Monday, February 6, 2012

Japanese last name meanings?

Hello everyone, I've stumbled across several (what I assume are) several Japanese last names and I would like to know what they mean...



1. Kisaragi



2. Madono



3. Funabashi



4. Hisakawa



5. HayashidaJapanese last name meanings?
I'm no expert here, but as far as I know:
Kisaragi (如月) is the archaic name for the month of February.
Funabashi (船橋市) is a city in Japan, though I don't know how the city's name originated. Personally, I've never seen it used as a surname before. If it is, I guess it must be uncommon.
As for Hisakawa, the second character "-kawa" (川) means "river" which is a common component in many Japanese surnames (Ishikawa (石川) - "stone river", Morikawa (森川) - "forest river", etc) . So I'm guessing Hisakawa is something-river.

Here's a site I bookmarked a while back that might come in handy someday: http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/browse/origin/japanese
The only one of these names it mentions, though, is Hayashida (林田):
"Japanese: ‘forest rice paddy’; mostly found in the island of Kyūshū. Some bearers are descended from the Minamoto clan."
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