoi - F - March

Yogi - M - Yoga practitioner

Yoko - F - Child of the Sun

Yori - F - Trustworthy

Yoshi - F - Perfection

Yoshiko - F - Perfect Child

Yoshiro - M - Perfect Son

Yuki - M - Snow

Yukiko - F - Snow Child

Yukio - M - Cherished by God

Yuko - F - Kind child

Yumako - F - Child Yuma

Yumi - F - Bow-like (weapon)

Yumiko – F – Arrow Child

Yuri - F - Lily

Yuriko - F - Child of the Lily

Yuu - M - Noble Blood

Yuudai - M - Great Hero

Nagisa - "coast"

Kaworu - “to smell”

Ritsuko - "science", "attitude"

Akagi - "mahogany"

Shinji - "death"

Misato - "beautiful city"

Katsuragi - "fortress with walls entwined with grass"

Asuka - lit. "love-love"

Soryu - "central current"

Ayanami - “strip of fabric”, “wave pattern”

Rei - “zero”, “example”, “soul”

KENSHIN name means "Heart of the Sword".

Akito - Sparkling Man

Kuramori Reika - "Treasure Protector" and "Cold Summer" Rurouni - Wandering Wanderer

Himura - "Burning Village"

Shishio Makoto - True Hero

Takani Megumi - "Love Sublime"

Shinomori Aoshi - "Green Bamboo Forest"

Makimachi Misao - "Run the City"

Saito Hajime - "The Beginning of Human Life"

Hiko Seijuro - "Justice Prevailed"

Seta Sojiro - “Comprehensive Forgiveness”

Mirai - the future

Hajime - boss

Mamoru - protector

Jibo - earth

Hikari - light

Atarashiki - transformations

Namida - tears

Sora - sky

Ginga - the universe

Eva - alive

Izya is a doctor

Usagi - hare

Tsukino - Lunar

Rey - soul

Hino - fire

Ami - rain

Mitsuno - merman

Corey - ice, icy

Makoto is true

Cinema - aerial, forest

Minako - Venus

Aino - loving

Setsuna - guard

Mayo - castle, palace

Haruka - 1) distant, 2) heavenly

Teno - heavenly

Michiru - the way

Kayo - sea

Hotaru - light

Tomo is a friend.

Kaori - soft, affectionate

Yumi - "Fragrant Beauty"

Hakufu - Noble Sign

What to name the child?

For future parents in Japan, special collections of names are published - just like here in general - so that they can choose the most suitable one for their child. In general, the process of choosing (or coming up with) a name comes down to one of the following ways:

1. a keyword can be used in the name - a seasonal phenomenon, a shade of color, a precious stone, etc.

2. the name may contain the parents’ wish to become strong, wise or brave, for which the hieroglyphs of strength, wisdom and courage are used, respectively.

3. You can also go from choosing the hieroglyphs you like most (in different spellings) and combining them with each other.

4. It has recently become popular to name a child based on hearing, i.e. depending on how pleasant the desired name is to the ear. Having chosen the desired pronunciation, they determine the hieroglyphs with which this name will be written.

5. It has always been popular to name a child after celebrities - heroes of historical chronicles, politicians, pop stars, TV series characters, etc.

6. Some parents rely on various fortune telling, believing that the number of traits in the hieroglyphs of the first and last names should be combined with each other.

The most common endings for Japanese names are:

Male names: ~aki, ~fumi, ~go, ~haru, ~hei, ~hiko, ~hisa, ~hide, ~hiro, ~ji, ~kazu, ~ki, ~ma, ~masa, ~michi, ~mitsu , ~nari, ~nobu, ~nori, ~o, ~rou, ~shi, ~shige, ~suke, ~ta, ~taka, ~to, ~toshi, ~tomo, ~ya, ~zou

Female names: ~a, ~chi, ~e, ~ho, ~i, ~ka, ~ki, ~ko, ~mi, ~na, ~no, ~o, ~ri, ~sa, ~ya, ~yo

Nominal suffixes

Personal pronouns

Japanese nominal suffixes and personal pronouns

Nominal suffixes

In the Japanese language, there is a whole set of so-called nominal suffixes, that is, suffixes added in colloquial speech to first names, surnames, nicknames and other words denoting an interlocutor or a third party. They are used to indicate the social relationship between the speaker and the one being spoken about. The choice of suffix is ​​determined by the character of the speaker (normal, rude, very polite), their attitude towards the listener (common politeness, respect, ingratiation, rudeness, arrogance), their position in society and the situation in which the conversation takes place (one-on-one, in a circle of loved ones friends, between colleagues, between strangers, in public). What follows is a list of some of these suffixes (in order of increasing respectfulness) and their usual meanings.

Tian (chan) - A close analogue of the “diminutive” suffixes of the Russian language. Usually used in relation to a junior or inferior in a social sense, with whom a close relationship develops. There is an element of baby talk in the use of this suffix. Typically used when adults address children, boys address their girlfriends, girlfriends address each other, and small children address each other. The use of this suffix in relation to people who are not very close, equal in status to the speaker, is impolite. Let's say, if a guy addresses a girl his age in this way, with whom he is not “having an affair,” then he is being inappropriate. A girl who addresses a guy of her own age in this way, with whom she is not “having an affair,” is essentially being rude.

Kun (kun) - An analogue of the address “comrade”. Most often used between men or in relation to guys. Indicates, rather, a certain “officiality” of, nevertheless, close relationships. Let's say, between classmates, partners or friends. It can also be used in relation to juniors or inferior in a social sense, when there is no need to focus on this circumstance.

Yang (yan) - Kansai analogue of "-chan" and "-kun".

Pyon (pyon) - Children's version of "-kun".

Tti (cchi) - Children's version of "-chan" (cf. "Tamagotti".

Without a suffix - Close relationships, but without “lisping.” The usual address of adults to teenage children, friends to each other, etc. If a person does not use suffixes at all, then this is a clear indicator of rudeness. Calling by last name without a suffix is ​​a sign of familiar, but “detached” relationships (a typical example is the relationship of schoolchildren or students).

San (san) - An analogue of the Russian “Mr./Madam”. A general indication of respect. Often used to communicate with strangers, or when all other suffixes are inappropriate. Used in relation to elders, including older relatives (brothers, sisters, parents).

Han (han) - Kansai equivalent of "-san".

Si (shi) - “Master”, used exclusively in official documents after the surname.

Fujin - “Lady”, used exclusively in official documents after the surname.

Kouhai - Appeal to the younger. Especially often - at school in relation to those who are younger than the speaker.

Senpai (senpai) - Appeal to an elder. Especially often - at school in relation to those who are older than the speaker.

Dono (dono) - Rare suffix. Respectful address to an equal or superior, but slightly different in position. Currently considered obsolete and practically not found in communication. In ancient times, it was actively used when samurai addressed each other.

Sensei - “Teacher”. Used to refer to teachers and lecturers themselves, as well as doctors and politicians.

Senshu - “Sportsman.” Used to refer to famous athletes.

Zeki - "Sumo wrestler." Used to refer to famous sumo wrestlers.

Ue (ue) - “Elder”. A rare and outdated respectful suffix used for older family members. Not used with names - only with designations of position in the family (“father”, “mother”, “brother”).

Sama - The highest degree of respect. Appeal to gods and spirits, to spiritual authorities, girls to lovers, servants to noble masters, etc. Roughly translated into Russian as “respected, dear, venerable.”

Jin (jin) - “One of.” "Saya-jin" means "one of Saya."

Tachi (tachi) - “And friends.” "Goku-tachi" - "Goku and his friends."

Gumi - “Team, group, party.” "Kenshin-gumi" - "Team Kenshin".

Japanese names and their meanings

Personal pronouns

In addition to nominal suffixes, Japan also uses many different ways to address each other and refer to themselves using personal pronouns. The choice of pronoun is determined by the social laws already mentioned above. The following is a list of some of these pronouns.

Group with the meaning "I"

Watakushi - A very polite female version.

Washi - An outdated polite option. Doesn't depend on gender.

Wai - Kansai equivalent of washi.

Boku (Boku) - Familiar youth male version. Rarely used by women, in this case “unfemininity” is emphasized. Used in poetry.

Ore - Not a very polite option. Purely masculine. Like, cool. ^_^

Ore-sama - "Great Self". A rare form, an extreme degree of boasting.

Daiko or Naiko (Daikou/Naikou) - Similar to “ore-sama”, but somewhat less boastful.

Sessha - Very polite form. Typically used by samurai when addressing their masters.

Hishou - “Insignificant.” A very polite form, now practically not used.

Gusei - Similar to hisho, but somewhat less derogatory.

Oira - Polite form. Typically used by monks.

Chin - A special form that only the emperor has the right to use.

Ware (Ware) - Polite (formal) form, translated as [I/you/he] “himself.” Used when the importance of “I” needs to be particularly expressed. For example, in spells (“I conjure.” In modern Japanese it is rarely used in the meaning of “I”. It is more often used to form a reflexive form, for example, “forgetting about oneself” - “ware wo wasurete.”

[Speaker's name or position] - Used by or when communicating with children, usually within the family. Let's say a girl named Atsuko might say "Atsuko is thirsty." Or her older brother, addressing her, may say, “Brother will bring you juice.” There is an element of “lisping” in this, but such treatment is quite acceptable.

Group meaning “We”

Watashi-tachi - Polite option.

Ware-ware - Very polite, formal option.

Bokura - Impolite option.

Touhou - Regular option.

Group with the meaning “You/You”:

Anata - General polite option. It is also common for a wife to address her husband (“dear”).

Anta - Less polite option. Typically used by young people. A slight hint of disrespect.

Otaku - Literally translated as "Your home." A very polite and rare form. Due to the ironic use by Japanese informals in relation to each other, the second meaning was fixed - “feng, crazy.”

Kimi - Polite option, often between friends. Used in poetry.

Kijou - “Mistress”. A very polite form of addressing a lady.

Onushi - “Insignificant.” An outdated form of polite speech.

Omae - Familiar (when addressing an enemy - offensive) option. Usually used by men in relation to a socially younger person (father to daughter, say).

Temae/Temee (Temae/Temee) - Insulting male version. Usually in relation to the enemy. Something like “bastard” or “bastard.”

Honore (Onore) - Insulting option.

Kisama - A very offensive option. Translated with dots. ^_^ Oddly enough, it literally translates as “noble master.”

Japanese names

Modern Japanese names consist of two parts - the surname, which comes first, and the given name, which comes second. True, the Japanese often write their names in “European order” (first name - surname) if they write them in romaji. For convenience, the Japanese sometimes write their last name in CAPITAL letters so that it is not confused with their first name (due to the inconsistency described above).

The exception is the emperor and members of his family. They don't have a last name. Girls who marry princes also lose their surnames.

Ancient names and surnames

Before the Meiji Restoration, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames. The rest of the Japanese population was content with personal names and nicknames.

Women of aristocratic and samurai families also usually did not have surnames, since they did not have the right of inheritance. In those cases where women did have surnames, they did not change them upon marriage.

Surnames were divided into two groups - the surnames of aristocrats and the surnames of samurai.

Unlike the number of samurai surnames, the number of aristocratic surnames has practically not increased since ancient times. Many of them went back to the priestly past of the Japanese aristocracy.

The most respected and respected clans of aristocrats were: Konoe, Takashi, Kujo, Ichijo and Gojo. All of them belonged to the Fujiwara clan and had a common name - “Gosetsuke”. From among the men of this family, regents (sessho) and chancellors (kampaku) of Japan were appointed, and from among the women, wives for the emperors were chosen.

The next most important clans were the Hirohata, Daigo, Kuga, Oimikado, Saionji, Sanjo, Imaidegawa, Tokudaji and Kaoin clans. The highest state dignitaries were appointed from among them.

Thus, representatives of the Saionji clan served as imperial grooms (meryo no gogen). Next came all the other aristocratic clans.

The hierarchy of nobility of aristocratic families began to take shape in the 6th century and lasted until the end of the 11th century, when power in the country passed to the samurai. Among them, the clans Genji (Minamoto), Heike (Taira), Hojo, Ashikaga, Tokugawa, Matsudaira, Hosokawa, Shimazu, Oda enjoyed special respect. A number of their representatives at different times were shoguns (military rulers) of Japan.

The personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai were formed from two kanji (hieroglyphs) with a “noble” meaning.

Personal names of samurai servants and peasants were often given according to the principle of "numbering". The first son is Ichiro, the second is Jiro, the third is Saburo, the fourth is Shiro, the fifth is Goro, etc. Also, in addition to “-ro”, the suffixes “-emon”, “-ji”, “-zo”, “-suke”, “-be” were used for this purpose.

Upon entering the period of adolescence, the samurai chose a different name for himself than the one given to him at birth. Sometimes samurai changed their names throughout adult life, for example, to emphasize the onset of a new period (promotion or moving to another duty station). The master had the right to rename his vassal. In cases of serious illness, the name was sometimes changed to that of Amida Buddha to appeal to his mercy.

According to the rules of samurai duels, before the fight, the samurai had to say his full name so that the enemy could decide whether he was worthy of such an opponent. Of course, in life this rule was observed much less often than in novels and chronicles.

The suffix "-hime" was added to the end of the names of girls from noble families. It is often translated as "princess", but in fact it was used to refer to all noble ladies.

The suffix “-gozen” was used for the names of samurai wives. They were often called simply by their husband's surname and rank. Personal names of married women were practically used only by their close relatives.

For the names of monks and nuns from the noble classes, the suffix “-in” was used.

Modern names and surnames

During the Meiji Restoration, all Japanese people were given surnames. Naturally, most of them were associated with various signs of peasant life, especially with rice and its processing. These surnames, like the surnames of the upper class, were also usually made up of two kanji.

The most common Japanese surnames now are Suzuki, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Saito, Sato, Sasaki, Kudo, Takahashi, Kobayashi, Kato, Ito, Murakami, Oonishi, Yamaguchi, Nakamura, Kuroki, Higa.

Men's names have changed less. They also often depend on the “serial number” of the son in the family. The suffixes "-ichi" and "-kazu" meaning "first son" are often used, as are the suffixes "-ji" ("second son" and "-zō" ("third son").

Most Japanese female names end in “-ko” (“child” or “-mi” (“beauty”). Girls, as a rule, are given names associated with everything beautiful, pleasant and feminine. Unlike male names, female names names are usually written in hiragana rather than kanji.

Some modern girls do not like the ending “-ko” in their names and prefer to omit it. For example, a girl named "Yuriko" might call herself "Yuri".

According to a law passed during the time of Emperor Meiji, after marriage, husband and wife are legally required to adopt the same surname. In 98% of cases this is the husband's last name. For several years now, parliament has been discussing an amendment to the Civil Code allowing spouses to keep premarital surnames. However, so far she cannot get the required number of votes.

After death, a Japanese person receives a new, posthumous name (kaimyo), which is written on a special wooden tablet (ihai). This tablet is considered to be the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased and is used in funeral rites. Kaimyo and ihai are purchased from Buddhist monks - sometimes even before the person's death.

The surname in Japanese is called "myoji" (苗字 or 名字), "uji" (氏) or "sei" (姓).

The vocabulary of the Japanese language has long been divided into two types: wago (Japanese 和語?) - native Japanese words and kango (Japanese 漢語?) - borrowed from China. Names are also divided into these types, although a new type is now actively expanding - gairaigo (Japanese 外来語?) - words borrowed from other languages, but components of this type are rarely used in names.

Modern Japanese names are divided into the following groups:

kunnye (consisting of vago)

onny (consisting of kango)

mixed

The ratio of kun and on surnames is approximately 80% to 20%.

The most common surnames in Japan:

Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 Sato:?)

Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木?)

Takahashi (Japanese: 高橋?)

Tanaka (Japanese: 田中?)

Watanabe (Japanese: 渡辺?)

Ito (Japanese: 伊藤 Ito:?)

Yamamoto (Japanese: 山本?)

Nakamura (Japanese: 中村?)

Ohayashi (Japanese: 小林?)

Kobayashi (Japanese: 小林?) (different surnames, but spelled the same and have approximately the same distribution)

Kato (Japanese: 加藤 Kato:?)

Many surnames, although read according to the onon (Chinese) reading, go back to ancient Japanese words and are written phonetically, and not by meaning.

Examples of such surnames: Kubo (Japanese 久保?) - from Japanese. kubo (Japanese 窪?) - hole; Sasaki (Japanese 佐々木?) - from the ancient Japanese sasa - small; Abe (Japanese 阿部?) - from the ancient word ape - to connect, mix. If we take into account such surnames, then the number of native Japanese surnames reaches 90%.

For example, the character 木 (“tree”) is read in kun as ki, but in names it can also be read as ko; The character 上 (“up”) can be read in kun as either ue or kami. There are two different surnames, Uemura and Kamimura, which are written the same - 上村. In addition, there are dropouts and fusions of sounds at the junction of components, for example, in the surname Atsumi (Japanese 渥美?), the components individually are read as atsui and umi; and the surname 金成 (kana + nari) is often read simply as Kanari.

When combining hieroglyphs, it is typical to alternate the endings of the first component A/E and O/A - for example, 金 kane - Kanagawa (Japanese 金川?), 白 shiro - Shiraoka (Japanese 白岡?). In addition, the initial syllables of the second component often become voiced, for example 山田 Yamada (yama + ta), 宮崎 Miyazaki (miya + saki). Also, surnames often contain the remainder of the case indicator but or ha (in ancient times it was customary to place them between the first and last names). Usually this indicator is not written, but is read - for example, 一宮 Ichinomiya (ichi + miya); 榎本 Enomoto (e + moto). But sometimes the case indicator is displayed in writing in hiragana, katakana or hieroglyph - for example, 井之上 Inoue (and + but + ue); 木ノ下 Kinoshita (ki + katakana no + shita).

The vast majority of surnames in Japanese consist of two characters; surnames with one or three characters are less common, and surnames with four or more characters are very rare.

One-component surnames are mainly of Japanese origin and are formed from nouns or medial forms of verbs. For example, Watari (Japanese 渡?) - from watari (Japanese 渡り crossing?), 　Hata (Japanese 畑?) - the word hata means “plantation, vegetable garden.” Significantly less common are surnames consisting of one hieroglyph. For example, Cho (Japanese 兆 Cho:?) means “trillion”, In (Japanese 因?) means “reason”.

