:: wikimiki.org ::

Japanese Name

Japanese name

, a typical Japanese name (male), equivalent to John Smith in English. Jane Smith would be Yamada Hanako (山田花子).]] A modern Japanese name (日本人名) consists of a family name, or surname, followed by a given name. Middle names are not recognized in Japan. After the name, a title such as san, similar to Mr. or Mrs., or sensei, similar to Doctor or Professor/Teacher, is used. Japanese names are usually written in kanji, (Chinese characters). The kanji for a name may have a variety of possible pronunciations. Common surnames in Japan include Aoki (青木), Satō (佐藤), Katō (加藤), Suzuki (鈴木) and Takahashi (高橋). According to estimates, there are as many as 100,000 different surnames in use today in Japan. Surnames occur with varying frequency in different regions; for example, the names Tamagusuku (玉城), Higa (比嘉), and Shimabukuro (島袋) are common in Okinawa but not in other parts of Japan. Many Japanese family names derive from features of the rural landscape; for example, Ishikawa (石川) means "stony brook", Yamamoto (山本) means "the base of the mountain", and Inoue (井上) means "above the well". Given names are much more diverse in pronunciation and character usage. Male names often end in -rō (郎 "son", but also 朗 "clear, bright") or -ta (太 "great, thick"), or contain ichi (一 "first [son]", also 市 "market, city"), kazu (also written with 一 "first [son]", along with several other possible characters), ji (二 "second [son]" or 次 "next"), or dai (大 "great, large") while female names often end in -ko (子 "child") or -mi (美 "beauty"). (Since 1980, the popularity of female names ending in -ko has dramatically fallen for new baby names and some women drop the -ko upon adulthood.) Other popular endings for female names include -ka (香 "scent, perfume" or 花 / 華 "flower" etc) and -na (奈).

Structure

Structurally, Japanese names are simple compared with names in many other cultures. All Japanese people have one surname and one given name with no middle name, except for the royal family whose members bear no surname. The given name in Japanese is called the "name" (名前 namae) or "lower name" (下の名前 shita no namae). The surname is called myōji (苗字 or 名字). When written in Japanese, the family name precedes the given name. There are a few names that can be used as either surnames or given names. (For example Kaneko 金子, or Masuko 益子.) However, to those familiar with Japanese names, which name is the surname and which is the given name is usually apparent, no matter which order the names are presented in. This makes it unlikely that the two names will be confused, for example when writing in English using family name, given name order.

Characters

Japanese names are usually written in kanji (Chinese characters), although some names use hiragana or even katakana. While most "traditional" names use kun'yomi (native Japanese) kanji readings, a large number of given names and surnames use on'yomi (Chinese-based) kanji readings as well. Many others use readings which are only used in names (nanori), such as the female name Nozomi (希). The vast majority of surnames comprise one or two kanji. Some others consist of three characters. Examples are Hon'inbō (本因坊, a name for the famous family of go players), Shōji (東海林), Gushiken (具志堅), Yosano (与謝野) and Kindaichi (金田一). Female given names often end in the syllable ko, written with the kanji meaning "child" (子). This was much more common up to about the 1980s, but the practice does continue today. Male names occasionally end with the syllable ko, but very rarely using the kanji 子 (Most often, if a male name ends in ko, it ends in hiko, using the kanji 彦). Common male name endings are -shi and -o; names ending with -shi are often verbs, e.g., Atsushi which might mean, for example, "to be faithful." In the past (before World War II), names written with katakana were common for women, but this trend seems to have lost favour. Hiragana names for women are not unusual. Kana names for boys, particularly those written in hiragana, have historically been very rare. This may be in part because the hiragana script is seen as feminine; in medieval Japan, women generally did not learn kanji and wrote exclusively in hiragana. Names, like other Japanese words, cannot begin with the syllable n (ん、ン). A final ending n is not rare, the male names Ken, Kon, Shin, Jun, and Den are examples. One large category of family names can be categorized as "-tō" names. The kanji 藤, meaning wisteria, has the on'yomi tō (or, with rendaku, dō). Many Japanese people have surnames that include this kanji as the second character. This is because the Fujiwara clan（藤原家）gave their samurai surnames ending with the first character of their name, to denote their status in an era when commoners were not allowed surnames. Examples include Atō, Andō, Itō (although a different final kanji is also common), Udō, Etō, Endō, Gotō, Katō, Kitō, Kudō, Kondō, Saitō, Satō, Shindō, Sudō, Naitō, Bitō, and Mutō. As already noted, some of the most common family names are in this list.

Difficulty of reading names

A name written in kanji may have more than one common pronunciation, only one of which is correct for a given individual. For example, the surname written in kanji as 中田 may be read either Nakata or Nakada. Conversely, any one name may have several possible written forms, and again, only one will be correct for a given individual. The character 一 when used as a male given name may be used as the written form for "Hajime," "Ichi," "Kazu," "Hitoshi," and many others. The name "Hajime" can also be written as 始, 治, 初, and in several other ways. This many-to-many correspondence between names and the ways they are written is much more common with male given names than with surnames or female given names, but can be observed in all these categories. This can make the collation, pronunciation, and romanization of a Japanese name a very difficult problem. For this reason, business cards often include the pronunciation of the name as furigana, and forms and documents always have spaces to write the reading of the name in kana (usually katakana). At restaurants in Japan it is common to wait to be seated by writing one's name on a list and waiting to be called, and at the top of the list there is usually a request to write one's name in katakana, rather than kanji. A few Japanese names, particularly family names, include old-fashioned versions of characters. For example the character shima, island, may be written as 嶋 instead of the more common form, 島. Some names also feature very uncommon kanji. Japanese people who have such a name are unlikely to compromise by substituting similar characters. An example of such a name is Saitō. While there are over 100 kanji that can be read as sai and over 200 kanji for tō, in this case, there are two common kanji for sai. The two sai characters have different meanings. means "together" or "parallel" but means "to purify". Confusing the two characters would be an embarrassing mistake. Family names are sometimes written with idiosyncratic characters, called ateji, that relate indirectly to the name as spoken. For example, 四月一日 would normally be read as shigatsu tsuitachi ("April 1st"), but as a family name it is read watanuki ("unpadded clothes"), because April 1st is the traditional date to switch from winter to summer clothes.

Regulations

Kanji names in Japan are governed by the government's rules on kanji use. There are currently (Oct 2004) 2,232 "name kanji" (the jinmeiyō kanji 人名用漢字) used in personal names, and the government plans to increase this list by 578 kanji in the near future. This would be the largest increase since World War II. Only kanji which appear on the official list may be used in given names. This is to ensure that names can be written and read by those literate in Japanese. Rules also govern names considered to be inappropriate; for example, in 1993 two parents who tried to name their child Akuma (devil) were prohibited from doing so. The Japanese government currently has restricted the number of kanji that can be used in naming infants to 2,230, but many old characters are still intact in adults' names. Because these restrictions have been confusing to say the least, many recent changes have been made to increase rather than to decrease the number of kanji allowed for use in names. The plan to increase the number of name kanji has been controversial, largely because Chinese characters for "cancer", "hemorrhoids", "corpse", and "excrement", as well as those used in jukugo (words which are compounds of two or more kanji) meaning "curse", "prostitute", and "rape", are among the proposed additions to the list. This is because no measures were taken to determine the appropriateness of the kanji proposed. However, the government will seek input from the public before approving the list. Most Japanese people and agencies have adopted customs to deal with these issues. Address books, for instance, often contain furigana or ruby characters to clarify the pronunciation of the name. Japanese nationals are also required to give a romanized name for their passport. The recent use of Japanese media using katakana when referring to Japanese celebrities who have gained international fame has started a fad among young socialites attempting to invoke a cosmopolitan flair who use katakana names as a badge of honor. All of these complications are also found in Japanese place names. Not all names are complicated. Some common names are summarized by the phrase tanakamura ("the village in the midst of the fields"): the three kanjis: 田 (ta, rice field), 中 (naka, middle) and 村 (mura, village), together in any pair, form a simple, reasonably common surname: Tanaka, Nakamura, Murata, Nakata, Muranaka, Tamura.

Customs

In ancient times, people in Japan were considered the property of the Emperor and their surname reflected the role in the government they served. An example is Otomo. Names would also be given in the recognition of a great achievement and contribution. Many surnames originated from Chinese and Korean names. Examples are Kaneshiro (金城) (Chinese) and Chan (Korean). Until the Meiji restoration, Japanese common people (people other than kuge and samurai) had no surnames, and when necessary, used a substitute such as the name of their birthplace. For example, Ichirō born in Asahi mura (Asahi village) in the province of Musashi would say "Ichirō from Asahi-mura of Musashi". Merchants were named after their brands (for example, Denbei, the owner of Sagamiya, would be Sagamiya Denbei), and farmers were named after their fathers (for example, Fujida, whose father was Doiji, would be "Fujida son of Doiji"). After the Meiji restoration, the government ordered all commoners to assume surnames in addition to their given names: many people adopted historical names, while others simply made names up or had a local sage make up a surname. This explains, in part, the large number of surnames in Japan, as well as their great diversity of spellings and pronunciations. During the period when typical parents had several children, it was a common practice to name sons by numbers suffixed with rō (郎, "son"). The first son would be known as "Ichirō", the second as "Jirō", and so on. Girls were often named with ko (子, "child") at the end of the given name; this should not be confused with the less common male suffix hiko (彦). Both practices have become less common, although many children still have names along these lines.

