Part 6
This suffix _ko_ is written with the Chinese character meaning "child," and must not be confused with the word _ko_, written with a different Chinese character, and meaning "little," which so often appears in the names of dancing girls. I should venture to say that this genteel suffix has the value of a caressing diminutive, and that the name _Aiko_ might be fairly well rendered by the "Amoretta" of Spenser's _Faerie Queene_. Be this as it may, a Japanese lady named _Setsu_ or _Sada_ would not be addressed in these days as O-Setsu or O-Sada, but as Setsuko or Sadako. On the other hand, if a woman of the people were to sign herself as Setsuko or Sadako, she would certainly be laughed at,--since the suffix would give to her appellation the meaning of "the Lady Setsu," or "the Lady Sada."
I have said that the honorific "O" is placed before the _yobina_ of women of the middle and lower classes. Even the wife of a _kurumaya_ would probably be referred to as the "Honorable Mrs. Such-a-one." But there are very remarkable exceptions to this general rule regarding the prefix "O." In some country-districts the common _yobina_ of two syllables is made a trisyllable by the addition of a peculiar suffix; and before such trisyllabic names the "O" is never placed. For example, the girls of Wakayama, in the Province of Kii, usually have added to their _yobina_ the suffix "_e_,"[48] signifying "inlet," "bay," "frith,"--sometimes "river." Thus we find such names as _Namie_ ("Wave-Bay"), _Tomie_ ("Riches-Bay"), _Sumie_ ("Dwelling-Bay"), _Shizue_ ("Quiet-Bay"), _Tamae_ ("Jewel-Bay"). Again there is a provincial suffix "_no_" meaning "field" or "plain," which is attached to the majority of female names in certain districts. _Yoshino_ ("Fertile Field"), _Umeno_ ("Plumflower Field"), _Shizuno_ ("Quiet Field"), _Urano_ ("Coast Field"), _Utano_ ("Song Field"), are typical names of this class. A girl called _Namie_ or _Kikuno_ is not addressed as "O-Namie San" or "O-Kikuno San," but as "Namie San," "Kikuno San."
[48] This suffix must not be confused with the suffix "_e_," signifying "branch," which is also attached to many popular names. Without seeing the Chinese character, you cannot decide whether the name _Tamae_, for example, means "Jewel-branch" or "Jewel Inlet."
"San" (abbreviation of _Sama_, a word originally meaning "form," "appearance"), when placed after a female name, corresponds to either our "Miss" or "Mrs." Placed after a man's name it has at least the value of our "Mr.",--perhaps even more. The unabbreviated form _Sama_ is placed after the names of high personages of either sex, and after the names of divinities: the Shinto Gods are styled the _Kami-Sama_, which might be translated as "the Lords Supreme"; the Bodhisattva Jizo is called _Jizo-Sama_, "the Lord Jizo." A lady may also be styled "Sama." A lady called _Ayako_, for instance, might very properly be addressed as Ayako Sama. But when a lady's name, independently of the suffix, consists of more than three syllables, it is customary to drop either the _ko_ or the title. Thus "the Lady Ayame" would not be spoken of as "Ayameko Sama," but more euphoniously as "Ayame Sama,"[49] or as "Ayameko."
[49] "Ayame Sama," however, is rather familiar; and this form cannot be used by a stranger in verbal address, though a letter may be directed with the name so written. As a rule, the _ko_ is the more respectful form.
So much having been said as regards the etiquette of prefixes and suffixes, I shall now attempt a classification of female names,--beginning with popular _yobina_. These will be found particularly interesting, because they reflect something of race-feeling in the matter of ethics and aesthetics, and because they serve to illustrate curious facts relating to Japanese custom. The first place I have given to names of purely moral meaning,--usually bestowed in the hope that the children will grow up worthy of them. But the lists should in no case be regarded as complete: they are only representative. Furthermore, I must confess my inability to explain the reason of many names, which proved as much of riddles to Japanese friends as to myself.
