How to build a Japanese name

So, You want a Japanese name?

When building/thinking about the Japanese name you want, there are a bunch of things that need to be considered first.

When is your persona going to be from?
Where is your persona going to be from?
Is your persona going to be a warrior class(buke), noble class(kuge), merchant/peasant class(shoumin), or something else?
Are you wanting a masculine, feminine, or gender-neutral name?
What do you want the name to mean?
Is there any kanji you happen to like, or a preferred reading for the name?

All of these things influence the research that Japanese Name Heralds need to do, and the more information you can give them before they start digging for you, the easier it will be for them to find/build something that you’re going to like and potentially get registered. Additionally, on the topic of preferred meanings and kanji, while the College of Heralds currently does not require kanji for Japanese names, or other culturally-appropriate scripts for other cultures, having these in mind makes it significantly easier for Research Heralds to find information on what their submitter is looking for, as information for those names is generally in the original language, and would not be categorized the way an American or European language search would be.

Resources for research

While there are many different places where information on Japanese names can be found, here are a few main books and resources that I, as a Name and Research Herald, have found useful.

The Sengoku Population Record
- This book is essentially a census from the late Warring States (Sengoku) Period, and was compiled by graduate students in Japan, using documents, temple records, extant census information, and various other information to create a list and short description of everyone who was alive in that time period.
- This book covers roughly 1520 to 1615, so names in here are generally considered documentable to the SCA timeperiod
- There is no digital version of this book, it is print-only, so it’s not searchable for specific kanji. You need to know the reading of what you’re looking for to be able to find it, and as kanji can have several readings depending on where it is in the word, this book requires some familiarity with the Japanese language to use it effectively. Additionally, this book is organized according to the Japanese ordering of syllables, and uses surnames to organize the information, so it’s very difficult to find a certain given name or kanji.
The Japanese Name Book
- This used to be the foremost book on Japanese names and naming format, 20 years ago.
- It lists many of the elements and kanji found in historical Japanese names, and gives general time periods in which they were used.
- This source does not fully explan connotations associated with kanji, especially when used for names, and frequently has errors in meaning or in usage. In addition, it does not explain how names were built in certain periods, nor the rules that changed or governed in one period but not others. This can lead for confusion when constructing earlier-period names, as they were done much differently than names in later periods, the form of which is far more commonly known in the modern era.
(Further books upcoming)

旦暮庁 TANBO-CHŌ