Titles

:Main article: Japanese titles Within families, younger family members generally refer to older family members by title rather than name, e.g. okaasan "mother" or oniichan "big brother". Older family members refer to younger family members by given name. Outside of the family people are generally referred to by family name (村田さん Murata-san), by position (e.g. 先生 sensei, "teacher"), or by a combination of the two (村田先生 Murata-sensei ). Given names are used when referring to adult friends or to children. Names are usually spoken or written with some sort of honorific, either a title like sensei or a general honorific like -san (さん), -kun (くん、君), or -chan (ちゃん). Honorific titles are not used when referring to someone from one's "in-group" to someone outside the group. For example, an employee, when talking to a visitor or customer from another company would refer to his superior, or even the company president without any honorific. In intimate relationships between husband and wife, the honorifics may be dropped. Some people, especially children, may be called by a shortened form of their name, often using a sokuon (small tsu) and an honorific like chan. For example, Satchan for Sachiko, Akki for Akihito, Takkun for Takuya, Katchan for Kazuya, and so forth. Often, Japanese people avoid referring to others by name, substituting a title. The uses of sensei (先生) and kinship words mentioned above are two instances of this. Senpai (先輩, predecessor, one's senior) likewise replaces a name extremely often, in social situations ranging from elementary school through working life. Daily life, the workplace, and mass media provide many other illustrations of people calling someone kachō, buchō, torishimari, senmu (専務), shachō (社長), tōdori, kyōdō, gakubuchō (titles of rank within companies and schools), senshu, tōshu, kantoku, sekitori (titles from sports), and a host of other words in place of a name. While family members, spouses and lovers sometimes call each other by their given names, they are otherwise used only rarely, even among close friends; most people call each other by the surname plus the suffix -san (Tanaka-san). An exception is schoolgirls, who often call each other by the first name, plus the fond diminutive suffix -chan. Even within the family, there is a marked tendency to avoid the use of names in favour of titles like "older brother," "younger sister" and so on. It is not uncommon for people, particularly older people, to be unsure of their friends' given names. The suffix -san (さん), which is equivalent to all of "Mrs., Mr., Ms., Master, Miss, Mistress." is customary in addressing a person by name. This suffix is used with both surnames and given names, and failure to use it is called 呼び捨て (yobisute, literally "throwing away the name") and may be considered exceedingly rude, depending on the status of the person referred to. The formal equivalent of -san is -様 (-sama), and the fond diminutive equivalent is -chan (-ちゃん). Young boys and younger men are often addressed as -kun (-くん、君).

Nicknames

The common Japanese practice of forming abbreviations by concatenating the first two morae of two words is sometimes applied to names (usually those of celebrities). For example, , a famous Japanese actor and singer, becomes . This is sometimes applied even to non-Japanese celebrities: Brad Pitt, whose full name in Japanese is is commonly known as . Some Japanese celebrities have also taken names combining kanji and katakana, such as Beat Takeshi.

Names from other ethnic groups in Japan

Many ethnic minorities, mostly Korean and Chinese, living in Japan adopt Japanese names to ease communication and, more importantly, to avoid discrimination. But a few of them still keep their native name. Among them are Chang Woo Han, a founder and chairman of Maruhan Corp., a large chain of pachinko parlors in Japan. Japanese citizenship, however, requires adopting a Japanese name. In recent decades, the government has allowed individuals to simply adopt katakana versions of their native names when applying for citizenship: Martti Turunen, who became "Tsurunen Marutei" (ツルネンマルテイ), is a famous example. Others transliterate their names into phonetically similar kanji compounds, such as David Aldwinckle, who became "Arudou Debito" (有道出人). Still others have abandoned their native names entirely in favor of traditional Japanese names, such as Lafcadio Hearn, who used the name "Koizumi Yakumo" (小泉八雲). At the time, to gain Japanese citizenship, it was necessary to be adopted by a Japanese family (in Hearn's case, it was his wife's family) and take their name. Ethnic Chinese and Koreans in Japan sometimes have to change the characters in their names to apply for citizenship, because of the restrictions on which kanji can be used. Individuals born overseas with Western given names and Japanese surnames are usually given a katakana name in Western order when referred to in Japanese. Eric Shinseki, for instance, is referred to as エリックシンセキ (Erikku Shinseki). There is a restriction (as of 2001) on the use of the "v" character in a name unless at least one of the parent is of foreign origin. The closest corresponding katakana is ヴ, which can be romanized as v or b. This affects issuing of Japanese Passport or other documentations where a romaji representation of the name is given; the letter v is replaced with b. This affects name such as Kevin (ケヴィン), which would be written as Kebin.

Imperial names

Passport took his name]] The Japanese emperor and Crown Prince have no surname for historical reasons, only a given name such as Hirohito (裕仁), which is rarely used in Japan: Japanese prefer to say "the Emperor" or "the Crown Prince", out of respect and as a measure of politeness. When children are born into the Imperial family, they are given a standard given name, as well as a special Imperial surname. Akihito, for instance, was born as Tsugo-no-miya Akihito, and was referred to as "Prince Tsugo" during his childhood. The Imperial surname is generally used until the individual becomes heir to the throne or inherits one of the historical prince names (常陸 Hitachi, 三笠 Mikasa, 秋篠 Akishino, etc.). Many members of the extended Imperial family became commoners after World War II, and adopted their Imperial surnames as regular surnames. An example is Asaka Yasuhiko. See also: Imperial Household of Japan

Historical names

The current structure (family name + given name) did not materialize until the 1870s when the government made the new family registration system. In feudal Japan, names reflected a person's social status. They also reflect a person's affiliation to Buddhist, Shintō, feudatory-military, Confucian-scholarly, mercantile, peasant, slave and imperial orders. Before feudal times, Japanese clan names figured prominently in history: names with no fall into this category. (No means of, although the association is in the opposite order in Japanese, and is not generally explicitly written in this style of name.) Thus, Minamoto no Yoritomo (源頼朝) was Yoritomo (頼朝) of the Minamoto (源) clan. Fujiwara no Kamatari, Ki no Tsurayuki (紀貫之), and Taira no Kiyomori (平清盛) are additional examples. Historically, a Japanese person could maintain several names to use in different occasions. Among those that were common are Azana, Imina or Okurina (either translate to posthumous name) and Gō or Kagō (a pen name). It was not uncommon for one to have more than 10 names. [http://www21.big.or.jp/~kirin/otya2.html] Imina is the same as one's real name and the real name would be called Imina posthumously. It is called so because after one's death, he would be referred by his Okurina while the pronunciation of Imina is being avoided. Azana, which is given at Genpuku(元服), is used by others and one himself uses his real name to refer to him. Kagō is commonly named after places or houses. In the late shogunate period, many anti-government activists used several false names to hide their activities from the shogunate. Examples are Saitani Umetarō (才谷梅太郎) for Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本龍馬), Niibori Matsusuke (新堀松輔) for Kido Takayoshi (木戸孝允) and Tani Umenosuke (谷梅之助) for Takasugi Shinsaku (高杉晋作). The famous writer Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴) is known to have had as many as 33 names.

Professional names

Actors and actresses in Western and Japanese dramatic forms, comedians, sumo wrestlers, and practitioners of traditional crafts often use professional names. Kabuki actors take one of the traditional surnames such as Nakamura (中村), Bandō or Onoe. Many stage names of television and film actors and actresses are unremarkable, being just like ordinary Japanese personal names, but a few are tongue-in-cheek. For example, Kamatari Fujiwara (藤原鎌足) chose the name of the aforementioned founder of the Fujiwara family, while Hino Yōjin (日野陽仁)'s name sounds like be careful with fire (although written differently). Many stand-up comics like the duo Beat Takeshi and Beat Kiyoshi choose a Western name for the act, and use their own (or stage) given names. Writers also tend to be clever about their names, for example Edogawa Ranpo which is designed to sound like "Edgar Allan Poe". Sumo wrestlers take wrestling names called shikona (醜名 or 四股名). While a shikona can be the wrestler's own surname, most upper-division rikishi have a shikona different from their surname. A typical shikona consists of one, two or three kanji. Often, part of the name comes from the wrestler's master, a place name (such as the name of a province, a river, or a sea), the name of a weapon, an item identified with Japanese tradition (like a koto or nishiki), or a term indicating superiority. Often, waka indicates a wrestler whose father was also in sumo; in this case, the meaning is junior. Wrestlers can change their shikona, as Takahanada did when he became Takanohana (貴ノ花) and then Takanohana (貴乃花). Another notable example is the wrestler Sentoryu, which means fighting war dragon but is also homophonous with St. Louis, his city of origin. Geisha and practitioners of traditional crafts and arts such as pottery, the tea ceremony, calligraphy, irezumi (tattooing) and ikebana (flower arranging) often take professional names. In many cases, these come from the master under whom they studied.

