Okinawan name

Okinawan last nameHankoseals in Tsurumi Okinawa Street

Okinawan names(Okinawan:Danh/なー,nā) today have only two components, thefamily names(surnamesor last names) first and thegiven nameslast. Okinawan family names represent the distinct historical and cultural background of the islands which now compriseOkinawa Prefecturein Japan. Expatriates originally fromOkinawaalso have these names.

Modern names

As Japanese citizens, Okinawans today comply with the Japanesefamily register(koseki) system. Accordingly, an Okinawan name has only two components, a family name and a given name. A family name is calledmyōji( mầm tự or tên ),uji( thị ) orsei( họ ), and a given name is called the "front name" ( danh trước,namae) or "lower name" ( hạ の danh trước,shita no namae). The family name precedes the given name. The given name may be referred to as the "lower name" because, in vertically-written Japanese, the given name appears under the family name.

Japanese family names generally show regional variation, but Okinawan family names are known for their distinctiveness. In contrast it becomes increasingly difficult to find unique Okinawan given names.

Top 10 popular Okinawan family names

This top 10 listis based on the name as written inkanji(Chinese characters). Since theJapanese languageallows for multiple possible readings, or pronunciations, for each character, the reading of Okinawan family names written with the same characters varies. In addition, theOkinawan languagehas its own means of reading Japanese kanji, but some surnames likeNakama,Yarahave the same reading in both languages.

Kanji	Readings (Japanese,Okinawan)	Well-known people
So gia	Higa,Fija,Fiija	So gia vinh thăng Eishō Higa (Begin),Ryan Higa,So gia ái chưaManami Higa
Kim Thành	Kaneshiro,Kinjō,Kanagusuku	Kim Thành võTakeshi Kaneshiro,Kim Thành lăng nãi Ayano Kinjō (Kiroro)
Đại thành	Ōshiro,Ufugusuku	Đại thành ガクトGakuto Oshiro,Đại thành lập dụTatsuhiro Oshiro,Đại thành みさきMisaki Oshiro
Cung thành	Miyagi,Miyashiro,Naagusuku	ミヤギマモル Mamoru Miyagi, cung thành trường thuậnChojun Miyagi
Tân viên	Arakaki,Aragaki,Shingaki,Niigaki,Arakachi	Tân viên kết yYui Aragaki,Tân viên saRisa Niigaki(Morning Musume)
Ngọc thành	Tamaki,Tamashiro,Tamagusuku	Ngọc thành hạnh cũng Yukinari Tamaki (Da Pump), ngọc thành ngàn xuân Chiharu Tamashiro (Kiroro)
Thượng nguyên	Uehara,Wiibaru	Thượng nguyên nhiều hương tửTakako Uehara(Speed)
Đảo túi	Shimabukuro,Shimabuku	Đảo túi khoan tửGensei Shimabukuro,Hiroko Shimabukuro(Speed),Jake Shimabukuro
Bình lương	Taira,Teera	Bình lương とみTomi Taira
Thành phố núi	Yamashiro,Yamagusuku	Thành phố núi trí nhị Tomoji Yamashiro (FEC)

Historical names

		Đại cùng danh Yamatu-naa Japanese (Yamato) style name				Đường danh Kara-naa Chinese name
Đồng danh warabi-naa Childhood name		Gia danh kamei Family name	Vị giai ikai Title/Rank	Danh thừa nanui Given name		Họ sii Surname	Húy imina Given name
Tư năm lương Umi-guraa		Ngọc thành Tamagusuku	Thân phương Uwekata	Triều huân Chōkun		Hướng Shō	Chịu hữu Juyū

As in mainland Japan, historical names in Okinawa are more complicated. People with different social statuses bore different kinds of names, maintained several names to use in different occasions, and sometimes changed them in their lifetime. Okinawan names underwent great changes after theRyūkyū Kingdomfell under the Satsuma Domain's control.

Warabi-naa

Warabi-naa(warabe-na/warabi-naa,Đồng danh ) were personal names. For example, thewarabi-naaofTamagusuku Chōkunwas Umi-guraa ( tư năm lương ).Warabi-naawere most prevalent among Okinawans, from the king to commoners, both male and female. They were the oldest component of Okinawan names as, like people in mainland Japan, the inhabitants of Ryukyu islands did not originally have names for families, clans or lineages. They were used as the official names during the early era of the Ryukyu Kingdom. They appeared even in appointment letters by the king, written mostly inhiragana.It was during the 17th century that other name components prevailed among thepechinclass.

