Family Name Day

What Is Family Name Day?

September 19th is "Family Name Day" (苗字の日, Myōji no Hi) in Japan. On the 19th day of the 9th month of Meiji 3 (by the old lunar calendar; October 13, 1870, in the modern calendar), the Meiji government issued a Grand Council of State proclamation, the "Commoners' Surname Permission Decree," allowing commoners to use family names, which until then had in principle been limited to samurai and court nobles. The day is an opportunity to look into the origins of your own family name and your family's roots.

From "Permission" to "Obligation": How Family Names Spread

Even after family names were permitted, they did not spread right away. It was only when they became mandatory that they reached the whole population.

• The aim was to organize family registers: The government allowed commoners to use family names in order to organize the family register system and keep track of each individual.
• People who hesitated: Even after the decree, many people were wary that taking a family name might mean higher taxes, so family names were slow to spread.
• Made mandatory in 1875: On February 13, 1875 (Meiji 8), the "Commoners' Compulsory Surname Decree" was issued, requiring every citizen to use a family name. February 13 is therefore known as "Family Name Establishment Day."

Two Ways to Write "Myōji"

The words 苗字 and 名字, both read "myōji," have the same meaning. Because the reading "myō" was not included for the character 苗 in the list of kanji for general use set in 1946, the spelling 名字 is now the more common one.

Fun Facts About Family Names

• The most common names: The most common family names in Japan are said to be Satō, Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka and Itō, with each of the top names reportedly shared by more than a million people.
• How many are there? Estimates of the number of Japanese family names range from over 100,000 to nearly 300,000, varying widely depending on how they are counted.
• Many come from place names: Many Japanese family names are said to derive from the names or features of the places where families lived. That is why so many, like Yamada ("mountain rice field"), Nakamura ("middle village") and Ishikawa ("stone river"), evoke a landscape.
• Names from occupations: Some names are said to be remnants of ancient occupational groups. Hattori comes from the "hatoribe," a group of weavers, and Inukai from a group that raised guard dogs.
• Family names before the Meiji era: Even in the Edo period, many commoners are said to have had family names privately. However, they were in principle not allowed to use them officially.

Ideas for Family Name Day

• Look up the origin of your family name and the regions where it is most common.
• Ask family members or relatives about your ancestors or the head family.
• Use an unusual family name on a business card you received as a starting point for talking about someone's hometown.
• Look at a map and search for connections between family names and place names.

A Day to Learn the History Behind the Name We Use Every Day

September 19 recalls a Meiji-era event in which commoners were first permitted to use family names. Family names may seem a given today, but it has been only about 150 years since every citizen came to use one. Many are said to carry memories of the places where ancestors lived or the work they did. Today, why not look into the origins of your own family name, or those of people around you, and use it as a conversation starter?