The majority of Japanese surnames consisting of two components are reported as 60-70%. Of these, the majority are surnames from Japanese roots - it is believed that such surnames are the easiest to read, since most of them are read according to the usual kuns used in the language. Examples - Matsumoto (Japanese 松本?) - consists of the nouns matsu “pine” and moto “root” used in the language; Kiyomizu (Japanese: 清水?) - consists of the adjective stem 清い kiyoi - “pure” and the noun 水 mizu - “water”. Chinese two-part surnames are less numerous and usually have one single reading. Often Chinese surnames contain numbers from one to six (excluding four 四, since this number is read in the same way as “death” 死 si and they try not to use it). Examples: Ichijo: (Japanese: 一条?), Saito: (Japanese: 斉藤?). There are also mixed surnames, where one component is read as on, and the other as kun. Examples: Honda (Japanese 本田?), hon - “base” (on reading) + ta - “rice field” (kun reading); Betsumiya (Japanese 別宮?), betsu - “special, different” (on reading) + miya - “temple” (kun reading). Also, a very small part of surnames can be read both in onam and kun: 坂西 Banzai and Sakanishi, 宮内 Kunai and Miyauchi.

In three-component surnames, Japanese roots are often found, written phonetically. Examples: 久保田 "Kubota (probably the word 窪 kubo "hole" is written phonetically as 久保), 阿久津 Akutsu (probably the word 明く aku "to open" is written phonetically as 阿久). However, ordinary three-component surnames consisting of three kun readings are also common. Examples: 矢田部 Yatabe, 小野木 Onoki.There are also three-component surnames with Chinese reading.

Four or more component surnames are very rare.

There are surnames with very unusual readings that look like puzzles. Examples: 十八女 Wakairo - written in hieroglyphs for “eighteen-year-old girl”, and read as 若色 “young + color”; The surname denoted by the hieroglyph 一 “one” is read as Ninomae, which can be translated as 二の前 ni no mae “before two”; and the surname 穂積 Hozue, which can be interpreted as “gathering ears of grain”, is sometimes written as 八月一日 “the first day of the eighth lunar month” - apparently on this day in ancient times the harvest began.

In Japan, as in many Asian countries, they use a name system that is quite familiar to us, but a little backwards. The Japanese indicate the surname first, and then the personal name. If in Russian it is customary to call Ivan Sidorov, then in Japan it would sound Sidorov Ivan.

As you can see the difference is small. However, when translating from Japanese, this is quite important and young translators sometimes make annoying mistakes. The names of women and men in Japan differ greatly in structure. Personal names are one of the most difficult skills in Japanese.

Modern Japanese culture has undergone a very strong change. If earlier traditions were quite strong in the field of names, now they have completely lost ground. Increasingly, when choosing a Japanese name for a boy, parents turn to modern cultural phenomena. This is how in Japan names from cartoons and comics are used, which even quite old people are fond of.

To transliterate Japanese into Cyrillic characters, the “Polivanov system” is used. This is a transliteration system developed by orientalist Polivanov. It was introduced back in 1930 and since then has been considered the standard in Russian practice. Moreover, it often happens that some sources transliterate transliteration. Let's say they take an English translation and transliterate proper names from it. This often leads to confusion in first and last names in translations.

Japanese boy names popular in 2009-2011

List of Japanese male names, their spelling and meaning.

We have compiled a list of names that are quite popular in Japan. This is of course not the entire list of available names, but displays the most used names of the land of the rising sun. We hope you find this information useful.

Japanese names, the meaning behind them and their origin are of interest to many lovers of the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun. Mysterious and mysterious Japan has always attracted foreigners with its charm and unforgettable traditions. Thanks to the unique genres of graphic novel and animation, which went beyond the borders of Japan, the mysterious world of this distant country was revealed to a wide audience. First of all, it is associated with samurai, delicate falling sakura petals and a centuries-old culture with a special Asian flavor that penetrates many areas of society.

Japanese names consist of a personal name and a surname, but there are no middle names in Japan. When meeting or mentioning someone, people first say the surname inherited from their father, and only then their personal name. And we may introduce ourselves this way, but it’s very unusual to hear Elizaveta Sorokin instead of Elizaveta Sorokina. One of the reasons for this difference can be called the direction of the letter. In Japan, for a long time they wrote in columns from right to left, which cast its shadow on the order of presentation.

In a densely populated country, parents try to give their child an unusual name that would distinguish its bearer from others. For this purpose, the use of rare hieroglyphs is used.

Such aspirations led to problems with documentation. One mistake led to a large number of problems and subsequent litigation.

In order to avoid confusion, since the middle of the last century, a list of permitted and acceptable characters in names has been in effect. Now there are more than two thousand of them in total, but not all hieroglyphs can be displayed correctly without additional programs on the device. In the digital age, this can make life difficult for the wearer. Before registration, the administration must notify parents of possible problems.

According to Japanese law, the following may be used:

• hieroglyphs of both syllabic alphabet;
• Latin transliteration;
• Kanji characters recommended for use;
• conventional signs and signs of Japanese writing.

No one limits the number of hieroglyphs in a personal and family name. If desired, they can consist of four, ten or fifteen. This happens quite rarely.

Typically, the Japanese have short names of one or two characters, written in one of two traditional alphabets.

A significant part of the Japanese population received generic names only in the second half of the nineteenth century. Then the reign of Emperor Mutsuhito began. People were given the right to choose their own surname.

Peasants who did not have a broad imagination often used the names of the area in which they were born.

To obtain a surname, they also resorted to fortune telling or asked advice in temples. There have been cases where residents of an entire village became namesakes. Having analyzed existing surnames, we came to the conclusion that only a quarter of family names do not refer to the names of geographical objects.

For example, the most common surnames are:

Separately, it is worth highlighting the surnames of Japanese monarchs. They are missing. The emperor and the few members of his family do not have them. Exceptions to this rule are made in extremely rare cases. Most often, due to the marriage of princes with commoners, there is a loss of the opportunity to inherit the imperial title and the status of a member of the imperial family. Widows of princes and princesses have the right to receive a surname, also losing the above-mentioned status. If a person joins the emperor's family, he loses his previous surname. This also happened with the wife of the reigning Emperor Akihimoto, Michiko. This marriage was significant in that the heir to the throne took a commoner as his wife, and not a girl from an aristocratic family, and did not lose his title. He later took the throne after his father's death.

Japan has long been a patriarchal country. From birth, a woman is destined for the role of keeper of the hearth and mother of children. Girls were instilled with the same benefactors as their peers from other medieval countries. It was a joy for the parents to see a beautiful and happy child in front of them. Japanese girl names and their meanings reflect this in full force.