NAMES OF VIRTUES AND PROPRIETIES
_O-Ai_ "Love." _O-Chie_ "Intelligence." _O-Chu_ "Loyalty." _O-Jin_ "Tenderness,"--humanity. _O-Jun_ "Faithful-to-death." _O-Kaiyo_ "Forgiveness,"--pardon. _O-Ken_ "Wise,"--in the sense of moral discernment. _O-Ko_ "Filial Piety." _O-Masa_ "Righteous,"--just. _O-Michi_ "The Way,"--doctrine. _Misao_ "Honor,"--wifely fidelity. _O-Nao_ "The Upright,"--honest. _O-Nobu_ "The Faithful." _O-Rei_ "Propriety,"--in the old Chinese sense. _O-Retsu_ "Chaste and True." _O-Ryo_ "The Generous,"--magnanimous. _O-Sada_ "The Chaste." _O-Sei_ "Truth." _O-Shin_ "Faith,"--in the sense of fidelity, trust. _O-Shizu_ "The Tranquil,"--calm-souled. _O-Setsu_ "Fidelity,"--wifely virtue. _O-Tame_ "For-the-sake-of,"--a name suggesting unselfishness. _O-Tei_ "The Docile,"--in the meaning of virtuous obedience. _O-Toku_ "Virtue." _O-Tomo_ "The Friend,"--especially in the meaning of mate, companion. _O-Tsune_ "Constancy." _O-Yasu_ "The Amiable,"--gentle. _O-Yoshi_ "The Good." _O-Yoshi_ "The Respectful."
The next list will appear at first sight more heterogeneous than it really is. It contains a larger variety of appellations than the previous list; but nearly all of the _yobina_ refer to some good quality which the parents trust that the child will display, or to some future happiness which they hope that she will deserve. To the latter category belong such names of felicitation as _Miyo_ and _Masayo_.
MISCELLANEOUS NAMES EXPRESSING PERSONAL QUALITIES, OR PARENTAL HOPES
_O-Atsu_ "The Generous,"--liberal. _O-Chika_ "Closely Dear." _O-Chika_ "Thousand Rejoicings." _O-Cho_ "The Long,"--probably in reference to life. _O-Dai_ "Great." _O-Den_ "Transmission,"--bequest from ancestors, tradition. _O-E_ "Fortunate." _O-Ei_ "Prosperity." _O-En_ "Charm." _O-En_ "Prolongation,"--of life. _O-Etsu_ "Surpassing." _O-Etsu_ "The Playful,"--merry, joyous. _O-Fuku_ "Good Luck." _O-Gen_ "Source,"--spring, fountain. _O-Haya_ "The Quick,"--light, nimble. _O-Hide_ "Superior." _Hideyo_ "Superior Generations." _O-Hiro_ "The Broad." _O-Hisa_ "The Long." (?) _Isamu_ "The Vigorous,"--spirited, robust. _O-Jin_ "Superexcellent." _Kameyo_ "Generations-of-the-Tortoise." _O-Kane_[50] "The Doubly-Accomplished."
[50] From the strange verb _kaneru_, signifying, to do two things at the same time.
_Kaoru_ "The Fragrant." _O-Kata_ "Worthy Person." _O-Katsu_ "The Victorious." _O-Kei_ "Delight." _O-Kei_ "The Respectful." _O-Ken_ "The Humble." _O-Kichi_ "The Fortunate." _O-Kimi_ "The Sovereign,"--peerless. _O-Kiwa_ "The Distinguished." _O-Kiyo_ } {"The Clear,"--in the sense of _Kiyoshi_ } { bright, beautiful. _O-Kuru_ "She-who-Comes" (?).[51]
[51] One is reminded of, "O whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad"--but no Japanese female name could have the implied signification. More probably the reference is to household obedience.