Awarabi-naawas given soon after birth. Although literally meaningchildhood name,it was used by commoners for their entire life. While it was overshadowed by other name components, even adult male members of the pechin class usedwarabi-naaat home and when referring to their friends.

Later in history, stylized use of prefixes and suffixes differentiated social statuses. A commoner used neither a prefix nor suffix, a samurai used either a prefix or suffix, and an aristocrat used both a prefix and a suffix. For example, Tukū ( đức ) was a name for commoners, Umi-tukū ( tư đức ) for samurai, and Umi-tuku-gani ( tư đức kim ) for aristocrats.

A set ofwarabi-naaappeared in the very beginning of recorded history and has not been changed since then. The number ofwarabi-naapooled in society was extremely small. It was not uncommon for awarabi-naato be shared by more than one person in a household. The first male child was usually named after his paternal grandfather.For example, the last kingShō Taihad thewarabi-naaUmi-jiraa-gani ( tư thứ lương kim ), which was also the name of his grandfatherShō Kō.

Kamei

Even in the Old Ryukyu era, social development led Okinawans to acquire names other thanwarabi-naafor disambiguation.Kamei( gia danh ) orYaa-n-naa( gia の danh ), both meaning "family name", were often attached towarabi-naa.Kameiwere toponyms, either the domains they ruled or the places of their origin. For example, an inscription of the Old Ryukyu era contains a personal name,Mafuto-kane Ufusato no Ufu-yakumoi(まふとかね đại さと の đại やくもい), whereMafuto-kane(Mafutu-gani) was awarabi-naa,Ufusato(Ufusatu) was a place associated with him, andUfu-yakumoi(Ufu-yakumui) was the title he was given.

In the naming conventions after the separation of the Peichin class from peasants, only the Pechin class was allowed to havekamei.Because the vast majority of the Pechin families lacked domains to rule, they inherited fixedkamei.In contrast, an upper class member used the name of the fief he was given by the king. This means that hiskameiwas changed every time a different land was allotted. For example,Makishi Chōchū(1818–1862) originally had thekameiItarashiki ( bản lương đắp ) but was then given a fief of Ōwan ( đại loan ) before being finally renamed to Makishi ( mục chí ).

In early times,kameiwere written predominantly in hiragana. After theinvasionof the Ryūkyū Kingdom by Japan'sSatsuma Domainin 1609, the Japanese-style use of Chinese characters (kanji) was adopted. TheKeichō Land Surveysof 1609–1611 probably conventionalized to some degree the choice of kanji for place names, and thus surnames based on them. In 1625 the Satsuma Domain instituted a ban on the use of Japanese-looking family names(Đại cùng めきたる tên の cấm,Yamato-mekitaru myōji no kinshi).As a result, the kanji used to writekameichanged from characters that were common in Japan to new, unique character combinations. For example, the name đông (Higashi) was often changed to so gia (Figa) or so tạ (Fija), the name trước điền (Maeda) to thật vinh điền (the same reading), phúc sơn (Fukuyama) to phổ lâu sơn (the same reading), etc.

In practice,kameirepresented a group who shared the founder of a relatively recent past. When it was necessary to distinguish branch families, the main family attached the prefixufu( đại, great) to itskameiwhile the suffixgwa( thiếu, small), for example, was used for a branch family.

Officially, commoners did not havekamei.At some point in history, commoners in the capital region,ShuriandNaha,started to assumekamei.However,kameiof commoners were differentiated verbally and in writing. The last syllable of a commoner'skameiwas lengthened (e.g. Arakachii) while that of a Pechin was not (e.g. Arakachi). For commoners, hiswarabi-naais written first and is followed by hiskamei.For example, Taraa (warabi-naa) from Yamagushiku was written as たら thành phố núi (Taraa Yamagushiku).

Commoners in rural areas unofficially used names for households, which were also calledYaa-n-naa( phòng の danh ). They were similar toyagō,private family names used by commoners in Japan.