Japanese female names often have hieroglyphs with similar translations. We can see among them those that denote love, tenderness, truth, beauty, tolerance, obedience and others. The wishes were supposed to go to the betrothed girl. These concepts are light and feminine.

The suffix “ko”, also often found among Japanese women, is translated as child or child. The name of the previously mentioned Empress Michiko can be translated as "beautiful child", which is worthy of the wife of the ruler of this country. But modern girls, when communicating informally, can completely omit this suffix. They introduce themselves instead as Yuko, "gentle child", as Yu - "tenderness", and Fujiko - "wisteria child", as Fuji, which translated means "wisteria".

Beautiful and memorable Japanese names are often translated as plant names. It's hard to find a person you wouldn't call Sakura. Given one of the spellings, we can say that these girls are named after the beautiful Japanese cherry tree. Its flowering in spring, hanami, becomes one of the most important events of the year and is accompanied by picnics. This is often the name given to characters in computer games, anime and manga.

In addition to cherry, a girl can get her name from willow, peach, chrysanthemum and other plants that charm with their grace or beauty.

Yuri will owe a beautiful lily, Momoko - light pink peach flowers, and Ren - a water lily located in a pond.

Despite the variety of female names in Japan and the desire of parents to somehow distinguish their child, among them the 10 most popular can be noted:

1. Himari – 陽葵 – sunrise.
2. Hina – 陽菜 – reward.
3. Yua – 結愛 – love.
4. Sakura – 咲良 – abundant flowering.
5. Sakura – 桜 – cherry tree.
6. Yuna – 結菜 – graceful.
7. Rin – 凛 – cold.
8. Aoi – 葵 – mallow, geranium.
9. Yui – 結衣 – tying a kimono.
10. Rin – 凜 – stern.

Hieroglyphs with the meanings of animals or numbers are now rarely used. They are considered outdated. But there are exceptions to every rule. For example, Chinatsu, in one of his writings, is literally translated as “a thousand years.” It cannot be called unpopular or forgotten. Great examples would be Chinatsu Nakayama, a Japanese writer and former actress, or Chinatu Akasaki, known as an anime and video game voice actress.

Suffixes are used as an indicator for a female personal name. In addition to the previously described “ko”, it can be “mi”, translated as “beauty”, “e” - bay, or hieroglyphs meaning flower, fabric or era.

Boys in Japan from any class were expected to play the role of protector and breadwinner of the family. Both noble gentlemen and samurai, and farmers raised their successors. This affected the names, or, more precisely, their meanings, for young men.

Popular short Japanese male names. They are wishes for the future man. They want to see him as a protector, successful, great, healthy and perfect. The neighborhood may write hieroglyphs that translate as “son,” “warrior,” or “hero.”

Historically, sons were named after their order of birth.

Especially nowadays, names given initially to first-born children are common. They could be formed in two ways. They could be written in hieroglyphs, translated as a numeral and the word “son” or the word “firstborn”. Another method was to attach the suffix “chi” to the father’s name or a qualitative adjective. It means "first son". For example, a guy might be named Daichi. Translated, it means “great first son.”

Every year in Japan, a list of the most popular names for boys is compiled. Unlike women's, men's ratings have not changed much in recent years, but only their positions in it have changed. There are 10 most used names:

Male names also have components that indicate the gender of their bearer. The suffix "o" denotes "masculinity" or "man". "Ro", depending on the hieroglyph, means "clarity" or "son". There are also “ki” - tree, “hiko” - prince or “suke” - assistant.

Borrowed names

In recent years, Japanese culture has been making its way to other countries by leaps and bounds. Not everyone is privy to the subtleties, but many have superficial knowledge. Nowadays it is difficult to surprise a person with words like “anime”, “manga” and the like. A similar phenomenon has its mirror image in the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Japanese are attracted to Western countries: their mentality, habits, and values. Borrowed names from other languages ​​are becoming popular.

Due to phonetics, minor changes in pronunciation may occur. But, knowing the patterns, determining the original source is not difficult.

• Anna – 杏奈;
• Maria – マリア;
• Maria – まりや;
• Emiri – エミリー – Emily;
• Arisu - アリス - Alice.

“Exotic” names are transformed for certain reasons. The Japanese language does not have an "l" sound. In foreign words it is replaced with “r”, like Arisu or Emiri. In the case of borrowing, the ending of the name will not indicate who it is intended for.

Not all Asian languages ​​borrow with the same pronunciation. Chinese is characterized by translating the meaning of a name and then writing it in hieroglyphs, rather than selecting characters according to pronunciation. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages.

In Japan, as in Russia, it is easy to meet a person with a name suitable for both a girl and a boy. These names include wishes that are appropriate for any person. They can be translated as "sincerity", "obedience" or "generosity". Among them there may be names of precious stones or precious metals.

• Akira – 明 – bright, bright;
• Aoi – 葵 – mallow;
• Kin – 钦 – gold;
• Kohaku – 琥珀 – amber, amber;
• Makoto – 诚 – truth;
• Masumi – 真澄 – clarity;
• Michi – 道 – road;
• Nao – 尚 – noble, noble;
• Haru – 春 – spring;
• Hiroshi – 浩 – prosperity.

Many languages ​​have unisex names. The Land of the Rising Sun is no exception.

Unisex names are becoming more popular every year. Many girls prefer not to give their full names ending in “ko” due to the “old-fashioned” nature of the name, and expectant parents see a similar trend. Therefore, they try to choose fashionable or neutral options in this matter.

Despite the desire of the Japanese to preserve their traditions from intervention and their careful attitude to the experience of their ancestors, over time, part of what was previously created becomes history. Crafts and old motifs become obsolete and cease to exist. A similar analogy can be made with people's names. They can either simply lose their popularity for a while or completely go out of use, leaving behind a small trace.

Fashion trends can be tracked through various popularity ratings, the number of which does not decrease from year to year.

Among them there are ratings that are calculated by the number of babies named during this period or by the total number of its carriers. In addition to spelling, in the tops you can track popular pronunciations that do not depend on the recording and the chosen alphabet. The latter are less popular. Choice of pronunciation may remain on the conscience of the parents. This provides greater freedom for creativity than the two and a half thousand characters allowed for use by the government. When choosing a name for the future baby, the Japanese carefully study the tops and focus on them before making the final decision.

Shortening your name when meeting someone does not change a person’s passport details. He will even bear the full form of his name against his will. At this stage it is simply unfashionable. It’s another matter when one or a whole group of names goes out of circulation.