_O-Maru_ "The Round,"--plump. _O-Masa_ "The Genteel." _Masayo_ "Generations-of-the-Just." _O-Masu_ "Increase." _O-Mie_ "Triple Branch." _O-Miki_ "Stem." _O-Mio_ "Triple Cord." _O-Mitsu_ "Abundance." _O-Miwa_ "The Far-seeing." _O-Miwa_ "Three Spokes" (?).[52]
[52] Such is the meaning of the characters. I cannot understand the name. A Buddhist explanation suggests itself; but there are few, if any, Buddhist _yobina_.
_O-Miyo_ "Beautiful Generations." _Miyuki_[53] "Deep Snow."
[53] This beautiful name refers to the silence and calm following a heavy snowfall. But, even for the Japanese, it is an aesthetic name also--suggesting both tranquillity and beauty.
_O-Moto_ "Origin." _O-Naka_ "Friendship." _O-Rai_ "Trust." _O-Raku_[54] "Pleasure."
[54] The name seems curious, in view of the common proverb, _Raku wa ku no tane_,--"Pleasure is the seed of pain."
_O-Sachi_ "Bliss." _O-Sai_ "The Talented." _Sakae_ "Prosperity." _O-Saku_ "The Blooming." _O-Sei_ "The Refined,"--in the sense of "clear." _O-Sei_ "Force." _O-Sen_ "Sennin,"--wood-fairy. _O-Shige_ "Exuberant." _O-Shime_ "The Total,"--_summum bonum_. _O-Shin_ "The Fresh." _O-Shin_ "Truth." _O-Shina_ "Goods,"--possessions. _Shirushi_ "Proof,"--evidence. _O-Shizu_ "The Humble." _O-Sho_ "Truth." _O-Shun_ "Excellence." _O-Suki_ "The Beloved,"--_Aimee_. _O-Suke_ "The Helper." _O-Sumi_ "The Refined,"--in the sense of "sifted." _O-Sute_ "The Forsaken,"--foundling.[55]
[55] Not necessarily a real foundling. Sometimes the name may be explained by a curious old custom. In a certain family several children in succession die shortly after birth. It is decided, according to traditional usage, that the next child born must be exposed. A girl is the next child born;--she is carried by a servant to some lonely place in the fields, or elsewhere, and left there. Then a peasant, or other person, hired for the occasion (it is necessary that he should be of no kin to the family), promptly appears, pretends to find the babe, and carries it back to the parental home. "See this pretty foundling," he says to the father of the girl,--"will you not take care of it?" The child is received, and named "Sute," the foundling. By this innocent artifice, it was formerly (and perhaps in some places is still) supposed that those unseen influences, which had caused the death of the other children, might be thwarted.
_O-Tae_ "The Exquisite." _O-Taka_ "The Honorable." _O-Taka_ "The Tall." _Takara_ "Treasure,"--precious object. _O-Tama_ "Jewel." _Tamae_ "Jewel-branch." _Tokiwa_[56] "Eternally Constant."
[56] Lit., "Everlasting-Rock,"--but the ethical meaning is "Constancy-everlasting-as-the-Rocks." "Tokiwa" is a name famous both in history and tradition; for it was the name of the mother of Yoshitsune. Her touching story,--and especially the episode of her flight through the deep snow with her boys,--has been a source of inspiration to generations of artists.
_O-Tomi_ "Riches." _O-Toshi_ "The Deft,"--skilful. _O-Tsuma_ "The Wife." _O-Yori_ "The Trustworthy." _O-Waka_ "The Young."
Place-names, or geographical names, are common; but they are particularly difficult to explain. A child may be called after a place because born there, or because the parental home was there, or because of beliefs belonging to the old Chinese philosophy regarding direction and position, or because of traditional custom, or because of ideas connected with the religion of Shinto.