Japanese names in English

As is the case for other transliterations, writing Japanese names in English poses several issues, mainly romanization and name order issues. As this differs from the ordering used in many other parts of the world, some, particularly academics, adopt the convention of writing the family name in upper case when the name is romanized: for example, Takuya MURATA or MURATA Takuya. Artists whose works are distributed in English outside of Japan often opt for a Western ordering on the English editions of their works: e.g., Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本龍一 Sakamoto Ryūichi), Shunji Iwai (岩井俊二 Iwai Shunji), and Haruki Murakami (村上春樹 Murakami Haruki). Japanese living overseas, such as Yoko Ono (小野洋子 Ono Yōko) and Ichiro Suzuki (鈴木一朗 Suzuki Ichirō), usually use the Western order as well. Ichiro Suzuki would have his name read Mutō Sugoroku in Japanese order.]] Most foreign scholars of Japanese history and literature use the Japanese order, so historical and literary figures are usually referred to in that order: e.g., Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康). However, English publications tend to prefer the Western order when discussing contemporary individuals, especially politicians, businessmen and athletes. In contrast, when written in kanji characters, the order of Japanese names is never reversed. The following English publications tend to use the western order to refer to Japanese figures:
- Newspapers: see :Category:Japanese newspapers
- Credits in movies
- Characters in comics
- Books concerning contemporary Japanese culture like J-pop The following tend to keep the original Japanese order:
- Scholastic articles
- Reference works including encyclopedias
- Books concerning historical Japanese activities like Go and Waka Characters in translated Japanese manga, anime and video games are a special case. They are sometimes given new Western names (as in Pokémon for example), or they may keep their original Japanese names in either Japanese or Western name order. They may also have non-Hepburn transliterations of their names, or even different transliterations between different editions or between manga, anime and/or video game versions (as in Yu-Gi-Oh!, for example).

Citations

Some materials taken from Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, article on "names"

External links

- [http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/names.html Japanese names section] of [http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/afaq.html sci.lang.japan FAQ]
- [http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2271.html Japanese names] at japan-guide.com.
- [http://www.japanorama.com/namesinj.html Japanorama: Japanese Names]
- [http://www.aboutnames.ch/japanese.htm Japanese Given Names]
- Popular [http://www.japanese-name-translation.com/site/japanese_baby_names.html Japanese baby names] 1994 to 2003.
- [http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/jwb/wwwjdic?3C WWWJDIC] online dictionary with over 400,000 Japanese names. (Tanaka [http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/jwb/wwwjdic?3MDJtanaka Sample])
- ja:人名 th:ชื่อบุคคลญี่ปุ่น

Family name

A family name, or surname, is the part of a person's name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. The use of family names is not universal throughout history. In many parts of the world, they did not appear in common use until the 17th to 19th centuries, and in some cultures they are not used today. In many cultures of Asia, the family name is typically spoken or written first when referring to an individual, while in most Western cultures, the family name is last, giving rise to the term last name for family name. Even in the West, however, family names are often presented first in many written contexts. The word surname is "name" prefixed by the French word sur (meaning "on"), which derives from Latin super ("over"). In the past it was sometimes spelled sirname or sirename (suggesting that it meant "man's name" or "father's name") due to fake etymology. In -, Dutch-, German- and -speaking countries, people often have two or more given names (first and middle), and the family name goes at the end. (Occasionally it is inaccurately called "second name", which can be confused with the middle name). In Spain, people have one or more given names (that acts as a single name) and two family names (one from the father and one from the mother, in that order). In Italy, people may have one or more given name, but there is not the concept of middle name. In most documents the family name is listed first. For example, Rossi Mario or Neri Elisabetta. The use of family names are not universal among all cultures. In particular, Icelanders, Tibetans and Javanese often do not use a family name — well-known people lacking a family name include Suharto and Sukarno (see Indonesian names). Also, many royal families do not use family names. In many cultures, both Eastern and Western, few families had surnames prior to the period 15th-19th century. During these times, often only aristocratic families had family names. In some cultures, including the U.S.A. and U.K., a woman's family name changes upon marriage. When this takes place, her original family name (before any marriages), typically her father's family name is known as her maiden name. Such a woman usually adopts her husband's family name; any children as a result of the union also take this family name. This is merely traditional however — few countries mandate such a change, and many permit children to have a different family name. In any case, since most countries allow name changes, a man can also take his wife's last name upon marriage (this is the tradition among some aboriginal groups in Canada). In modern times, particularly in English-speaking countries, there are other options. Some people choose to take a so-called "double-barrelled name" upon marriage, combining both family names, joined by a hyphen. In some cases, no change is made at all to either party's name. Other people choose to create a new name, as a combination of letters of previous surnames, or without connection to their previous surnames, although these practices are not common unless one desires or needs to create a pseudonym. Pseudonyms may be taken to conceal the authorship of a piece of literature, to conceal double-agent status or national treason, to remove a negative reputation associated with one's surname (due either to one's past actions or to those of a family member with the same surname), or for other reasons. In the 19th century, Francis Galton published a statistical study of the extinction of family names. (See Galton-Watson process for an account of some of the mathematics.)

English-speaking countries

Almost all surnames of English origin fall into just four types:
- Occupations (e.g. Smith, Baker, Archer)
- Personal characteristics (e.g. Short, Brown, Whitehead)
- Places & geographical features (e.g. Scott, Hill, Rivers, Windsor)
- Ancestry, often based on a first name (e.g. Richardson, James) or, if we include surnames of Scottish origin; clan (e.g. Macdonald). These surname types describe respectively the occupation, personal characteristics, location/origin, and ancestry (typically father's name) of the distant ancestor to whom the surname was first applied. Of course, the original meaning of the name may no longer be obvious in modern English (e.g. Cooper = barrel maker). Arguably there is also a much smaller fifth category of names relating to religion, though some of these are also occupations (e.g. Bishop). The names Bishop, Priest or Abbot usually mean that the ancestor worked for a Bishop, Priest or Abbot. In the Americas, the family names of many African-Americans have their origins in slavery. Many of them were given the surnames of their owners. Many freed slaves created family names themselves, or adopted the name of their former master. Others, such as Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, changed their name rather than live with one given to their ancestors by a slave owner. It has long been the custom for women to give up their family name (called the birth name or maiden name) upon marriage, and to use their husband's last name in its place. In recent years, more women have chosen to keep their birth name when they are married. Still, even in families where the wife has kept her birth name, parents often choose to give their children their father's family name. In America, women traditionally became Mrs. [Husband's name] upon marriage, though recently they are more often referred to as Mrs. [First name] [Husband's surname]. It is extremely rare for men in Western countries to take the name of their wives; this was chiefly done in the Middle Ages, when a man from a low-born family was marrying an only daughter from a higher-status family, and was thus designated to carry on his wife's family name. In the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain, bequests were sometimes made contingent upon a man changing (or hyphenating) his name, so that the name of the legator continued. However, some men now choose to take their wives' names rather than the reverse (especially among Canadian aboriginal groups) or a married couple may choose a new last name rather than that of either the husband or the wife (this is very rare). As an alternative, the husband and wife may adopt a double-barrelled name. For instance, when John Smith and Mary Jones marry each other, they become known as John Smith-Jones and Mary Smith-Jones. However, many couples dislike this option, because it can make for very long names (like Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby), especially if either person already has a double surname. The wife may also opt to make her maiden name her middle name. So, when John Smith marries Mary Jones, she is still Mrs. Smith, but she can also refer to herself as Mary Jones Smith. In some jurisdictions, it used to be the case that the woman's legal name changed automatically upon marriage. This is no longer true; although women may easily change to their married name, it is no longer a default option. In some places, civil rights lawsuits or constitutional amendments were used to change the law so that men could also easily change their married names, e.g. in British Columbia. Frequently, women in academia who have previously published articles in academic journals under their maiden name often do not change their surname after marriage, in order to ensure that they continue to receive credit for their past and future work. This practice is also common among female physicians, attorneys and other professionals, where continuity is important.

French-speaking countries

French-speaking countries have many similarities to English-speaking ones in the way family names are used. In France and the Canadian province of Quebec, name change upon marriage is no longer automatic. Those who wish to change their name upon marriage must follow the same legal procedure as would be used under any other circumstance. In France, until January 1, 2005, children were required by law to take the surname of their father. From this date, article 311-21 of the French Civil code permits parents to give their children either the name of their father, mother, or a hyphenation of both - although no more than two names can be hyphenated. In cases of disagreement the father's name applies [http://www2.cnrs.fr/presse/communique/601.htm]. This brought France into line with a 1978 declaration by the Council of Europe requiring member governments to take measures to adopt equality of rights in the transmission of family names, a measure that was echoed by the United Nations in 1979. Similar measures were adopted by Germany (1976), Sweden (1982), Denmark (1983) and Spain (1999). Furthermore, in French Canada, up until the late 1960s, children of Catholic origin were given three names at birth (usually not hyphenated): the first, Marie or Joseph, usually indicated the gender of the child. The second was usually the name of the godfather or godmother, while the third and last given name was the name used in everyday situations. Thus, a child prenamed Joseph Bruno Jean on their birth or baptismal certificate would indicate the baby to be a boy, the godfather's first name to be Bruno and that the child would be called Jean (and not Joseph) for all intents and purposes of everyday life. This naming convention was in the most part dropped following the Quiet Revolution (late 1960s), and is now seen much more rarely.