Rank

Like in Japan, a rank ( vị giai ) was also part of the addressing system. The following was the list of ranks after they were fixed:

• Wōji( vương tử )
• Anji or Aji( ấn tư )
• Uwekata( thân phương )
• Peechin( thân vân thượng )
• Satunushi-peechin( chi tử thân vân thượng )
• Satunushi( chi tử )
• Chukudun-peechin( trúc đăng chi thân vân thượng )
• Chukudun( trúc đăng chi )

Young male members of thePechinclass who had no rank were addressed with honorific suffixes:shii( tử ) for the upper class andnyaa( nhân phòng ) for the lower class. Commoners had no rank.

Nanui

Male members of the Pechin class adoptednanui(nanori/nanui,Danh thừa ), or Japanese-style personal names, when they reached adulthood. Eachnanuiconsists of twokanjicharacters, e.g. Triều huân (Chōkun). The first character of ananui,callednanui-gasira(nanori-gashira/nanui-gasira,Danh thừa đầu ), was shared by a lineage ormunchū.For example, the character triều (chō) was used by branch families of the royal family includingChōkun( ngọc thành triều huân ), his father Chōchi ( triều trí ) and his son Chōki ( triều hỉ ).

The direct reference to ananuiverbally and in writing was usually avoided because it was considered rude. In domestic documents, a Pechin was usually addressed by the combination of akameiand a rank (e.g. Kyan Peekumi ( hỉ phòng võ thân vân thượng )). This was similar to the convention of Japan, e.g. Andō Tsushima-no-kami ( an đằng đối mã thủ, Andō, Governor of Tsushima Province) forAndō Nobumasa.This combination can be found in as early as the first half of the 16th century.When necessary, ananuiwas attached to the combination of akameiand a rank. It is only a convention of historiography that people of the Ryūkyū Kingdom are referred to by the combination of akameiand ananui,e.g. Tamagusuku Chōkun ( ngọc thành triều huân ).

Nanuicame into use during the 17th century with obvious influence from Satsuma.The use ofnanui-gashirais similar to that oftsūji( thông tự ) in Japan. However, whiletsūjiwas usually assumed only by the successor of a household, the first son in most cases, eachnanui-gashirawas shared by all the male member of a lineage.

Kara-naa

From 1689 male members of the Pechin class also hadkara-naa( đường danh ) or Chinese names. Eachkara-naaconsists of a one-character name for a lineage calledshiioruji(sei/shii,Họ or uji/uji,Thị ) and a personal name calledimina( húy ). For example,Tamagusuku Chōkunhad thekara-naaShō Juyū ( hướng chịu hữu ).Kara-naaappeared neither officially nor privately in domestic affairs, but were used for diplomatic correspondence withChinese dynasties.Thus a lower-class Pechin who had no post in the court had virtually no chance to use hiskara-naa.

Names for Okinawan officials were recorded in early diplomatic documents written in Classical Chinese. They were actually corrupt forms ofwarabi-naaandkamei.For example,a-fu-sat-toA Bố tát đều andō-sat-toVương sát độ both referred to thekameiUfuzatu ( đại ). Similarly,go-ratsuNgô lạt andtatsu-ro-ka-neĐạt lỗ thêm di derived fromwarabi-naaGuraa ( năm lương ) and Taru-gani ( tôn kim ) respectively.It is during the 16th century that some officials used names that could be analyzed as Chinese surnames and given names. It seems that at first these names were coined each time they were needed for a diplomatic trip to China. Some families from which diplomats came for generations began to succeed the first character of their ancestors' transcribed names asshii.For instance, descendants of Mafutu-gani, who appeared asma-botsu-to( ma bột đều ) in diplomatic records, adopted theshiiMa ( ma ) after him.

Munchūor lineages

The development of Okinawan naming conventions was closely related with that ofmunchū(monchū/munchū,Môn trung ), or patrilineages. In 1689Keizu-zaor the Board of Genealogies ( hệ đồ tòa ) was established and all the Pechin lineages were ordered to compile genealogical records. In 1690 the royal court assigned one-charactershiior Chinese surnames to all registered lineages. Since commoners were forbidden to compile genealogical records, this effectively separated the Pechin class from commoners. Genealogical records became a status symbol of the Pechin class. The Pechin class came to be referred to askeimochi( hệ cầm ), lit. possessing genealogy, while commoners were calledmukei( vô hệ ), lit. without genealogy.