PLACE-NAMES
_O-Fuji_ [Mount] "Fuji." _O-Hama_ "Coast." _O-Ichi_ "Market,"--fair. _O-Iyo_ "Iyo,"--province of Iyo, in Shikoku. _O-Kawa_ (rare) "River." _O-Kishi_ "Beach,"--shore. _O-Kita_ "North." _O-Kiwa_ "Border." _O-Kuni_ "Province." _O-Kyo_ "Capital,"--metropolis,--Kyoto. _O-Machi_ "Town." _Matsue_ "Matsue,"--chief city of Izumo. _O-Mina_[57] "South."
[57] Abbreviation of _Minami_.
_O-Mine_ "Peak." _O-Miya_ "Temple" [_Shinto_].[58]
[58] I must confess that in classing this name as a place-name, I am only making a guess. It seems to me that the name probably refers to the _ichi no miya_, or chief Shinto temple of some province.
_O-Mon_[59] "Gate."
[59] I fancy that this name, like that of O-Seki, must have originated in the custom of naming children after the place, or neighborhood, where the family lived. But here again, I am guessing.
_O-Mura_ "Village." _O-Nami_[60] "Wave."
[60] This classification also is a guess. I could learn nothing about the name, except the curious fact that it is said to be unlucky.
_Naniwa_ "Naniwa,"--ancient name of Osaka. _O-Nishi_ "West." _O-Rin_ "Park." _O-Saki_ "Cape." _O-Sato_ "Native Place,"--village,--also, home. _O-Sawa_ "Marsh." _O-Seki_ "Toll-Gate,"--barrier. _Shigeki_ "Thickwood,"--forest. _O-Shima_ "Island." _O-Sono_ "Flower-garden." _O-Taki_ "Cataract,"--or Waterfall. _O-Tani_ "Valley." _O-Tsuka_ "Milestone." _O-Yama_ "Mountain."
The next list is a curious medley, so far as regards the quality of the _yobina_ comprised in it. Some are really aesthetic and pleasing; others industrial only; while a few might be taken for nicknames of the most disagreeable kind.
NAMES OF OBJECTS AND OF OCCUPATIONS ESPECIALLY PERTAINING TO WOMEN
_Ayako_ or } "Damask-pattern." _O-Aya_[61] }
[61] _Aya-Nishiki_,--the famous figured damask brocade of Kyoto,--is probably referred to.
_O-Fumi_ "Woman's Letter." _O-Fusa_ "Tassel." _O-Ito_ "Thread." _O-Kama_[62] "Rice-Sickle."
[62] _O-Kama_ (Sickle) is a familiar peasant-name. _O-Kama_ (caldron, or iron cooking-pot), and several other ugly names in this list are servants' names. Servants in old time not only trained their children to become servants, but gave them particular names referring to their future labors.
_O-Kama_ "Caldron." _Kazashi_ "Hair-pin." _O-Kinu_ "Cloth-of-Silk." _O-Koto_ "Harp." _O-Nabe_ "Pot,"--or cooking-vessel. _O-Nui_ "Embroidery." _O-Shime_ "Clasp,"--ornamental fastening. _O-Some_ "The Dyer." _O-Taru_ "Cask,"--barrel.
The following list consists entirely of material nouns used as names. There are several _yobina_ among them of which I cannot find the emblematical meaning. Generally speaking, the _yobina_ which signify precious substances, such as silver and gold, are aesthetic names; and those which signify common hard substances, such as stone, rock, iron, are intended to suggest firmness or strength of character. But the name "Rock" is also sometimes used as a symbol of the wish for long life, or long continuance of the family line. The curious name _Suna_ has nothing, however, to do with individual "grit": it is half-moral and half-aesthetic. Fine sand--especially colored sand--is much prized in this fairy-land of landscape-gardening, where it is used to cover spaces that must always be kept spotless and beautiful, and never trodden,--except by the gardener.
MATERIAL NOUNS USED AS NAMES
_O-Gin_ "Silver." _O-Ishi_ "Stone." _O-Iwa_ "Rock." _O-Kane_ "Bronze." _O-Kaze_[63] "Air,"--perhaps Wind.
