Masriki, a japanese name?

kevinsano · 24 Nov 2006

My aunt's maiden name is Masriki and according to her, her father was from Japanese descent. I'm kinda puzzled by this name, and I was wondering if anyone here could help out. (Origin, possible meaning). Thanks in advance.

nice gaijin · 25 Nov 2006

hmm, the name does not fit into the Japanese lexicon; with the exception of n, consonant sounds aren't placed next to each other; a "sr" combination is technically impossible; unless your aunt's maiden name has been changed.

Mike Cash · 25 Nov 2006

nice gaijin said:
hmm, the name does not fit into the Japanese lexicon; with the exception of n, consonant sounds aren't placed next to each other; a "sr" combination is technically impossible; unless your aunt's maiden name has been changed.

You have to keep in mind the word "descent" and realize that as one gets generationally removed the accuracy of pronunciation/spelling of things from "the old country" gets diluted.

It is possible that "Masriki" may have originally come from something like "Masariki". Not a Japanese name that I have ever heard, but one that is certainly within the realm of possibility.

kuuzo · 25 Nov 2006

Mike Cash said:
You have to keep in mind the word "descent" and realize that as one gets generationally removed the accuracy of pronunciation/spelling of things from "the old country" gets diluted.
It is possible that "Masriki" may have originally come from something like "Masariki". Not a Japanese name that I have ever heard, but one that is certainly within the realm of possibility.

That linguistic drift doesn't seem common with Japanese, the oldest generations to leave Japan still conformed to the older romanization (Mayeda, Inouye, etc.), particularly since nearly all japanese didn't leave Japan until the Meiji period, (130 or less years ago) it doesn't seem to me that even enough time would have passed for drastic changes. Although it could be something like "Masuriki", some spellings leave out "silent" vowels. Regardless, I could easily be wrong, but Masriki doesn't strike me as a Japanese surname, no matter how you arrange it. Maybe they are decended through a female who married and lost her Japanese name?

Mike Cash · 25 Nov 2006

It doesn't strike me as a surname either. But I am not familiar with the customs in Surinam and allowed for the possibility that what had been a given name in a previous generation may have become a surname in subsequent generations. Also, if the Japanese ancestor was there alone then a drift in spelling/pronunciation would be much more understandable than in countries where Japanese emigrated in numbers large enough to form ethnic communities.

twinklestar · 26 Nov 2006

kuuzo said:
Maybe they are decended through a female who married and lost her Japanese name?

Huh ... Why did you think it wasn't Japanese male,a handful do marry other kinds not white-Westerner origin ?

There have been marriages between Japanese men and Taiwan's pure native aborigine women,do you know this statistics.

kuuzo · 26 Nov 2006

twinklestar said:
Huh ... Why did you think it wasn't Japanese male,a handful do marry other kinds not white-Westerner origin ?
There have been marriages between Japanese men and Taiwan's pure native aborigine women,do you know this statistics.

Please don't read into what I'm saying. My goodness gracious. I said that because MAYBE the Japanese last name was lost, not because Japanese men can't marry foreigners. Get off your PC horse. It is tired. ☝

Mike Cash said:
But I am not familiar with the customs in Surinam and allowed for the possibility that what had been a given name in a previous generation may have become a surname in subsequent generations.

OK, for some reason I thought you meant the USA. I don't know how naming conventions go in other countries. That is why I was wondering if maybe Masriki was in fact not a japanese at all, but that maybe Mr. Masriki had married "Mrs. Tanaka" or whatever. Obviously not because I don't think Japanese men can not marry foreign women. I mean, COME ON.

Mike Cash · 26 Nov 2006

Don't go putting me up on the same PC high horse as that other guy. I was just going by the "Surinam" flag in the OP's info and the fact that, as far as I know, Surinam wasn't a major destination of Japanese emigration.

kevinsano · 27 Nov 2006

Can it possibly be Okinawan?

RockLee · 27 Nov 2006

Masriki is if my resource is correct either Egyptian or Indonesian. Masriki is not a Japanese name.

kuuzo · 29 Nov 2006

Mike Cash said:
Don't go putting me up on the same PC high horse as that other guy. I was just going by the "Surinam" flag in the OP's info and the fact that, as far as I know, Surinam wasn't a major destination of Japanese emigration.

That had nothing to do with you, it was a general statement "what kind of person could even imagine something like that?" type statement. And since it seems conclusive that "masriki" is not Japanese, there is still a chance that it was a woman who "lost" her last name, not because Japanese men can't marry foriegn women, but that's just a theory as to why the name is "gone".

Masriki, a japanese name?

kevinsano

後輩

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

kuuzo

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

twinklestar

Kouhai

kuuzo

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

kevinsano

後輩

RockLee

Hullu

kuuzo

先輩

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