Ireland

Many surnames in Ireland of Gaelic origin derive from ancestor's names; nicknames; or descriptive names. In the first group can be placed surnames such as Mac Murrough, MacCarthy (derived from father's names) or O'Brian, O'Toole (ancestral names). Gaelic surnames derived from nicknames include Docherty (from "dortach", hurtful), Garvery ("garbh", rough or nasty), Manton ("mantach", toothless), Duffy ("dubh", black, as in black hair), Bane ("ban", white, as in white hair), Finn ("fionn", fair, as in fair or blonde hair), Kennedy ("cennidie", ugly head). Descriptive Gaelic surnames include Carr ("gearr", short or small), Joyce/Seoige (from the Welsh word, "sais", meaning Saxon or English. In contrast to England, very few Gaelic surnames are derived from place names. Among those that included in this small group, several can be shown to be bastardizations of Gaelic personal names or surnames. In areas where certain family names are extremely common, extra names are added that sometimes follow this archaic pattern. In Ireland, for example, where "Murphy" is an exceedingly common name, particular Murphy families or extended families are nicknamed, so that Denis Murphy's family were called "The Weavers" and Denis himself was called Denis "The Weaver" Murphy. see also: O'Hay For much the same reason, nicknames (the Fada Burkes, i.e. the long/tall Burkes), father's names (John Morrissey Ned) or mother's maiden name (Kennedy becoming Kennedy-Lydon) can become colloquial or legal surnames. The Irish family of de Courcy Ireland became so-named to distinguish them from their cousins who moved to France in the 17th and 18th centuries. In addition to all this, Irish speaking areas still follow the old tradition of naming themselves after their father, grandfather, great-grandfather and so on. Examples include: Mike Bartly Pat Reilly (i.e, Mike son of Bartholomew son of Pat Reilly), John Michel John Oge Pat Breanach (John son of Michael son of young John son of Pat Breanach), Tom Paddy-Joe Seoige (Tom son of Paddy-Joe Seoige), Mary Bartly Mike Walsh (Mary daughter of Bartly son of Mike Walsh), and so on. Sometimes, the female line of the family is used, depending on how well the parent is known in the area the person resides eg. Paddy Mary John (Paddy son of Mary daughter of John). Even in English-speaking areas, especially in rural districts, something of this tradition continues.

Irish surname prefixes

- Mac (often abbreviated Mc): Mac is Irish for son.
- Mac Gilla: Son of the devotee of a saint, or, more properly, son of a man whose name was the likes of Gilla Padraigh, Gilla Christ, (Mac) Gilla Bridge, and so on. An equivalent would be the use of St. George and St. John as forenames in England in the 18th and 19th century.
- Mael: In Pagan times this was expressed as Mug, as in the case of Mug Nuada. The literal expression of this is "slave of Nuada". Slave should be seen in the same sense as "devotee". In the Christian era the word Mael was used in its place for given names such as Mael Bridget, Mael Padraig, Mael Sechlainn, Mael Martain, and so on. In later times, some of these given names evolved into surnames (O Mael Sechlainn, Mac Mael Martain, etc.).
- Fitz: a Norman-French word derived from the Latin word filius meaning 'son'. It was used in patronymics by thousands of men in the early Norman period in Ireland (fitz Stephen, fitz Richard, fitz Robert, fitz William) and only on some occasions did it become used as an actual surname, the most famous example being the FitzGerald Earls of Kildare. Yet well into the 17th and 18th century it was used in certain areas dominated by the Old English of Ireland in its original form, as a patronymic. The Tribes of Galway were especially good at conserving this form, with examples such as John fitz John Bodkin, Michael Lynch fitz Arthur, and so on, being used even as late as the early 1800's. Despite claims to the contrary, the use of Fitz in a surname does not, and never did, denote illegitimacy. This misunderstanding may have originated because a number of illegitimate members of the British royal family were given such surnames: some of the illegitimate children of King Charles II were named Fitzcharles or Fitzroy; those of King James II were named Fitzjames; those of William duke of Clarence (later King William IV) were named Fitzclarence.
- Ó: Originally 'hua', meaning grandson, or descendant, of a given person. For example, the ancestor of the O'Brien clan, Brian Boru (937-1014) was known in his lifetime as Brian mac Lorcan mac Cennedie, i.e., Brian the son of Lorcan the son of Cennedie. Not till the time of his grandsons and great-grandsons was the name O'Brien used as a surname, used to denote descent from an illustrious ancestor. It has for some two hundred years been written as O', but in recent years the apostrophe is being dropped, bringing it into line with early medieval forms.
- Uí: Originally used not as part of a surname but to denote related members of a dynasty or kin-group, all descended from a particular person, i.e., the Uí Néill, the Uí Censellagh. Nowadays sometimes used in place of O. Pronounced as (U)ee.
- Ní: From the Irish word for daughter, íníon, and compressed into Ní. Pronounced as nee.
- Bean: Wife. Pronounced as baan.

Italy

Italian names are mostly derived from Latin, but since Italy has been often ruled by foreigners, many surnames are of Spanish, French, German, Norman or Swiss origin (and thus often Romance language names). Beginning in the 14th century, it became necessary to add a second name to distinguish between individuals with the same surname. Italian surnames are especially easy to recognize because most end in a vowel—like nearly all words in Standard Italian—and many of them have been derived from descriptive nicknames. Italian surnames developed from four major sources: Patronymic Surnames: These last names are based on a parent’s name, usually the father (Francesco di Marco i.e. Francis, son of Mark) Occupational Surnames: These surnames are based on the person’s job or trade (Giovanni Fabbri i.e. John the Smith) Descriptive Surnames: Derived from a unique quality of the individual, these surnames often developed from nicknames or pet names (Dario Forte i.e. Darius the Strong) Geographical Surnames: These surnames are based on a person’s geographic origin, (Elisabetta Romano i.e. Elisabeth from Rome) Few family names are still in the original Latin, and usually they indicate very old families (or those with pretensions to antiquity.) For example de Judicibus or de Laurentis. If the family was noble, the de has lowercase d, otherwise it is uppercase.

Greece

Greek surnames usually describe occupation or characteristics. Some are prefixed with papa- which indicates ancestry from a priest. Common patronymic suffixes are -poulos (Peloponessus), -idis, -iadis (Pontus), -akis (Crete), -atos (Ionian sea), -ellis (Lesvos Island). Note that -idis survives from the ancient times (-ides) as a suffix of patronymic epithets. Zeus for example was also referred to as Cronides (son of Cronus)

Pakistan

Pakistani surnames are basically divided in two categories: tribal names and ancestry names. The Muslim surnames: Shaikh, Siddiqui, Syed, Farooqi, Osmani, Alavi, Hussaini etc indicates Arab heritage. Khan is the most common surname in Pakistan and Afghanistan indicating Turkish and Central Asian ancestory. Tribal names: Bizenjo, Baloch,Jamali, Bugti, Mengal, Rathore, Jamote, Khuhro, Jatoi, Magsi, Bhutto, Janjua, Awan, Bhatti, Bajwa, Khar, Butt, Malik, Kayani, Afridi, Popalzai, Lodhi, etc.

Portugal and Brazil

The Portuguese position is the reverse of the Spanish one. Each person has at least two family names: the first is the maternal family name; the second is the paternal family name. A person can have up to six names (two first names and four surnames — he or she may have two names from the mother and two from the father). In Brazil the rule is the same except that it is now very common for a person to have only one family name: the paternal family name. In the ancient ages the patronymicum was commonly used — surnames like Gonçalves (son of Gonçalo), Fernandes (son of Fernando), Nunes (son of Nuno) and many more are used today as usual family names. Brazilians usually do not call people by their family names, even in formal situations. First names are almost always used. In formal situations usually is used both first and surname in this order (e. g. John Saints aka João Santos), and when used together with a prefix too (e. g. Mr. John Saints aka Sr. João Santos).

Spain and Hispanic areas

In medieval times, a patronymic system similar to the one still used in Iceland emerged. For example, Álvaro son of Rodrigo would be named Álvaro Rodríguez. His son Juan would not be named Juan Rodríguez, but Juan Álvarez. Over time many of these patronymics became family names and are some of the most common names in the Spanish-speaking world. Other sources of surnames are personal appearance or habit: Delgado (thin), Moreno (dark); occupations: Molinero (miller), Guerrero (warrior); geographic location or ethnicity: Alemán (German). However, nowadays in Spain and in some countries of Hispanic culture (former Spanish colonies), each person has two family names (although in some situations only the first is used): the first is the first (paternal) family name of the father; the second is the first family name of the mother; Depending on the country, these may or may not be linked by the conjunction "y" (and) or "de" (of). However, in many south-American countries people has now adopted the "English" way, thus having a single family name. At present day in Spain, women upon marrying keep their two family names intact. In certain situations she may be addressed as if her maternal surname were substituted with her husbands paternal surname often linked with "de". Thus, Ana García Díaz, upon marrying Juan Guerrero Macías, could also be called Ana García de Guerrero, but this custom, that comes from medieval times, is decaying and has no legal validity (except in Ecuador). In this country a couple can choose the order of the family name for their children: they can keep the traditional way, as explained — Guerrero García in the example — which is what most people do, or invert the order, putting the mother's primary family name first and afterwards the father's — García Guerrero. This decision must be maintained for all the children.