[63] I cannot find any explanation of this curious name.
_O-Kin_ "Gold." _O-Ruri_[64]} "Emerald,"--emeraldine? _Ruriko_ }
[64] The Japanese name does not give the same quality of aesthetic sensation as the name Esmeralda. The _ruri_ is not usually green, but blue; and the term "ruri-iro" (emerald color) commonly signifies a dark violet.
_O-Ryu_ "Fine Metal." _O-Sato_ "Sugar." _O-Seki_ "Stone." _O-Shiwo_ "Salt." _O-Suna_ "Sand." _O-Suzu_ "Tin." _O-Tane_ "Seed." _O-Tetsu_ "Iron."
The following five _yobina_ are aesthetic names,--although literally signifying things belonging to intellectual work. Four of them, at least, refer to calligraphy,--the matchless calligraphy of the Far East,--rather than to anything that we should call "_literary_ beauty."
LITERARY NAMES
_O-Bun_ "Composition." _O-Fude_ "Writing-Brush." _O-Fumi_ "Letter." _O-Kaku_ "Writing." _O-Uta_ "Poem."
Names relating to number are very common, but also very interesting. They may be loosely divided into two sub-classes,--names indicating the order or the time of birth, and names of felicitation. Such _yobina_ as _Ichi_, _San_, _Roku_, _Hachi_ usually refer to the order of birth; but sometimes they record the date of birth. For example, I know a person called O-Roku, who received this name, not because she was the sixth child born in the family, but because she entered this world upon the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth Meiji. It will be observed that the numbers Two, Five, and Nine are not represented in the list: the mere idea of such names as _O-Ni_, _O-Go_, or _O-Ku_ seems to a Japanese absurd. I do not know exactly why,--unless it be that they suggest unpleasant puns. The place of _O-Ni_ is well supplied, however, by the name _O-Tsugi_ ("Next"), which will be found in a subsequent list. Names signifying numbers ranging from eighty to a thousand, and upward, are names of felicitation. They express the wish that the bearer may live to a prodigious age, or that her posterity may flourish through the centuries.
NUMERALS AND WORDS RELATING TO NUMBER
_O-Ichi_ "One." _O-San_ "Three." _O-Mitsu_ "Three." _O-Yotsu_ "Four." _O-Roku_ "Six." _O-Shichi_ "Seven." _O-Hachi_ "Eight." _O-Ju_ "Ten." _O-Iso_ "Fifty."[65]
[65] Such a name may record the fact that the girl was a first-born child, and the father fifty years old at the time of her birth.
_O-Yaso_ "Eighty." _O-Hyaku_ "Hundred."[66]
[66] The "O" before this trisyllable seems contrary to rule; but _Hyaku_ is pronounced almost like a dissyllable.
_O-Yao_ "Eight Hundred." _O-Sen_ "Thousand." _O-Michi_ "Three Thousand." _O-Man_ "Ten Thousand." _O-Chiyo_ "Thousand Generations." _Yachiyo_ "Eight Thousand Generations." _O-Shige_ "Two-fold." _O-Yae_ "Eight-fold." _O-Kazu_ "Great Number." _O-Mina_ "All." _O-Han_ "Half."[67]
[67] "Better half?"--the reader may query. But I believe that this name originated in the old custom of taking a single character of the father's name--sometimes also a character of the mother's name--to compose the child's name with. Perhaps in this case the name of the girl's father was HANyemon, or HANbei.
_O-Iku_ "How Many?" (?)
OTHER NAMES RELATING TO ORDER OF BIRTH
_O-Hatsu_ "Beginning,"--first-born. _O-Tsugi_ "Next,"--the second. _O-Naka_ "Midmost." _O-Tome_ "Stop,"--cease. _O-Sue_ "Last."
