Re: Premodern Naming Conventions...

[Joseph P. Elacqua]

Hello fellow PMJS-ers!

I have recently been looking at different clan lineage charts from
premodern Japan (e.g. Heian, Kamakura). From looking at these charts,
it seems common to recycle a small handful of kanji when picking the
names of one's [male] children. Eventually, new kanji will inevitably
crop up, but it seems like older kanji are still used with regular
consistency, as if as in homage to one's ancestors. However, despite
the constant use of older kanji, it seems that there is not
necessarily any pattern.

For example, consider the re-use of three kanji (親, 泰, and 忠) in seven
given names for the following (consecutive) sub-lineage of the Abe
clan:
時親 -> 有行 -> 泰長 -> 泰親 -> 泰茂 -> 泰忠 -> 親忠

Does anyone know of any studies in Japanese or English in which this
phenomenon is discussed? I know that it occurs with some frequency
during the Heian and Kamakura periods, though I suspect it also occurs
in the Nara. If anyone can contribute to my understanding of this
topic, I would be very grateful.

My apologies if there's a very simple answer (or often-consulted
study) that I'm totally overlooking. Thanks in advance!

Joseph P. Elacqua
Mohawk Valley Community College

[Travis Seifman]

I'm afraid I don't know of any studies of this phenomenon, or explanations. But I just thought I would contribute that this phenomenon continues down through the Edo period. The great number of Tokugawa shogun with Ie 家 or Yoshi 義 in their name is just one example; this can be seen as well in the lineages of many, if not most, daimyo and other samurai families.

If anyone does know of studies of this phenomenon, I look forward to learning about it.

Aloha,

Travis Seifman
Univ of Hawaii, MA Art History '12

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[Richard Bowring]

I would have thought this was a process that had to involve the professional services of diviners, Yijing and Yin-yang specialists. Are there no studies of this? Come to think of it, I am woefully ignorant of how names are chosen for children in Japan today. In the UK and US it seems a common habit to use at least one name that symbolises progression and lineage; certainly I have names that link me to my father and my maternal grandfather. It was quite deliberate. But what of the rest of Europe, let alone Japan?
Richard Bowring
University of Cambridge

Hello fellow PMJS-ers!

--

[Eason, David A]

As others have pointed out, it is quite common to encounter the frequent
repetition of particular characters among the names of adult males within
the same family when examining records from any number of periods in
Japanese history.

Among English-language works, Jeffrey Mass addressed this topic some years
back in an essay entitled " Identity, Personal Names, and Kamakura
Society" in his _Antiquity and Anachronism in Japanese History_ (Stanford,
1992). He cites numerous examples for naming practices based upon
evidence drawn from an assortment of Kamakura-period documents but does
not, it seems, include any references to secondary works in Japanese that
touch upon the history of naming practices more generally.

Likewise, I am not aware of any major studies in Japanese that focus
specifically on naming practices, at least not with a focus on the
personal names transmitted within families. However, in contrast, there is
ample evidence for the transmission of characters between warrior
families, recorded in documents that I often come across in my research on
the sixteenth century that are known as 「一字状」, in which a daimyo grants
permission to a follower to use one character from his personal name
within their own (and which is why, for instance, so many of Mōri
Motonari's followers end up with "moto" in their personal names). This
practice, apparently first developed among courtiers, became common to
warriors beginning in the early Kamakura period. Generally referred to by
historians as 'henki juyo' (偏諱授与), it is well-documented and has been
made
the subject of fairly extensive research in recent years.

Yet, unfortunately it still does not place us any closer to understanding
why particular characters were transmitted within a single lineage, or the
particular processes by which such selections were made. Thus I too would
be interested to know if anyone has come across studies that tackle this
particular aspect of naming practices in any real detail.


Sincerely,

David Eason

--
Dr. David A. Eason
Assistant Professor of Japanese Studies
Department of East Asian Studies
University at Albany, State University of New York
(518) 442-4579
dea...@uamail.albany.edu
http://www.albany.edu/eas/eason.shtml

[toby, ronald]

Japanese historical naming practices are complicated in the best of times, and the further up the socio-political ladder one climbs, the more complex they seem to become. In addition to the re-use of particular characters in the given names of adult males (e.g., Minamoto Yoritomo's sons were Yoriie and Sanetomo, for example, and all the Ashikaga shoguns except the first were Yoshi 義- something; 11 of the fifteen Tokugawa shoguns were 家-something; etc.), it was also common to re-use boys' infant names （幼名）, and often in particularly meaningful ways.

In some samurai houses, a particular y ō mei indicated that the boy was designated as heir-apparent. Tokugawa Ieyasu's of y ōmei Takechiyo, 竹千代 e.g., became the house designator of heir apparent: When the man we know as Tokugawa Hidetada was born in １５７９ (天正7.4.7)), he was named Nagamatsu 長松; his elder brother Matsudaira Nobuyasu had been named Takechiyo at birth, designating him as Ieyasu's successor. But when Nobuyasu was ordered to commit seppuku four months later (7.8.4), Nagamatsu was renamed Takechiyo, indicating that he was now heir apparent (Ieyasu's second son had been adopted by Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, and was not available for the succession). The 'Hide,' of course, was a 偏諱 granted by Hideyoshi at Takechiyo's capping ceremony in 1590.

In some courtier and samurai houses, name characters alternated generations, which may in part explain the phenomenon Joseph observes in the Abe family.

Probably the most comprehensive study of Japanese naming practices in English is Herbert Plutschow's Japan's Name Culture: The Significance of Names in a Religious, Political, and Social Context (Routledge, 1995).

In Japanese, see :
Kuroki Saburō 黒木三郎, Muratake Seiichi 村武精一 & Seno Seiichirō 瀬野精一郎, ed. Ie no na, yakara no na, hito no na: uji 家の名・族の名・人の名―氏 (Shirīzu kazokushi シリーズ家族史, vol. 3, 三省堂, 1988).
Okutomi Takayuki 奥富敬之. Nihonjin no namae no rekishi 日本人の名前の歴史 (新人物往来社, 1999).
_____. Myōji to namae o shiru jiten 苗字と名前を知る事典 (東京堂出版, 2007).
Sakata Satoshi 坂 田聡. Myōji to namae no rekishi 日 本人の名前の歴史 （吉川弘文館 2006).

Tsunoda Bun’ei 角田文衛. Nihon no josei-mei: rekishi-teki tenbō 日 本の女性名―歴史的展望 (国書刊行会 2006).

I hope this is helpful.

Ron Toby

[Amos, Timothy David]

The following article by Oto Osamu also provides one interesting overview to the problem. There is a brief attempt in the article to position Japanese practices alongside other East Asia naming practices through a discussion of genealogical practices.

大藤修「姓・名字・名前に探る日本の歴史ー身近な事象から歴史を考えるー」『米沢史学』第24号2008年10月

Best wishes
Timothy Amos

Hello fellow PMJS-ers!

--

[Jacqueline I. Stone]

If no one has mentioned it already, there is the late Herbert Plutschow's Japan's Name Culture: The Significance of Names in a Religious, Political, and Social Context (Sandgate, Folkstone, Kent: Japan Library 1994), ISBN 1873410425.

 

Jacqueline Stone

Princeton University

[Greve Gabi]

In my region in Western Japan
there are a lot of the old Heike names with their long history,

Hiraoka
Hiranuma
Ujihira
Shigehira

Greetings from the snow and cold of Ohaga village, a holdout of the Heike.

Gabi Greve
http://ohaga.blogspot.com/
.

[Thomas Conlan]

To continue with the postings, often one character of a name came from the family, and  the second character was granted by eboshi oya, or "godfather" who bestowed headgear (eboshi)  the at the time of the coming-of-age (genpuku) ceremonies.  It is obviously harder to trace  eboshi oya in most cases, but one can know that Takezaki Suenaga, who fought against the Mongols in 1274 and 1281, received the "Sue" of his name from his eboshi oya Mii Shinsaemon Sueshige. 

The character received during coming-of-age ceremonies could be superseded by later allegiances. For example Date Takamune (高宗) received the  "mune" in his name as was typical for the Date heir, and most likely the common character "taka" from an eboshi oya (identity unknown). Takamune donated the approximate equivalent of a half million dollars to Ashikaga Yoshitane, and thereby receiving an 一字状 emblazoned with Yoshitane's "tane."  He then became known as Date Tanemune (種宗). This practice had been followed by the Date for generations. His great-grandfather  Mochimune received his "mochi" from Ashikaga Yoshimochi, his father, Hisamune, received his "hisa" from Ashikaga Yoshihisa, and likewise Tanemune's son Harumune received "haru" from Ashikaga Yoshiharu, and Harumune's son Terumune received "teru" from Ashikaga Yoshiteru.   

One important point, however, is that these grants of name did not necessarily denote 'vassal' status, but rather represented merely a way to emphasize bonds of affinity or political allegiance which could prove fleeting. For example, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu bestowed the more prestigious "yoshi" to one of the Ōuchi (Ōuchi Yoshihiro), but this did not prevent Yoshihiro's rebellion a few years later.  Likewise names could easily be changed. Uesugi Masatora became  Terutora (the "teru"coming again from Ashikaga Yoshiteru), but after Yoshiteru's death, he changed his name again, and is known to posterity as Kenshin.

Some interesting quirks exist as well, where names were drawn from a temple's name rather than an eboshi oya. Two generations of the Ōuchi were named after their lineage (clan) temple of Kōryūji (興隆寺). Ōuchi Yoshitaka and Yoshioki received their "yoshi" from the Ashikaga shoguns and then adopted the names Yoshioki 義興 and Yoshitaka 義隆. (Incidentally, the Ōuchi followed the same  yōmei practices that Ron and Morgan refer to, and referred to their juvenile heir as Kidōmaru starting in the mid-fifteenth century. Earlier examples most likely exist as well).   

Best wishes,

Tom

Thomas Conlan

Professor of Japanese History

Bowdoin College

tco...@bowdoin.edu  

 

[Joseph P. Elacqua]

Dear all,

Thank you so much for your various suggestions! I'm happy that what I
thought to be a simple and almost novice topic led the way for some
extremely fruitful discussion.

I will be sure to take a look at each of these sources as my research
continues. Thank you once again!