The Philippines

Until the middle of the 19th century, there was no standardization of surnames in the Philippines. There were native Filipinos without surnames, others whose surnames deliberately did not match that of their families, as well as those who took certain surnames simply because they had a certain prestige, usually ones dealing with the Roman Catholic religion, such as de los Santos and de la Cruz. In 1849, the Spanish governor Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa decreed an end to these arbitrary practices, the result of which was the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos (Alphabetic Catalog of Surnames). The book contained many words coming from Spanish and the Philippine languages such as Tagalog. The actual application of this decree varied from municipality to municipality. Some municipalities received only surnames starting with a particular letter. For example, the majority of residents of the island of Banton in Romblon province have surnames starting with F such as Fabicon, Fallarme, Fadrilan, Ferran, etc. This means that although there are perhaps a majority of Filipinos with Spanish surnames, such a surname does not imply Spanish ancestry. There are other sources for surnames. For example, in Muslim-dominated areas of the southern Philippines, surnames are usually of Arabic origin such as Hassan and Haradji. Many Filipinos also have Chinese surnames which yield clues as to when their Chinese ancestor immigrated to the Philippines. For example, a surname like Cojuangco, which was Hispanicized, suggests an 18th-century immigration while a surname like Lim suggests a relatively recent one. Some Chinese last names like Tiu-Laurel are composed of the immigrant Chinese ancestor's surname as well as the name of that ancestor's godparent. There are also Filipinos, particularly those from rural tribes, who have no surnames at all. The vast majority of Filipinos follow a naming system which is the reverse of the Spanish one. Children take the mother's surname as their middle name, followed by their father's as their surname; for example, a son of Juan de la Cruz and Maria Agbayani would be David Agbayani de la Cruz. Women take the surnames of their husband upon marriage; so upon her marriage to David de la Cruz, Laura Yuchengco Macaraeg's full name would become Laura Yuchengco Macaraeg de la Cruz.

Iceland

In Iceland, most people have no family name; a person's last name is a patronymic, i.e. a modified form of the father's first name or, sometimes, the mother's. For example, when a man called Karl has a daughter called Anna and a son called Magnús, their names will be Anna Karlsdóttir ("daughter of Karl") and Magnús Karlsson ("son of Karl").

Scandinavia

In Scandinavia family names often, but certainly not always, originate from a patronymic. In Sweden, the patronymic ending is -sson, e.g. Karlsson ("Karl's son"). In Denmark and Norway, the corresponding ending is -sen, as in Karlsen. Names ending with dotter/datter (daughter), such as Olofsdotter, are rare but occurring, and only applies to females. Today, the patronymic names are passed on similarly to family names in other Western countries, and a person's father doesn't have to be called Karl if he or she has the surname Karlsson. Before the 19th century there was the same system in Scandinavia as in Iceland today. Noble families, however, as a rule adopted a family name, which could refer to a presumed or real forefather (e.g. Earl Birger Magnusson Folkunge) or to the family's coat of arms (e.g. King Gustav Eriksson Vasa). In many surviving family noble names, such as Cederqvist ("cedar-twig") or Stiernhielm ("star-helmet"), the spelling is obsolete, but as names remains unchanged. Later on, people from the Scandinavian middle classes, particularly artisans and town dwellers, adopted names in a similar fashion to that of the nobility. Family names such as the Swedish Bergman, Holmberg, Lindgren, Sandström and Åkerlund were quite frequent and remain common today. The same is true for similar Norwegian and Danish names. These names often indicated the place of residence of the family. For this reason, Denmark and Norway have a very high incidence of names derived from those of farms, many signified by the suffix -gaard -- the modern spelling is gård in Danish and has changed to gard in Norwegian, but as in Sweden, archaic spelling persists in surnames. The most well-known example of this kind of surname is probably Kierkegaard (original meaning: the farm located by the Church or also churchyard [although this is unlikely in the context] which, with kierke, actually includes two archaic spellings), but many others could be cited. It should also be noted that, since the names in question are derived from the original owners' domiciles, the possession of this kind of name is no longer an indicator of affinity with others who bear it.

The Netherlands

Many Dutch names start with a prefix like "van" (meaning of/from), "de"/"het"/"'t" (the), "der" (of the), "van de" (of the/from the), "in het" (in the). Examples are "'t Hooft" (the head), "de Groot" (the great), "van Rijn" (from Rhine). These prefixes are not spelled with a capital when used in combination with the first name, for example, Piet de Groot. When written without first name, a capital is used, e.g., Mr. Van Rijn. In name directories, the prefixes are always ignored for sorting.

Belgium

Since Belgium has three official languages — Dutch, French and German — Belgian names are more or less what you could come across in the neighbouring countries: the Netherlands, France and Germany. Some differences exist: for example, Belgian Dutch names (Flemish names) commonly have prefixes as mentioned in the paragraph on The Netherlands only the rule of thumb is here that the prefixes always start with a capital, and are often written connected to the main word. Therefore "de Bakker" or "van der Steen" is probably Dutch while "De Bakker" and "Vandersteen" are Belgian. Although "De Backer" would be a more common name (old names = old spelling). Top ten of Flemish names are Peeters, Janssens, Maes, Jacobs, Willems, Mertens, Claes, Wouters, Goossens, De Smet. Flemish family names often resemble first names. e.g. with the top ten names these are Belgian first names related to them: Peter, Jan, Jacob, Willem, Maarten, Klaas, Wouter. The trailing "s" reportedly once meant "son of", so "Willems" would be "Willem's son". Furthermore a lot of ancient spelling still remains visible in a lot of names, e.g. usage of "c" instead of "k" and "ae" instead of "aa" (Claes<->Klaas). Top ten of Walloonian (French Belgian) names are: Dubois, Lambert, Martin, Dupont, Dumont, Leclercq, Simon, Laurent, Lejeune, Renard.

Russia

A full Russian name consists of personal (given) name, patronymic, and family name (surname). Probably the majority of Russian family names originated from patronymics, that is, father's name in genitive case: name + suffix -ov(a) or -ev(a) (it should be noted, though, that contemporaty patronymics have additional suffixes -ich and -na for masculine and feminine, respectively). Here is, for example, the proverbial triad of most common Russian surnames:
- Ivanov (son of Ivan),
- Petrov (son of Petr),
- Sidorov (son of Sidor). Feminine forms of these names have the ending -a:
- Ivanova (Ivan's daughter),
- Petrova (Petr's daughter),
- Sidorova (Sidor's daughter). Such a pattern of name formation is by no means unique to Russia or even to the Eastern and Southern Slavs in general; quite common are also names derived, with the help of different suffixes (-in(a), -sky (-skaia), etc.), from professions:
- smith=kuznets → Kuznetsov—Kuznetsova,
- tailor=portnoi → Portnov—Portnova,
- shepherd=pastukh → Pastukhov—Pastukhova, places of origin:
- Moscow=Moskva → Moskvin—Moskvina,
- Smolensk → Smolensky—Smolenskaia,
- Riazan → Riazanov—Riazanova, personal characteristics:
- fat=tolsty → Tolstov—Tolstova, Tolstoy—Tolstaya,
- (big?) nose=nos → Nosov—Nosova,
- grey=sedoi → Sedov—Sedova. A considerable number of “artificial” names exists, for example, those given to seminary graduates; such names were based on major Orthodox holy days:
- Christmas=rozhdestvo → Rozhdestvensky—Rozhdestvenskaia,
- Resurrection=voskresenie → Voskresensky—Voskresenskaia,
- Assumption=uspenie → Uspensky—Uspenskaia, or Christian virtues:
- philagathos (one who loves goodness) → Dobrolubov—Dobrolubova, Dobrolubsky—Dobrolubskaia,
- philosophos (one who loves wisdom) → Lubomudrov—Lubomudrova,
- theophilos (one who loves God) → Bogolubov—Bogolubova. Many freed serfs were given surnames after those of their former owners. For example, a serf of the Demidov family might be named Demidovsky, which translates roughly as "belonging to Demidov" or "one of Demidov's bunch." Grammatically, Russian family names follow the same rules as other nouns, with exceptions: some names do not change in different cases and have the same form in both genders (for example, Sedykh).

Poland

In Poland and most of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the surnames first appeared in late Middle Ages. Initially their purpose was to denote the differences between various people living in the same town or village and bearing the same name. The conventions used were very similar to English family names: initially names were simple nouns denoting the occupation (Karczmarz - Innkeeper, Kowal - Blacksmith, Bednarczyk - Young Cooper), descent (patronymic names like Szczepaniak - Son of Szczepan, Józefski - Son of Józef or Kaźmirkiewicz - Son of Kazimierz) or a feature (Nowak - the new one, Biały - the pale one, Mazur the one from Masovia or Wielgus - the big one). From the early 16th century geographical names became common, especially among the szlachta. Initially the surnames were in a form of Jan z Kolna (meaning John of Kolno), later most of the surnames were changed to adjective forms (Jakub Wiślicki - James of Wisła, Zbigniew Oleśnicki - Zbigniew of Oleśnica) with suffixes -ski, -cki and -dzki (feminine -ska, -cka and -dzka). Names formed this way are still adjectives grammatically, and therefore - as all Polish adjectives - change their form depending on gender. So we have Mr Jan Kowalski and Ms Maria Kowalska (and Kowalscy in plural). As names with -ski/cki/dzki (female -ski, -cka, -dzka) suffix became associated with noble origin, many people from lower classes successively changed their surnames to fit this pattern. This produced large amounts of Kowalskis, Bednarskis, Kaczmarskis and so on. Today most Polish speakers would not necessarily know about noble associations of -ski endings, but such names still "sound somehow better". A separate class of surnames is constituted by names derived of the names of szlachtas coats of arms. These are used either as separate names or the first part of a double-barrelled name. This way persons named Jan Nieczuja and Krzysztof Nieczuja-Machocki might be related. Similarly, after World War I and World War II many members of the underground organizations adopted their war-time pseudonyms as the first part of their surnames. This way Edward Rydz became the later Marshal of Poland Edward Śmigły-Rydz and Jan Nowak became Jan Nowak-Jeziorański.

