_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.