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Japanese names?

Bounty Hunter

Sempai
29 May 2004
533
8
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Hello

I have seen alot of japanese names and i noticed that the middle name is said first and the first name is said last.

Why is this?

Does this have a connection with the history of japan?

to identify who was in each clan.
 
HITMAN-X said:
Hello

I have seen alot of japanese names and i noticed that the middle name is said first and the first name is said last.

Why is this?

Does this have a connection with the history of japan?

to identify who was in each clan.

Could you tell me some of these Japanese names you are encountering where the people have MIDDLE names?
 
Maybe you meant 'last name' instead of 'middle name' ...if that's the case I'm not sure the exact cultural reason for why they say it that way. But I don't think it has anything to do with clan identification.

Otherwise we'd say our last names first as well. They identify what 'clan' we're from too in case you didn't notice. ^_~
 
You haven't offended anyone, I don't think. It's just that the only two Japanese I know personally who have middle names are my own children. And I can tell you from personal experience that when you go down to city hall to register the birth of a child, there is no place on the form for anything other than a family name and a first name.

If you have encountered others, it would be helpful to have you give some clarification on it before trying to respond to it. Which is why I asked for clarification, strangely enough.
 
In japan it goes FAMILY name FIRST name... having family names is a rather new thing in Japan.
 
yeah, whenever i've watched films and they introduce themselves there first name always comes last.. i used to think that the japanese people who work at my company or who have visited my companys last name was their first names.. whoops! XD 😊

Porl''
 
Fun ensures when you assume that their name is in the order Family - First but they've switched it round to fit with how its done in the US, UK etc. :D
 
The order of Japanese names has nothing to do with clans, and everything to do with the head-last structure of the language. In English, the surnames originated with either occupation or location, so John Smith would be John the Smith, and Frank Hill would be Frank of (the) Hill. Since English is a head-first language, our "last" names come last. In Japanese, the surname is first, because Yamaguchi Kentarou is like saying Yamaguchi no Kentarou.
 
It's just a basic component of the Japanese language to go from larger units to smaller ones. This one goes for names as well as addresses.

For example, in the US, we would say:
23 Apple Court
Townsville, VA 22133

But in Japan, you'd say:
22133
Virginia, Townsville
23 Apple Court

Names are the same with family names coming before given names. This is common in a lot of Asian countries (China, Korea). It most likely comes from the importance placed on family and hierarchies. The groups is always more important than the individual.
 
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