Rare Japanese names translated mean animals. These days there are few such names left.

The famous warrior in a sailor suit from the manga of the same name is familiar to many. An interesting play is visible in the translation: Usagi Tsukino's signature hairstyle resembles the large ears of the rabbit that gave her her name. This example is only an exception to the general rule.

Unlike men's names, women's names rarely use numerals. The exceptions are "first", "seven" and "thousand". The tradition of naming girls in the order of their birth originated in aristocratic families, however, over time it faded away.

Many personal names in Japanese are like music, so smoothly and melodiously they flow into each other and fit into the general speech. It is problematic to find “clumsy” or discordant ones among them. They have their own charm that is difficult to convey in words.

Unusual Japanese names are captivating due to their melody and deep meaning that can be encrypted in them. It is difficult to choose the most beautiful and used names.

Check out the Japanese names starting with m in this list. It can be noted that Mamoka is the female version of Mamoru. It is curious that in the Russian language there is a similar pair among names. If you do not take into account the same shortened form, Alexander and Alexandra are variations of the same name for different genders. Alexander and Mamoru have the same translation, which allows us to say that they are analogues of each other in different languages.

It is difficult to find a parent who, in anticipation of the birth of a long-awaited baby, would not look for something special or unique among the most intricate and original names. It should be suitable for his baby. This is a very difficult choice that can affect a person’s future fate. The burden of responsibility for making this decision falls on the shoulders of both parents of the baby.

And not surprising, because in Japan it is very difficult to change your name. Changing the surname upon marriage is possible for both the husband and his wife’s surname, and vice versa. In more than 90% of cases, it is the woman who changes her last name. But with a name it is much more difficult. In very rare cases, the court allows taking a new one if the previous one was extremely dissonant or similar in pronunciation to bad concepts. But what plays a role here is not the subjective perception of the name, but the general impression of it.

Dissatisfied with their parents' imagination, people cannot change their name, but they have found another solution to this problem. In Japan, nicknames are common and are included in the main presentation, sometimes omitting the personal name. Naturally, nicknames do not have legal force, but this is the only compromise in this situation.

Any name carries a message and a semantic load, which should never be forgotten, especially when dealing with beautiful and rare foreign names. Japanese ones are very euphonious and melodic, their history goes back many centuries, and their popularity will not decrease soon.

By choosing a suitable name, you can provide a decent and wonderful life for a person. The Japanese believe this and carefully choose it with all trepidation. They put all their heartfelt wishes and hopes for a bright future in it.

A Japanese name (人名 jinmei) these days usually consists of a family name (surname) followed by a personal name.

Names are usually written using kanji, which can have many different pronunciations in different cases.

Modern Japanese names can be compared to names in many other cultures. All Japanese have a single surname and a single given name without a patronymic, with the exception of the Japanese imperial family, whose members do not have a surname. Girls who marry princes also lose their surnames.

In Japan, the surname comes first, and then the given name. At the same time, in Western languages ​​(often in Russian) Japanese names are written in the reverse order first name - last name - according to European tradition. For convenience, the Japanese sometimes write their last name in CAPITAL letters so that it is not confused with their given name.

Names in Japan are often created independently from existing characters, so the country has a huge number of unique names. Surnames are more traditional and most often go back to place names. There are significantly more first names in Japanese than surnames. Male and female names differ due to their characteristic components and structure. Reading Japanese proper names is one of the most difficult elements of the Japanese language.

The surname in Japanese is called "myoji" (苗字 or 名字), "uji" (氏) or "sei" (姓).

The vocabulary of the Japanese language has long been divided into two types: wago (Japanese 和語 “Japanese language”) - native Japanese words and kango (Japanese 漢語 Chineseism) - borrowed from China. Names are also divided into these types, although a new type is now actively expanding - gairaigo (Japanese 外来語) - words borrowed from other languages, but components of this type are rarely used in names.

Modern Japanese names are divided into the following groups:
kunnye (consisting of vago),
onny (consisting of kango),
mixed.
The ratio of kun and on surnames is approximately 80% to 20%.

The vast majority of surnames in Japanese consist of two characters; surnames with one or three characters are less common, and surnames with four or more characters are very rare.

Male names are the most difficult part of Japanese proper names to read; it is in male names that non-standard readings of nanori and rare readings, strange changes in some components are very common, although names that are easy to read are also found. For example, the names Kaoru (Japanese 薫), Shigekazu (Japanese 薫) and Kungoro: (Japanese 薫五郎) use the same character 薫 (“aroma”), but in each name it is read differently; and the common main component of names Yoshi can be written with 104 different characters and their combinations. Sometimes reading is not at all connected with written hieroglyphs, so it happens that only the bearer himself can read a name correctly.

Japanese female names, unlike male ones, in most cases have a simple kun reading and a clear and understandable meaning. Most female names are composed according to the “main component + indicator” scheme, but there are names without an indicator component. Sometimes female names may be written entirely in hiragana or katakana. Also, sometimes there are names with an onic reading, and also only in female names there are new non-Chinese borrowings (gairaigo).

Ancient names and surnames

Before the Meiji Restoration, only aristocrats (kuge) and samurai (bushi) had surnames. The rest of the Japanese population was content with personal names and nicknames.

Women of aristocratic and samurai families also usually did not have surnames, since they did not have the right of inheritance. In those cases where women did have surnames, they did not change them upon marriage.

Surnames were divided into two groups - the surnames of aristocrats and the surnames of samurai.

Unlike the number of samurai surnames, the number of aristocratic surnames has practically not increased since ancient times. Many of them went back to the priestly past of the Japanese aristocracy.

The most respected and respected clans of aristocrats were: Konoe, Takashi, Kujo, Ichijo and Gojo. All of them belonged to the Fujiwara clan and had a common name - “Gosetsuke”. From among the men of this family, regents (sessho) and chancellors (kampaku) of Japan were appointed, and from among the women, wives for the emperors were chosen.

The next most important clans were the Hirohata, Daigo, Kuga, Oimikado, Saionji, Sanjo, Imaidegawa, Tokudaji and Kaoin clans. The highest state dignitaries were appointed from among them. Thus, representatives of the Saionji clan served as imperial grooms (meryo no gogen). Next came all the other aristocratic clans.

The hierarchy of nobility of aristocratic families began to take shape in the 6th century and lasted until the end of the 11th century, when power in the country passed to the samurai. Among them, the clans Genji (Minamoto), Heike (Taira), Hojo, Ashikaga, Tokugawa, Matsudaira, Hosokawa, Shimazu, Oda enjoyed special respect. A number of their representatives at different times were shoguns (military rulers) of Japan.

The personal names of aristocrats and high-ranking samurai were formed from two kanji (hieroglyphs) with a “noble” meaning.

Personal names of samurai servants and peasants were often given according to the principle of "numbering". The first son is Ichiro, the second is Jiro, the third is Saburo, the fourth is Shiro, the fifth is Goro, etc. Also, in addition to “-ro”, the suffixes “-emon”, “-ji”, “-zo”, “-suke”, “-be” were used for this purpose.

Upon entering the period of adolescence, the samurai chose a different name for himself than the one given to him at birth. Sometimes samurai changed their names throughout adult life, for example, to emphasize the onset of a new period (promotion or moving to another duty station). The master had the right to rename his vassal. In cases of serious illness, the name was sometimes changed to that of Amida Buddha to appeal to his mercy.

According to the rules of samurai duels, before the fight, the samurai had to say his full name so that the enemy could decide whether he was worthy of such an opponent. Of course, in life this rule was observed much less often than in novels and chronicles.

The suffix “-hime” was added to the end of the names of girls from noble families. It is often translated as "princess", but in fact it was used to refer to all noble ladies.

The suffix "-gozen" was used for the names of samurai wives. They were often called simply by their husband's surname and rank. Personal names of married women were practically used only by their close relatives.

For the names of monks and nuns from the noble classes, the suffix “-in” was used.

Modern names and surnames

During the Meiji Restoration, all Japanese people were given surnames. Naturally, most of them were associated with various signs of peasant life, especially with rice and its processing. These surnames, like the surnames of the upper class, were also usually made up of two kanji.

The most common Japanese surnames now are Suzuki, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Saito, Sato, Sasaki, Kudo, Takahashi, Kobayashi, Kato, Ito, Murakami, Oonishi, Yamaguchi, Nakamura, Kuroki, Higa.

Men's names have changed less. They also often depend on the “serial number” of the son in the family. The suffixes "-ichi" and "-kazu" are often used, meaning "first son", as well as the suffixes "-ji" ("second son") and "-zō" ("third son").

Most Japanese girl names end in "-ko" ("child") or "-mi" ("beauty"). Girls, as a rule, are given names associated in meaning with everything beautiful, pleasant and feminine. Unlike male names, female names are usually written in hiragana rather than kanji.

Some modern girls do not like the ending “-ko” in their names and prefer to omit it. For example, a girl named "Yuriko" might call herself "Yuri".

According to a law passed during the time of Emperor Meiji, after marriage, husband and wife are legally required to adopt the same surname. In 98% of cases this is the husband's last name.

After death, a Japanese person receives a new, posthumous name (kaimyo), which is written on a special wooden tablet (ihai). This tablet is considered to be the embodiment of the spirit of the deceased and is used in funeral rites. Kaimyo and ihai are purchased from Buddhist monks - sometimes even before the person's death.