Among the Pechin class, lineages were identified by the combination of the Chinese-styleshiiand the Japanese-stylenanui-gashira.A lineage with theshiiMō ( mao ) shared thenanui-gashiraSei ( thịnh ), but thisnanui-gashirawas also used by a lineage named Ō ( ông ). Also, there was another lineage whoseshiiwas Mō, but itsnanui-gashirawas An ( an ).Kameicannot be a designator of lineages. The Mō lineage with thenanui-gashiraSei had was headed by the family with thekameiTomigusuku ( phong thấy thành ), but its branch families had variouskameiincluding Kunigami ( quốc đầu ) and Tomikawa ( phú xuyên ).

Royal house

The titleŌ( vương ) or king was of foreign origin. In Okinawan, the king styled himselfanji-osoi-jyanashior laterShui-tin-jyanashi( đầu thiên thêm kia chí ). The king was referred to asushu-jyanashi-meby his people and asmyuumee-jyanashiornuumee-jyanshiby his family members.

Close relatives of the king were given the ranks ofwōji( vương tử ) andanji( ấn tư ). Althoughwōjiliterally means the king's son, its conferrers were not limited to the king's son. Awōjioranjiwas referred to by his domain plus the suffixudun( ngự điện ). The crown prince was traditionally given the domain Nakagusuku ( trung thành ) and therefore referred to as Nakagusuku-udun ( trung thành ngự điện ).

Many early kings, up toShō Hō,had divine names ( thần hào ) in addition towarabi-naa.For example,Shō Gen's divine name wastida-hajimi-aji-sui( ngày thủy ấn tư thêm ). It seems that divine names were assumed after accession to the throne.

The king had akara-naaand used it in diplomatic correspondence with China. The royalshiiShō ( thượng ) was, according to Ryukyuan records, given toShō Hashiby theXuande Emperorof Ming China. This statement is highly questionable because no such record is found in Chinese documents and Shō Hashi used theshiieven earlier.In 1692, the branch families of the royal house were given theshiiShō ( hướng, note the different kanji) and thenanui-gashiraChō ( triều ) no matter how distant from the king.

Kumemura

A district near the capital namedKumemurais said to have been founded by immigrants from Fu gian, China. Its raison d'être was to manage diplomatic contacts with China although some were later engaged in domestic affairs. The members of the community hadkara-naaor Chinese names from the very beginning. It is known that they also hadwarabi-naaas early as the first half of the 15th century.

Today historical figures from Kumemura are often known bykara-naa,e.g.Sai On.He appeared in domestic documents as Gushichan Uwekata after hiskameiGushichan ( cụ chí đầu ) and his rank Uwekata ( thân phương ). He had ananuiBunjaku ( văn nếu ), and therefore is sometimes known as Gushichan Bunjaku.

Modernization

The Ryūkyū Kingdom was forced to become a Japanesefeudal domainby theMeijigovernment in 1872, and it was formally annexed by Japan in 1879. Ryūkyūans were then entered into the Japanesefamily register(koseki) system and, as in Japan, surnames were extended to all citizens, no longer being the province of the aristocratic classes alone. A large number of the names created at this time were taken from geographical names or places of residence. Direct descendants ofTamagusuku Chōkun,who by the time assumed thekameiHentona ( biên thổ danh ), adopted Hentona as their new surname.

While the nobles had assumed new names when they reached adulthood, the new system forced them to adopt lifetime personal names soon after birth. At first, Japanese given names were often given when they entered school. For this reason, given names were informally called "school names" ( trường học danh ).Warabi-naacontinued to be used unofficially until the earlyShōwa period.

With increasing contacts with Japan, many Okinawans felt it inconvenient to use their alien-looking surnames. Since the law made it extremely difficult to change surnames, they often changed thereadingof surnames while leaving their written forms unmodified. For example, Naagusuku ( cung thành ) was usually changed to Miyagi ( cung thành ). It is reported that, during the American military occupation after World War II, many managed to change their surname relatively easily. The family registers were completely destroyed by American attacks and reconstructed on individual declarations.

See also

• Amami name
• Japanese name
• Okinawa Prefecture

External links

• Okinawan family names,Center for Information Infrastructure,Shizuoka University(in Japanese)