Ashkenazi Jewish surnames

Until a few hundred years ago, Ashkenazim (Jews from Northern and Eastern Europe) followed no tradition of surnames, but used patronymics within the synagogue, and matronymics in other venues. For example, a boy named Joseph of a father named Isaac would be called to the Torah as Joseph ben Isaac. That same boy of a mother named Rachel would be known in business as Joseph ben Rachel. A male used the Hebrew word "ben" (son) and a female "bat" (daughter). When northern European countries legislated that Jews required "proper" surnames, Jews were left with a number of options. Many Jews (particularly in Austria, Prussia and Russia) were forced to adopt Germanic names. Joseph II issued a law in 1787 which assumed that all Jews were to adopt German names. The city mayors were to choose the name for every Jewish family. For names related to precious metals and flowers a fee was gathered, while free surnames were usually connected to animals and common metals. Many took Yiddish names derived from occupation (e.g. Goldschmidt, 'Gold-smith'), from their father (e.g. Jacobson), or from location (e.g. Berliner, Warszawski or Pinsker). That makes Ashkenazi surnames quite similar to Scandinavian and especially Swedish ones. Many Jews Also took names of their Jewish lineage. A person of Priestly (Cohanite) decent could take the last name related to his Lineage (e.g. Cohen - Hebrew/Yiddish or Colons - Spanish. If a Jew was a decendant of the Levites, then he could take a surname like Lavine or Levenson. In Prussia special military commissions were created to choose the names. It became common that the poorer Jews were forced to adopt derogatory, offensive or simply bizarre names. Among those created by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann were:
- Ochsenschwanz - Oxtail
- Temperaturwechsel - Temperatureglitch
- Kanalgeruch - Sewerstink
- Singmirwas - Singmesomething The Jews of Poland adopted names much earlier. Those who were adopted by a szlachta family usually changed the name to that of the family. Christened Jews usually adopted either a common Polish name or a name created after the month of their baptism (that's why many Frankists adopted the name Majewski - after the month of May in 1759). Both the given names and surnames of Ashkenazim today may be completely European in origin, though many will also posess a traditional Hebrew name for use only in the synagogue.

Romania

In Romania family names traditionally have an English-like usage: a child inherits his father's family name, and a wife takes her husband's last name. There are however exceptions and social pressure to follow this tradition is not particularly strong in most families. Romanian names' etymologies are mixed. Sometimes, family names denote some ancestor's occupation (for example Butnaru meaning 'barrel-maker'), sometimes a genitor's name (e.g. Ionescu, son/doughter of Ion ). There are family names deriving from a woman's name too, traditionally originating from bastards (the father was not known) (e.g. Amariei, '[son or daughter]-of-Maria'). It should be noted that the first name/last name distinction is not clear in Romanian culture. While the ordering of given name first, family name second is always used in media, from literature to television, the opposite order is used in all official documents, ostensibly for filing purposes. Since bureaucracy is very pervasive in Romania, a Romanian will often instinctively start with his family name when introducing himself, especially in any 'official' context (this includes, for example, a student signing an occasional test paper in school). You will not, however, hear someone refer to a poet or a politician this way. In Romanian the words "nume de familie" (literally "family name") and "prenume" (for one's given name) are used instead of the first/second name convention.

India and Indonesia

:For more details on this topic, see Indian family name and Indonesian names. Similar patronymic customs exist in some parts of India and Indonesia. However, many Indians (from India) living in English-speaking countries give up on this tradition because many English speakers so consistently misunderstand the custom; therefore many Indian fathers simply follow the English-speaking custom to pass on their last name instead of their first. The patronymic system is mostly followed in southern regions of India, while those in the rest of the country still have a surname or a family name as their last name. For religious reasons, Sikh males usually have the surname Singh (meaning "lion"), and Sikh females usually have the name Kaur ("princess").

Ethiopia/Eritrea

In most of Ethiopia and Eritrea, a patronymic custom exists. Children are given the father's exact first name as their surname.

China, Hungary, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam

:For more details on this topic, see Chinese family name, Korean name#Family names, Japanese name, and Vietnamese name In Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Hungarian cultures, the family name is placed before the given names. So the terms "first name" and "last name" are potentially confusing and should be avoided, as they do not in this case denote the given and family names respectively. Some Chinese add an English given name in front of their Chinese name, e.g. Martin LEE Chu-ming. In addition, many Chinese Americans have an English first name which is commonly used and a Chinese name which is used as a middle name, e.g. Martin Chu-ming Lee. Chinese living in the US are willing to rearrange their names when written in English to avoid misunderstanding. However, no one in China would rearrange Mao Zedong into Zedong Mao in English writings. Vietnamese names are generally stated in East Asian order (family name first) even when writing in English. Names of contemporary Japanese individuals are usually written in Western order (given name first) while names of Japanese historical figures are usually written in East Asian order. Names of Hungarian individuals are stated in Western order when writing in English. Koreans write their name either way when writing in English. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism says "Personal names are written by family name first, followed by a space and the given name". In practice, however, given name first seems to be more common. In English writings originating from non-English cultures (e.g. English newspapers in China), the family name is often written with all capital letters to avoid being mistaken as a middle name: "Martin LEE Chu-ming" (this practice is common on the Internet), or in small capitals (except the first letter), as "Martin LEE Chu-ming" (this is more common in books) or AKUTAGAWA, Ryunosuke to make clear which one is the family name, particularly often in mass-media reporting international events like the Olympic Games. [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html The CIA World Factbook] stated that "The Factbook capitalizes the surname or family name of individuals for the convenience of [their] users who are faced with a world of different cultures and naming conventions." On the contrary, the English Wikipedia follows a strict guideline on not to use all capital family names (the [http://eo.wikipedia.org/ Esperanto Wikipedia], for example, often capitalizes family names regardless of the country of origin of the person who bears the name). As a result, non-English names appearing in Wikipedia articles are ambiguous to most laymen. For example, Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing might be mistaken as Mr. Wing by readers unaware of Chinese naming conventions. Vietnamese family names present an added complication. Like Chinese family names, they are placed at the beginning of a name, but unlike Chinese names, they are not usually the primary form of address. Rather, people will be referred to by their given name, usually accompanied by an honorific. For example, Phan Van Khai is properly addressed as "Mr. Khai", even though "Phan" is his family name. This stands out against the pattern of most other East Asian naming conventions, and can confuse those used to dealing with (for example) Chinese names. In Japan, women surrender their surnames upon marriage, and use the surnames of their husbands. However, a convention that a man uses his wife's family name if the wife is an only child is sometimes observed. A similar tradition called ru zhui (入贅) is common among Chinese when the bride's family is wealthy and has no son but wants the heir to pass on their assets under the same family name. It is worth noting that the Chinese character zhui (贅) carries a money radical (貝), which implies that this tradition was originally based on financial reasons. All their offspring will carry the mother's family name. Usually the groom or his family would not agree with such arrangement if he were the first born who has an obligation to carry his own ancestor's name. In such situation, a compromise may be reached in that the first male child would carry the mother's family name while the other offspring carry the father's family name. The tradition is still in use in many Chinese communities outside of mainland China. Under Mao Zedong's communist rule, Chinese citizens had no personal assets to pass to their heirs therefore such traditions became unnecessary. With Chinese economic reform, it is uncertain if such tradition returned to China. In Hong Kong, mainland China, Korea and Taiwan, women would keep their own surnames, while the family as a whole would be referred by the surnames of the husbands. In Hong Kong, some women would be known to the public with the surnames of their husbands preceding their own surnames, such as Anson Chan Fang On Sang. Anson is an English given name, On Sang is the given name in Chinese, Chan is the surname of Anson's husband, and Fang is her own surname. A name change on legal documents is not a must. In Macau, some people have their names in Portuguese spelt with some Portuguese style, such as [http://carlos.com.hk/carlos.htm Carlos do Rosario Tchiang]. Chinese women in Canada, especially Hongkongers in Toronto, would preserve their maiden names before the surnames of their husbands when written in English, for instance Rosa Chan Leung, where Chan is the maiden name, and Leung is the surname of the husband. In Chinese and Korean, surnames are predominantly monosyllabic (written with one character), though a small number of common disyllabic (or written with two characters) surnames exists (e.g. the Chinese name Ou Yang, the Korean name Namgung).
Mongolia
In Mongolia it is customary for children to take the first name of their father as their surname. For example the name Tselmuun Zorigoo would tell us that the person in question's father's first name is Zorigoo.
See also

- List of most common surnames
- Family name etymology, German family name etymology
- Family name affixes
- List of common Chinese surnames
- List of Jewish surnames
- List of Middle Eastern surnames
- List of Eastern European surnames
- List of Central Asian, Iranian, Caucasian and Tatar surnames
- List of South Asian surnames
- List of Southeast Asian surnames
- List of Hispanic and Romance-speaking cultures surnames
- List of Germanic-speaking cultures surnames
- List of Swedish surnames
- List of African surnames
- Family history
- Patronymic
- Personal name
- Nickname
- Maiden name
External links

- [http://genealogy.about.com/library/surnames/bl_meaning.htm Glossary of Surname Meanings & Origins]
- [http://www.volkmar-weiss.de/inbreeding.html Inbreeding and genetic distance between hierarchically structured populations measured by surname frequencies]
- [http://www.polishroots.org/surnames/surnames_endings.htm Short explanation of Polish surname endings and their origin]
- [http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/ Dictionary of Surname Origins and Last Name Meanings]
- [http://www.mydanishroots.com/surnames/in_denmark.html Surnames in Denmark - Naming Traditions, Meaning, and Origin]
- [http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Kolomea/nameorigin.htm History of Jewish family Names]
- [http://www.ancestryconnections.com Search for specific Surnames]
- Category:Naming conventions ja:姓

Middle name

Many people's names include one or more middle names, placed between the first given name and the last name. In the West, a middle name is effectively a second given name and is frequently abbreviated by its possessor to its initial letter. Despite their relatively long existence in the Western world, the phrase "middle name" was not recorded until 1835 in "Harvardiana" a periodical of the time. Since 1905, "middle name" gained a figurative connotation meaning a notable or outstanding attribute of a person. This figurative use is especially popular in films (see "Quotes" in External links).

Anglo-Saxon

Middle names are chosen by parents at the same time as the first name. Popular middle names are identical to those of first names, such as John, James, David, etc., with an emphasis on biblical figures (again, like first names). In the U.S. and UK, a male's middle name is sometimes his father's first name. Alternatively, a male's first name may be the same as his father's, in which case the middle name may be used as if a first name so as to distinguish him from his father. People who are known primarily by their middle name sometimes abbreviate their first name, rather than their middle name, to an initial (e.g. F. Scott Fitzgerald and H. Ross Perot). American Southerners are often referred to familiarly by both their first and middle names, such as Billy Joe and M.E. (Mary Elizabeth); this is common in the North when the first name is the very common name Mary. Also, a substantial number of Southerners use their middle names in place of their first names, particularly if their first name is the same as their father's (for example, former Vice President James Danforth "Dan" Quayle); this practice appears to be less common in other parts of the United States. Some middle names sound antiquated because they are chosen from those of the family's ancestors, as the parents may have chosen them by glancing over the family tree. Aside from the most popular middle names taken from first names, surnames (such as Hall or Walker) may also be taken as middle names, sometimes to commemorate a relative. For example, it is quite common to use the mother's maiden name as the middle name as a way to acknowledge the mother's (and maternal grandparents') family name. Sometimes in popular references, only the first letter is used (e.g., John A. Macdonald), or the middle names are unmentioned (Herbert Hoover). Occasionally, while the middle is given in full, only the first letter of the first name is used (e.g., W. Somerset Maugham) or unmentioned (e.g., Paul McCartney). Rarely, individuals are only given initials as middle names, with the initial(s) not explicitly standing for anything (e.g, Harry S. Truman). However, this practice is common among the Amish, who commonly use the first letter of the mother's maiden name as a solitary initial for the sons and daughters. Thus, the children of Mary Miller (who married a Zook) would use the middle initial M. In such cases, using a period after the "initial" is incorrect, since a period denotes an abbreviation. Examples of multiple middle names: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (Queen Elizabeth II), J. R. R. Tolkien, George H.W. Bush and V. V. S. Laxman. The English upper classes are traditionally fond of taking multiple middle names; this practice is hence often seen as pretentious. As an extreme example, Princess Michael of Kent was given no less than four middle names, as Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz; most of the royal family have three.

Catholic

Males in some predominantly Catholic communities (mostly Bavarian (but almost never other German), Belgian, French, Italian, Spanish, and Polish Catholics) are sometimes given what would otherwise be considered a female given name, especially the name Marie or Maria. In France, the most common case is to give a compound first name, such as Jean-Marie or, more rarely, André-Marie or Bernard-Marie; more rarely, Marie is used as third or subsequent given name. See French names for more details on naming practices in France. Hispanic females, conversely, sometimes have the middle name José. This is particularly common in Roman Catholic families, as a practice aimed at "divine protection" from both sexes (the male trinity and the Virgin Mary). The use of such names is primarily a cultural issue, rather than a religious issue. There is no Church teaching regarding such names.

East and Southeast Asian

Sometimes the first syllables of Chinese and Korean given names are considered middle names, because they are positioned in the middle of a name (if the person has a two-syllable name), like Wong Shan-leung, where Shan is the "middle". This is technically incorrect, since many Chinese have only one syllable in their given name, so there is no middle position in their full name. Another possible cause for this misconception is due to the fact that each syllable is an individual word/character. (See Chinese name, Korean name, Japanese name, Vietnamese name) Many Asian immigrants and Taiwanese personalities anglicize their given name and convert it to an authentic middle name, after a native English first name, such as James Chu-yu Soong and Jerry Chih-Yuan Yang (the second syllable of the middle name is officially not capitalized, even in overseas Chinese names). If the Chinese given name has two syllables, it is usually combined into "one" middle name for better organizational purposes, especially Cantonese ones, such as Bruce Junfan Lee. There are also a minority whose Chinese given names are their first names, and have English middle names. Vietnamese traditionally have middle names (chữ dem or chữ lót) that distinguish between the sexes. Many women still have the rather feudal Thị (meaning "woman of-" the given family) as their middle names. Although the Communist government in Vietnam has discouraged this name, it still continues to be popular among Southerners and rural Northerners. There are traditionally more male middle names, such as Văn ("scholar"), Hữu, Duc, Đình, Xuân ("Spring"), Ngoc ("Jade"), Quang ("Light"), and Cong. The Nguyen royalties' middle names are from a generation poem. Vietnamese middle names used to not often used, especially among males. In a 1988 study, 22% of Vietnamese males have no middle names. However, many younger males in Vietnam prefer being called with bisyllabic names nowadays. In Philippines, the mother's maiden name is used as the middle name of a legitimate child.

South Asians

South Asians, particularly Indians, generally take their fathers' first names as their middle names. After South Asian females marry, they change their middle names to their husbands' first names. Sikh males, who for religious reasons are supposed to be named Singh, usually as their surname, sometimes instead take Singh as their middle name. See Also: Name, culture

External links

- [http://sources.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nguyen_royalty_generation_poem Generation poem] of the Nguyens
- [http://wiki.uclavsu.org/?id=ch%E1%BB%AF+l%C3%B3t Chữ lót], from ViệtWiki Category:Given names

Kanji

:This article is about a form of writing; for the Australian shrub, see Kanji bush. Kanji (, literally "Han characters") is the name of Chinese characters in the Japanese language. Kanji are one of the three main forms of Japanese writing, the other two being hiragana and katakana, the kana. This article focuses on the Japanese use of these characters; see Chinese character for a general discussion of Chinese characters, which are also used in several other languages.

History

Chinese character There is some disagreement about how Chinese characters came to Japan, but it is generally accepted that Buddhist monks brought Chinese texts back to Japan in about the 5th century. These texts were in the Chinese language and would have been read as such at first. Over time, however, a system known as kanbun (漢文) emerged; it essentially used Chinese text with diacritical marks to allow Japanese speakers to read it in accordance with the rules of Japanese grammar. The Japanese language itself had no written form at the time. A writing system called man'yōgana (used in the ancient poetry anthology Man'yōshū) evolved that used a limited set of Chinese characters for their sound, rather than for their meaning. Man'yōgana written in curvilinear style became hiragana, a writing system that was accessible to women (who were denied higher education). Major works of Heian era literature by women were written in hiragana. Katakana emerged via a parallel path: monastery students simplified man'yōgana to a single constituent element. Thus the two other writing systems, hiragana and katakana, referred to collectively as kana, are actually forms of kanji. In modern Japanese, kanji is used to write parts of the language such as nouns, adjective stems and verb stems, while hiragana is used to write inflected verb and adjective endings (okurigana), particles, and words where the kanji is too difficult to read or remember. Katakana is used for representing onomatopoeia and non-Chinese loanwords. The usage of katakana to write loan words is a very recent phenomenon dating to after World War II. Originally loanwords were written using kanji, either used for their meaning (煙草 or 莨 tabako; "tobacco") or to spell the word phonetically (天婦羅 or 天麩羅 tempura). For example, many Japanese words of Portuguese origin borrowed from the 16th century onwards, have kanji forms.

Types of kanji: categorized by history

Kokuji

While some kanji and Chinese hanzi are mutually readable, many more are not. In addition to characters that have different meanings in Japanese, and characters that have identical meanings but are written differently, there are also characters peculiar to Japan known as kokuji (国字; literally "national characters"). Kokuji are also known as wasei kanji (和製漢字; lit. "Chinese characters made in Japan"). There are hundreds of kokuji (see the [http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/kokuji-list.html sci.lang.japan AFAQ list]), and although some are rarely used, many others have become important additions to the written Japanese language. These include:
- 峠 tōge (mountain pass)
- 榊 sakaki (sakaki tree, genus Camellia)
- 畑 hatake (field of crops)
- 辻 tsuji (crossroads, street)
- 働 dō, hatara(ku) (work)

Kokkun

In addition to kokuji, there are kanji that have been given meanings in Japanese different from their original Chinese meanings. These kanji are not considered kokuji but are instead called kokkun (国訓) and include characters such as:
- 沖 oki (offing, open sea; Ch. chōng rinse)
- 森 mori (forest; Ch. sēn gloomy, majestic, luxuriant growth)
- 椿 tsubaki (Camellia japonicus; Ch. chūn Ailantus)

Old characters and new characters

The same kanji character can sometimes be written in two different ways, 旧字体 (kyū-jitai; lit. "old character") (舊字體 in kyū-jitai) and 新字体 (shin-jitai; "new character"). The following are some examples of kyū-jitai followed by the corresponding shin-jitai:
- 國国 kuni (country)
- 號号 gō (number)
- 變変 hen, ka(waru) (change) Kyū-jitai were used before the end of World War II, and are mostly, if not completely, the same as the Traditional Chinese characters. After the war the government introduced the simplified shin-jitai. Some of the new characters are similar to simplified characters used in the People's Republic of China. Also, like the simplification process in China, some of the shinjitai were once abbreviated forms (略字 ryakuji) used in handwriting, but in contrast with the "proper" unsimplified characters (正字 seiji) were only acceptable in colloquial contexts. This page [http://kan-chan.stbbs.net/word/ryakuji.html] shows examples of these handwritten abbreviations, identical to their modern shinjitai forms, from the postwar era. There are also handwritten simplifications today that are significantly simpler than their standard forms (either untouched or received only minor simplification in the post-war reforms), examples of which can be seen here [http://hac.cside.com/bunsho/1shou/39setu.html], but despite their wide usage and popularity, they, like their postwar counterparts, are not considered socially acceptable and are only used in handwriting. Some Chinese characters are only used phonetically in Japanese (当て字 ateji), and many Chinese characters are not used in Japanese at all. Theoretically, however, any Chinese character can also be a Japanese character—the Daikanwa Jiten, one of the largest dictionaries of kanji ever compiled, has about 50,000 entries, even though most of the entries have never been used in Japanese.

Readings

A kanji character may have several possible pronunciations, or "readings", depending on its context, intended meaning, use in compounds, and location in the sentence. Some common kanji have ten or more possible readings. These readings are categorized as either Chinese derived (on'yomi or on) or native (kun'yomi or kun).

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

The on'yomi (音読み), the Chinese reading, is a Japanese approximation of the Chinese pronunciation of the character at the time it was introduced. Some kanji were multiply introduced from different parts of China at different times, and so have multiple on'yomi, and often multiple meanings. The kanji invented in Japan typically have no on'yomi. For example, the kanji 込 is Japanese, in origin, and thus lacks any on'yomi. Generally, on'yomi are classified into four types:
- Go-on (呉音; literally Wu sound) readings, from the pronunciation of the Wu region (in the vicinity of modern Shanghai), during the 5th and 6th centuries.
- Kan-on (漢音; literally Han sound) readings, from the pronunciation during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th to 9th centuries, primarily from the standard speech of the capital, Chang'an.
- Tō-on (唐音；literally Tang sound) readings, from the pronunciations of later dynasties, such as the Song and Ming, covers all readings adopted from the Heian era to the Edo period
- Kan'yō-on (慣用音) readings, which are mistaken readings of the kanji which have become accepted into the language. Examples The most common form of readings is the kan-on one. The tō-on readings occur in some words such as isu "chair" or futon. The go-on readings are especially common in Buddhist terminology such as gokuraku 極楽 "paradise". Due to trade and navigation patterns, a great volume of Chinese vocabulary was introduced to Japan by natives of southern China, thus many common pronunciations more closely mirror those of Southern Chinese languages ("dialects") than Northern pronunciations. Chinese languages have changed over time and pronunciations used at the time of introduction of vocabulary from China to Japan may no longer be used in a recognizable form by contemporary Chinese. On'yomi are usually single-syllable readings, since each character expresses a single Chinese syllable. However, tonality aside, most Chinese syllables (especially in Middle Chinese, in which final stop consonants were more prevalent than in most modern dialects) did not fit the largely-CV (consonant-vowel) phonotactics of classical Japanese. Thus most on'yomi are composed of two moras (syllables or beats), the second of which is either a lengthening of the vowel in the first mora (this being i in the case of e and u in the case of o, due to linguistic drift in the centuries since), or one of the syllables ku, ki, tsu, chi, or syllabic n, chosen for their approximation to the final consonants of Middle Chinese. In fact, palatalized consonants before vowels other than i, as well as syllabic n, were probably added to Japanese to better simulate Chinese; none of these features occur in words of native Japanese origin. On'yomi primarily occur in multi-kanji compound words (熟語 jukugo), many of which are the result of the adoption (along with the kanji themselves) of Chinese words for concepts that either didn't exist in Japanese or could not be articulated as elegantly using native words. This borrowing process is often compared to the English borrowings from Latin and Norman French, since Chinese-borrowed terms are often more specialized, or considered to sound more erudite or formal, than their native counterparts. The major exception to this rule is surnames, in which the native kun'yomi reading is usually used (see below).

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

The kun'yomi (訓読み), Japanese reading, or somewhat misleadingly native reading, is a reading based on the pronunciation of a native Japanese word, or yamatokotoba, that closely approximated the meaning of the Chinese character when it was introduced. Again, there can be multiple kun readings for the same kanji, and some kanji have no kun'yomi at all. For instance, the kanji for east, 東, has the on reading tō. However, Japanese already had two words for east, higashi and azuma. Thus the kanji character 東 had the latter pronunciations added as kun'yomi. However, the kanji 寸, denoting a Chinese unit of measurement (slightly over an inch), had no native Japanese equivalent; thus it only has an on'yomi, sun. Kun'yomi are characterized by the strict (C)V syllable structure of yamatokotoba. Most noun or adjective kun'yomi are two to three syllables long, while verb kun'yomi are more often one or two syllables in length (not counting trailing hiragana called okurigana, although those are usually considered part of the reading). In a number of cases, multiple kanji were assigned to cover a single word. Typically when this occurs, the different kanji have different meanings. For instance, the word なおす, naosu, when written 治す, means "to heal an illness or sickness". When written 直す it means "to fix or correct something" (e.g. a bicycle or a badly written Wikipedia article). Sometimes the differences are very clear, other times they are quite subtle. Sometimes there are differences of opinion in different reference works -- one dictionary may say the kanji are equivalent, while another dictionary may draw distinctions of use between them. Because of this confusion, Japanese people have trouble knowing which kanji to use in some cases. One workaround is simply to write the word in hiragana, a method frequently employed with more complex cases such as もと moto, which has five different kanji, 元, 基, 本, 下, 素, three of which have only very subtle differences.

When to use which reading

Words for similar concepts, such as "east" (東), "north" (北) and "northeast" (東北), can have completely different pronunciations: the kun readings higashi and kita are used for the first two, while the on reading tōhoku is used for the third. To complicate the matter, there are two basic guidelines for determining the pronunciation of a particular kanji in a given context. First, and most simply, kanji occurring in compounds are usually read using on'yomi. These sorts of words are sometimes called jukugo (熟語). For example, 情報 jōhō "information", 学校 gakkō "school", and 新幹線 shinkansen "bullet train" all follow this pattern. Secondly, kanji occurring in isolation -- that is, written adjacent only to kana, not to other kanji -- are typically read using their kun'yomi. Together with their okurigana, if any, they generally function either as a noun or as an inflected adjective or verb: e.g. 月 tsuki "moon", 情け nasake "sympathy", 赤い akai "red" (adj), 新しい atarashii "new ", 見る miru "(to) see". Kanji compounds that also have okurigana, such as 空揚げ (also written 唐揚げ) karaage "fried food" and 折り紙 origami "artistic paper folding", also fall into this category. It should be noted, however, that many of the latter category of compounds can be written alternatively with the okurigana omitted (e.g. 空揚 or 折紙). There are numerous exceptions to both rules. 手紙 tegami "letter", 日傘 higasa "parasol", and the famous 神風 kamikaze "divine wind" all use kun'yomi despite being simple kanji compounds. Fortunately, most exceptions to the second rule are simple nouns: 愛 ai "love", 禅 Zen, 点 ten "mark, dot" -- most of these cases involve kanji that have no kun'yomi, so there can be no confusion. The situation is further complicated by the fact that many kanji have more than one on'yomi: witness 先生 sensei "teacher" versus 一生 isshō "one's whole life". There are many kanji compounds that use a mixture of on'yomi and kun'yomi, known as jūbako (重箱) or yutō (湯桶) words. The words jūbako and yutō themselves are examples: the first character of jūbako is read using on'yomi, the second kun'yomi, while it is the other way around with yutō. Other examples include 金色 kin'iro "golden" (on-kun) and 合気道 aikidō "the martial art Aikido" (kun-on-on). There are also several words that can be read multiple ways, like English words like "live" or "read" -- in some cases the words have different meanings depending on how they are read. One example is 上手, which can be read in three different ways -- jōzu (skilled), uwate (upper part), or kamite (upper part). In addition, 上手い has the reading umai (skilled). Some famous place names, including those of Tokyo (東京 Tōkyō) an

Japanese name

Structure

Characters

Difficulty of reading names

Regulations

Customs

Titles

Nicknames

Names from other ethnic groups in Japan

Imperial names

Historical names

Professional names

Japanese names in English

See also

Citations

Further reading

External links

Family name

English-speaking countries

French-speaking countries

Ireland

Irish surname prefixes

Italy

Greece

Pakistan

Portugal and Brazil

Spain and Hispanic areas

The Philippines

Iceland

Scandinavia

The Netherlands

Belgium

Russia

Poland

Ashkenazi Jewish surnames

Romania

India and Indonesia

Ethiopia/Eritrea

China, Hungary, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam

Mongolia

See also

External links

Middle name

Anglo-Saxon

Catholic

East and Southeast Asian

South Asians

See also

External links

Kanji

History

Types of kanji: categorized by history

Kokuji

Kokkun

Old characters and new characters

Readings

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

Other readings

When to use which reading