N. Yasuda
May 1, 1983
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0
Influential Citations
12
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Human biology
Abstract
In 1972, when the population of Japan was about 100 million, there were 120,000 surnames. Some features of this enormous list of names are: the 100 most common names make up 37% of the population and 5000 names include 92%; the three most common names in order are Sato, Suzuki, and Takahasi; a name has an average of two homonyms because Japanese surnames usually have two or three Chinese symbols and a sound can often by symbolized in more than one way; 90% of the surnames can be expressed by combinations of 300 Chinese letters; altogether, some 3500 Chinese letters are in use for Japanese surnames; and an average of two or three random pairs per thousand share the same surname. A brief history of surnames in Japan is also included for those who do not have access to Japanese references. Remote ancestry that cannot be traced by interview or koseki has been studied by isonymy. The early work of Kamizaki, who independently discovered many of the principles of isonymy, is reviewed. Geneticists have been interested in two aspects of surnames as genetic indicators. The first is that transmission of a name simulates Y chromosome inheritance in a regular patrilineal society. In a matrilineal system, children take the name that would be associated with the maternal W chromosome if the female were heterogametic. Interest in surnames gave rise to early theoretical studies, such as the Galton-Watson process (Galton, 1889). The extinction of surnames (Lotka, 1931) is closely related to the genetic problem of the extinction of a mutant gene (Haldane, 1927; Fisher, 1930; Kojima and Kelleher, 1962). The second aspect is the relationship between identity of surnames of spouses and their genetic relationship. Actually, the parallelism between paternally inherited genetic characters and names was first recognized by G. Darwin (1875), who estimated the frequency of first cousin marriages from the proportion of isonymous unions. The elaboration by Crow and Mange (1965) of the idea that the degree of inbreeding could be calculated from the frequency of marriage between persons of the same surname led to a series of population studies (Lasker, 1968; Hussels, 1969; Morton and Hussels, 1970; Yasuda and Furusho, 1971a, b; Rawling, 1973; Friedl and Ellis, 1974; Roberts and Rawling, 1974; Ellis and Friedl, 1976; Bhalla and Bhatia, 1976; Ellis and Starmer, 1978; Crow, 1980; Kashyap, 1980; Kashyap and Tiwari, 1980; Roberts, 1980). 1Division of Genetics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba 260 Japan Human Biology , May 1983 , Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 263-276. © Wayne State University Press , 1983 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.21 on Tue, 27 Sep 2016 04:57:36 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 264 Norikazu У asuda This paper reviews studies of surnames in Japan. Because of its being an island country in the Far East, most analyses in Japan have been directed at assessing remote ancestries that could not be traced by the investigator. In fact, Kamizaki (1954) calculated the expected frequency of isonymy among various degrees of relatives without knowledge of the inbreeding coefficient, and anticipated some of the results independently rediscovered by Crow and Mange (1965). A brief summary of Japanese surnames will be presented with special reference to the history and frequency of names and the system of name transmission. A History of Japanese Surnames When a few relatives lived in an isolated group with the same life style it was not necessary for the group to have a name. However, the gradual expansion of group sizes led to contact with other groups, and names were necessary to distinguish one from another. The group or clan name was called kabane or sei and was borne by hereditary right or as a privilege granted by the imperial court of ancient Japan. The names were few in number and usually were the same as an ordinary family name. A directory of newly selected clan names ( Sinsen-syojiroku ) began in 815. It listed the names of 1182 clans in the area of the then political center of Japan, now called Nara-ken and Osaka-fu. In those days this area had about 9% of the estimated 5.5 million population in all the Japanese islands (Suda, 1969). At that time, a strong central court ( yamato chotei) ruled Japan and established codes of law and ethics. The first household name record, or koseki ( kogo-no-nenjaku ), was established in 670 and thereafter for five centuries was regularly revised every six years. The surname (uji or myoji) was used for families or relatives within a group, and eventually the distinction between kabane and uji disappeared. Until 1870 family names were borne only by court nobles ( kuge ), military classes (samurai), feudal lords ( daimyo ), and such craftsmen and others of lower rank who were given names as a special privilege. Others chose names indicative of their trade, such as yaoyo (greengrocer) or hyakusho (farmer). Surnames were rarely given to women. Beginning at the end of the 12th century, the governing classes gradually started to prohibit any official uses of family names by common people in order to strengthen the status difference. Ordinary people could keep their names only in a clandestine fashion. It was not until the Meiji reformation in 1868 that the government removed these restrictions and This content downloaded from 207.46.13.21 on Tue, 27 Sep 2016 04:57:36 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Surnames as Biological Markers 265 introduced a modern nationwide system of household records ( koseki ) in order to know precisely the numbers of men eligible for service and of taxable households. This koseki is now called jinsin-koseki, and was first compiled in 1871. Some people, however, did not give themselves names or register with the koseki to avoid taxes, service obligations, or reproof. In 1875 the Meiji government announced (Cabinet Decree No. 22) that a name was mandatory for everyone. As a result, the number of surnames, which had been about 30,000 in a Japanese population of about 25-30 million, suddenly increased more than threefold. A study of the jinsin-koseki shows that in 1873 there were 409,467 households of the former aristocracy and 6,561,914 of the general public (Watanabe, 1980). Although some of the general population and of course all the governing classes already had names, the great majority of households 16 times the number of those already named had to find names. How were the people able to manage this? Some households asked their village headman or an educated person to give them a name, often his own. Some were named by koseki officers. Some took a name indicative of their trade (i yago ), like Komeya (rice shop). Some families resurrected the names of ancient ancestors. Some took names at random, such as a trademark for tea, names of groceries and fish, or whatever came to mind. Some chose their name in adoration of noble names. Creed also played a role. For example, the common surnames, Suzuki, Takahasi, and Yamamoto, came from servants of farmers gods. The name Suzuki came from a Shinto priest or guardian of the place where the images of the farmer's gods were enshrined. Takahasi came from waiters of the Emperor ( Tenno ) who were believed to convey food from the gods to the people. Yamamoto came from people who lived at the base of the mountain where they welcomed the gods descending from the summit. The most common practice was the taking of names already in use by the nobility. Ultimately, most Japanese names are related to a geographic location; 90% can be traced to the names of places (Niwa, 1981). Since about 1875, names have been transmitted regularly from parent to child. A child legally acquires a surname at birth. Ordinarily a child takes the name of the father, but in some circumstances the mother s name is taken. Illegitimate children usually take the name of the mother. The only exception is a rare foundling of unknown parents, whose name is given by the magistrate where the child was found. Japanese family registration law (see Ohkura, 1960, and Yanase, 1962) states that a couple shall This content downloaded from 207.46.13.21 on Tue, 27 Sep 2016 04:57:36 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms