Customs Japanese name

in ancient times, people in japan considered property of emperor , surname reflected role in government served. example Ōtomo (大友 great attendant, companion ). names given in recognition of great achievement , contribution.

until meiji restoration, japanese common people (people other kuge , samurai) had no surnames, , when necessary, used substitute such name of birthplace. example, ichirō born in asahi mura (asahi village) in province of musashi ichirō asahi-mura of musashi . merchants named after stores or brands (for example, denbei, owner of sagamiya, sagamiya denbei), , farmers named after fathers (for example, isuke, father genbei, isuke, son of genbei ). after meiji restoration, government ordered commoners assume surnames in addition given names, part of modernization , westernization; specified in family register law of 1898. many people adopted historical names, others made names up, chose names through divination, or had shinto or buddhist priest choose surname them. explains, in part, large number of surnames in japan, great diversity of spelling , pronunciation, , makes tracing ancestry past point extremely difficult in japan.

during period when typical parents had several children, common practice name sons numbers suffixed rō (郎, son ). first son known ichirō , second jirō , , on. girls named ko (子, child ) @ end of given name; should not confused less common male suffix hiko (彦). both practices have become less common, although many children still have names along these lines.

while people may still believe this, lafcadio hearn (see below), in shadowings, makes clear @ least in time (1880 1905, date of publication), ending -ko (子) not part of name, honorific suffix さん -san. particularly, though symbol child , meant lady , used upper-class females. have been ridiculous apply middle-class or lower-class women. pretty same names used classes, hana-ko upper class, while lesser women o-hana-san, honorific prefix suffix.

speaking , of others

the way in name used in conversation depends on circumstances , speaker s relationships listener , bearer of name. typically family name used, given names largely restricted informal situations , cases speaker older than, superior to, or familiar named individual. when addressing someone, or referring member of 1 s out-group, title such さん -san typically added.

japanese people avoid referring seniors or superiors name @ all, using title: within family might kinship relation such お母さん okāsan ( mother ), in school 先生 sensei ( teacher ), while company president addressed 社長 shachō ( company president ).

on other hand, pronominals meaning ( あなた anata, きみ kimi, お前 omae ) used rather little in japanese. using such words sounds disrespectful, , people commonly address each other name, title , honorific in face-to-face conversations.

calling s name (family name) without title or honorific called yobisute (呼び捨て), , may considered rude in informal , friendly occasions. faux pas, however, readily excused foreigners.

nicknames

corresponding given name there 1 or more hypocoristics, affectionate nicknames. these formed adding suffix -chan ちゃん stem. there 2 types of stem. 1 consists of full given name. examples of type tarō-chan tarō, kimiko-chan kimiko, , yasunari-chan yasunari. other type of stem modified stem derived full given name. examples of such names are: ta-chan tarō, kii-chan kimiko, , yā-chan yasunari. hypocoristics modified stems more intimate based on full given name.

hypocoristics modified stems derived adding -chan stem consisting of integral number, 1 two, of feet, foot consists of 2 moras. mora 音節 unit of light syllable contains 1 , heavy syllable two. example, stems may derived tarō /taro/, consisting of 2 light syllables, , /taa/, consisting of single syllable long vowel, resulting in taro-chan , tā-chan. stems may derived hanako /hana/, 2 light syllables, /han/, 1 syllable closed consonant, , /haa/, 1 syllable long vowel, resulting in hanachan, hanchan, , hāchan. segmental content left substring of of given name. however, in cases obtained other means, including use of reading of kanji used write name. example, girl named megumi may called keichan or kei, because character used write megumi, 恵, can read kei.

the common japanese practice of forming abbreviations concatenating first 2 morae of 2 words applied names (usually of celebrities). example, takuya kimura (木村 拓哉, kimura takuya), famous japanese actor , singer, becomes kimutaku (キムタク). applied non-japanese celebrities: brad pitt, full name in japanese buraddo pitto (ブラッド・ピット) commonly known burapi (ブラピ), , jimi hendrix abbreviated jimihen (ジミヘン). japanese celebrities have taken names combining kanji , katakana, such terry ito (テリー伊藤). less common method doubling 1 or 2 syllables of person s name, such use of mamimami mamiko noto.