A FEW of the more important rules in regard to Japanese female names
must now be mentioned.
The great majority of these _yobina_ are words of two syllables.
Personal names of respectable women, belonging to the middle and lower
classes, are nearly always dissyllables--except in cases where the name
is lengthened by certain curious suffixes which I shall speak of further
on. Formerly a name of three or more syllables indicated that the bearer
belonged to a superior class. But, even among the upper classes to-day,
female names of only two syllables are in fashion.
Among the people it is customary that a female name of two syllables
should be preceded by the honorific "O," and followed by the title
"San,"--as _O-Matsu San_, "the Honorable Miss [or Mrs.] Pine"; _O-Ume
San_, "the Honorable Miss Plum-blossom."[47] But if the name happen to
have three syllables, the honorific "O" is not used. A woman named
_Kikue_ ("Chrysanthemum-Branch") is not addressed as "O-Kikue San," but
only as "Kikue San."
[47] Under certain conditions of intimacy, both prefix and title
are dropped. They are dropped also by the superior in
addressing an inferior;--for example, a lady would not
address her maid as "_O-Yone San_," but merely as "_Yone_."
Before the names of ladies, the honorific "O" is no longer used as
formerly,--even when the name consists of one syllable only. Instead of
the prefix, an honorific suffix is appended to the _yobina_,--the suffix
_ko_. A peasant girl named _Tomi_ would be addressed by her equals as
_O-Tomi San_. But a lady of the same name would be addressed as
_Tomiko_. Mrs. Shimoda, head-teacher of the Peeresses' School, for
example, has the beautiful name _Uta_. She would be addressed by letter
as "Shimoda Utako," and would so sign herself in replying;--the
family-name, by Japanese custom, always preceding the personal name,
instead of being, as with us, placed after it.
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.