Japanese surnames and their meanings

Abe - 阿部 - corner, shadow; sector
Akiyama - 秋山 - autumn + mountain
Ando: - 安藤 - calm + wisteria
Aoki - 青木 - green, young + tree
Arai - 新井 - new well
Arai - 荒井 - wild well
Araki - 荒木 - wild + tree
Asano - 浅野／淺野 - small + [uncultivated] field; plain
Baba - 馬場 - horse + place
Wada - 和田 - harmony + rice field
Watanabe - 渡辺／渡邊 - cross + surroundings
Watanabe - 渡部 - to cross + part; sector;
Goto: - 後藤 - behind, future + wisteria
Yokota - 横田 - side + rice field
Yokoyama - 横山 - side, side of the mountain
Yoshida - 吉田 - happiness + rice field
Yoshikawa - 吉川 - happiness + river
Yoshimura - 吉村 - happiness + village
Yoshioka - 吉岡 - happiness + hill
Iwamoto - 岩本 - rock + base
Iwasaki - 岩崎 - rock + cape
Iwata - 岩田 - rock + rice field
Igarashi - 五十嵐 - 50 storms
Iendo: - 遠藤 - distant + wisteria
Iida - 飯田 - boiled rice, food + rice field
Ikeda - 池田 - pond + rice field
Imai - 今井 - now + well
Inoe - 井上 - well + top
Ishibashi - 石橋 - stone + bridge
Isis - 石田 - stone + rice field
Ishii - 石井 - stone + well
Ishikawa - 石川 - stone + river
Ishihara - 石原 - stone + plain, field; steppe
Ichikawa - 市川 - city + river
Ito - 伊東 - that, he + east
Ito: - 伊藤 - And + wisteria
Kawaguchi - 川口 - river + mouth, entrance
Kawakami - 川上 - river + top
Kawamura - 川村 - river + village
Kawasaki - 川崎 - river + cape
Kamata - 鎌田 - sickle, scythe + rice field
Kaneko - 金子 - gold + child
Katayama - 片山 - piece + mountain
Kato: - 加藤 - add + wisteria
Kikuchi - 菊地 - chrysanthemum + earth
Kikuchi - 菊池 - chrysanthemum + pond
Kimura - 木村 - tree + village
Kinoshita - 木下 - tree + under, bottom
Kitamura - 北村 - north + village
Ko:no - 河野 - river + [uncultivated] field; plain
Kobayashi - 小林 - small forest
Kojima - 小島 - small + island
Koike - 小池 - small + pond
Komatsu - 小松 - small pine
Kondo - 近藤 - close + wisteria
Konishi - 小西 - small + west
Koyama - 小山 - small mountain
Kubo - 久保 - long + maintain
Kubota - 久保田 - long + maintain + rice field
Kudo: - 工藤 - worker + wisteria
Kumagai - 熊谷 - bear + valley
Kurihara - 栗原 - chestnut + plain, field; steppe
Kuroda - 黒田 - black rice field
Maruyama - 丸山 - round + mountain
Masuda - 増田 - increase + rice field
Matsubara - 松原 - pine + plain, field; steppe
Matsuda - 松田 - pine + rice field
Matsui - 松井 - pine + well
Matsumoto - 松本 - pine + base
Matsumura - 松村 - pine + village
Matsuo - 松尾 - pine + tail
Matsuoka - 松岡 - pine + hill
Matsushita - 松下 - pine + under, bottom
Matsuura - 松浦 - pine + bay
Maeda - 前田 - behind + rice field
Mizuno - 水野 - water + [uncultivated] field; plain
Minami - 南 - south
Miura - 三浦 - three bays
Miyazaki - 宮崎 - temple, palace + cape
Miyake - 三宅 - three houses
Miyamoto - 宮本 - temple, palace + base
Miyata - 宮田 - temple, palace + rice field
Mori - 森 - forest
Morimoto - 森本 - forest + base
Morita - 森田 - forest + rice field
Mochizuki - 望月 - full moon
Murakami - 村上 - village + top
Murata - 村田 - village + rice field
Nagai - 永井 - eternal well
Nagata - 永田 - eternal rice field
Naito - 内藤 - inside + wisteria
Nakagawa - 中川 - middle + river
Nakajima／Nakashima - 中島 - middle + island
Nakamura - 中村 - middle + village
Nakanishi - 中西 - west + middle
Nakano - 中野 - middle + [uncultivated] field; plain
Nakata／ Nakada - 中田 - middle + rice field
Nakayama - 中山 - middle + mountain
Narita - 成田 - to form + rice field
Nishida - 西田 - west + rice field
Nishikawa - 西川 - west + river
Nishimura - 西村 - west + village
Nishiyama - 西山 - west + mountain
Noguchi - 野口 - [uncultivated] field; plain + mouth, entrance
Noda - 野田 - [uncultivated] field; plain + rice field
Nomura - 野村 - [uncultivated] field; plain + village
Ogawa - 小川 - small river
Oda - 小田 - small rice field
Ozawa - 小沢／小澤 - small swamp
Ozaki - 尾崎 - tail + cape
Oka - 岡 - hill
Okada - 岡田 - hill + rice field
Okazaki - 岡崎 - hill + cape
Okamoto - 岡本 - hill + base
Okumura - 奥村 - deep (hidden) + village
Ono - 小野 - small + [uncultivated] field; plain
Ooishi - 大石 - large stone
Ookubo - 大久保 - big + long + support
Oomori - 大森 - large forest
Oonishi - 大西 - big west
Oono - 大野 - large + [uncultivated] field; plain
Oosawa - 大沢／大澤 - large swamp
Ooshima - 大島 - large island
Oota - 太田 - big + rice field
Ootani - 大谷 - big valley
Oohashi - 大橋 - big bridge
Ootsuka - 大塚 - big + hill
Sawada - 沢田／澤田 - swamp + rice field
Saito: - 斉藤／齊藤 - equal + wisteria
Saito: - 斎藤／齋藤 - purification (religious) + wisteria
Sakai - 酒井 - alcohol + well
Sakamoto - 坂本 - slope + base
Sakurai - 桜井／櫻井 - sakura + well
Sano - 佐野 - assistant + [uncultivated] field; plain
Sasaki - 佐々木 - assistants + tree
Sato: - 佐藤 - helper + wisteria
Shibata - 柴田 - brushwood + rice field
Shimada - 島田 - island + rice field
Shimizu - 清水 - clear water
Shinohara - 篠原 - low-growing bamboo + plain, field; steppe
Sugawara - 菅原 - sedge + plain, field; steppe
Sugimoto - 杉本 - Japanese cedar + roots
Sugiyama - 杉山 - Japanese cedar + mountain
Suzuki - 鈴木 - bell (bell) + wood
Suto/Sudo - 須藤 - certainly + wisteria
Seki - 関／關 - Outpost; barrier
Taguchi - 田口 - rice floor + mouth
Takagi - 高木 - tall tree
Takada／Takata - 高田 - tall + rice field
Takano - 高野 - high + [uncultivated] field; plain
Takahashi - 高橋 - high + bridge
Takayama - 高山 - high mountain
Takeda - 武田 - military + rice field
Takeuchi - 竹内 - bamboo + inside
Tamura - 田村 - rice field + village
Tanabe - 田辺／田邊 - rice field + surroundings
Tanaka - 田中 - rice field + middle
Taniguchi - 谷口 - valley + mouth, entrance
Chiba - 千葉 - thousand leaves
Uchida - 内田 - inside + rice field
Uchiyama - 内山 - inside + mountain
Ueda/Ueta - 上田 - top + rice field
Ueno - 上野 - top + [uncultivated] field; plain
Fujiwara - 藤原 - wisteria + plain, field; steppe
Fuji - 藤井 - wisteria + well
Fujimoto - 藤本 - wisteria + base
Fujita - 藤田 - wisteria + rice field
Fukuda - 福田 - happiness, prosperity + rice field
Fukui - 福井 - happiness, prosperity + well
Fukushima - 福島 - happiness, prosperity + island
Furukawa - 古川 - old river
Hagiwara - 萩原 - bicolor lespedeza + plain, field; steppe
Hamada - 浜田／濱田 - shore + rice field
Khara - 原 - plain, field; steppe
Harada - 原田 - plain, field; steppe + rice field
Hashimoto - 橋本 - bridge + base
Hasegawa - 長谷川 - long + valley + river
Hattori - 服部 - clothes, subordinate + part; sector;
Hayakawa - 早川 - early + river
Hayashi - 林 - forest
Higuchi - 樋口 - gutter; drain + mouth, entrance
Hirai - 平井 - level well
Hirano - 平野 - flat + [uncultivated] field; plain
Hirata - 平田 - flat + rice field
Hirose - 広瀬／廣瀬 - wide fast current
Homma - 本間 - base + space, room, luck
Honda - 本田 - base + rice field
Hori - 堀 - channel
Hoshino - 星野 - star + [uncultivated] field; plain
Tsuji - 辻 - street
Tsuchiya - 土屋 - land + house
Yamaguchi - 山口 - mountain + mouth, entrance
Yamada - 山田 - mountain + rice field
Yamazaki／ Yamasaki - 山崎 - mountain + cape
Yamamoto - 山本 - mountain + base
Yamanaka - 山中 - mountain + middle
Yamashita - 山下 - mountain + under, bottom
Yamauchi - 山内 - mountain + inside
Yano - 矢野 - arrow + [uncultivated] field; plain
Yasuda - 安田 - calm + rice field.