Some few of the next group of names are probably aesthetic. But such names are sometimes given only in reference to the time or season of birth; and the reason for any particular _yobina_ of this class is difficult to decide without personal inquiry.
NAMES RELATING TO TIME AND SEASON
_O-Haru_ "Spring." _O-Natsu_ "Summer." _O-Aki_ "Autumn." _O-Fuyu_ "Winter."
_O-Asa_ "Morning." _O-Cho_ "Dawn." _O-Yoi_ "Evening." _O-Sayo_ "Night."
_O-Ima_ "Now." _O-Toki_ "Time,"--opportunity. _O-Toshi_ "Year [of Plenty]."
Names of animals--real or mythical--form another class of _yobina_. A name of this kind generally represents the hope that the child will develop some quality or capacity symbolized by the creature after which it has been called. Names such as "Dragon," "Tiger," "Bear," etc., are intended in most cases to represent moral rather than other qualities. The moral symbolism of the _Koi_ (Carp) is too well-known to require explanation here. The names _Kame_ and _Tsuru_ refer to longevity. _Koma_, curious as the fact may seem, is a name of endearment.
NAMES OF BIRDS, FISHES, ANIMALS, ETC.
_Chidori_ "Sanderling." _O-Kame_ "Tortoise." _O-Koi_ "Carp."[68]
[68] _Cyprinus carpio._
_O-Koma_ "Filly,"--or pony. _O-Kuma_ "Bear." _O-Ryo_ "Dragon." _O-Shika_ "Deer." _O-Tai_ "Bream."[69]
[69] _Chrysophris cardinalis._
_O-Taka_ "Hawk." _O-Tako_ "Cuttlefish." (?) _O-Tatsu_ "Dragon." _O-Tora_ "Tiger." _O-Tori_ "Bird." _O-Tsuru_ "Stork."[70]
[70] Sometimes this name is shortened into _O-Tsu_. In Tokyo at the present time it is the custom to drop the honorific "O" before such abbreviations, and to add to the name the suffix "chan,"--as in the case of children's names. Thus a young woman may be caressingly addressed as "Tsu-chan" (for O-Tsuru), "Ya-chan" (for O-Yasu), etc.
_O-Washi_ "Eagle."
Even _yobina_ which are the names of flowers or fruits, plants or trees, are in most cases names of moral or felicitous, rather than of aesthetic meaning. The plumflower is an emblem of feminine virtue; the chrysanthemum, of longevity; the pine, both of longevity and constancy; the bamboo, of fidelity; the cedar, of moral rectitude; the willow, of docility and gentleness, as well as of physical grace. The symbolism of the lotos and of the cherryflower are probably familiar. But such names as _Hana_ ("Blossom ") and _Ben_ ("Petal") are aesthetic in the true sense; and the Lily remains in Japan, as elsewhere, an emblem of feminine grace.
FLOWER-NAMES
_Ayame_ "Iris."[71]
[71] _Iris setosa, or Iris sibrisia._
_Azami_ "Thistle-Flower." _O-Ben_ "Petal." _O-Fuji_ "Wistaria."[72]
[72] _Wistaria chinensis._
_O-Hana_ "Blossom." _O-Kiku_ "Chrysanthemum." _O-Ran_ "Orchid." _O-Ren_ "Lotos." _Sakurako_ "Cherryblossom." _O-Ume_ "Plumflower." _O-Yuri_ "Lily."
NAMES OF PLANTS, FRUITS, AND TREES
_O-Ine_ "Rice-in-the-blade." _Kaede_ "Maple-leaf." _O-Kaya_ "Rush."[73]
[73] _Imperata arundinacea._
_O-Kaya_ "Yew."[74]
[74] _Torreya nucifera._
_O-Kuri_ "Chestnut." _O-Kuwa_ "Mulberry." _O-Maki_ "Fir."[75]
[75] _Podocarpus chinensis._
_O-Mame_ "Bean." _O-Momo_ "Peach,"--the fruit.[76]