姓
Meaning in Englishsurname, family name
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
What does 姓 mean? It denotes a person's family name or surname, the inherited name used to identify a person's lineage within a family. In contemporary Japanese usage, it appears primarily in formal or official contexts or when referring to someone's lineage; in everyday life, many speakers use 苗字 for the surname instead.
Main meanings
- Lineage indicator: a marker of a family line that identifies a person as part of a clan or lineage
- Official and formal contexts: commonly found in legal forms, genealogical records, and formal writing
- Full-name concept: when paired with 名 to form 姓名, it denotes the surname together with the given name
How to use it
Used in formal discourse, legal documents, and genealogical contexts; in everyday conversation, people typically use 苗字 for the surname; polite references to a person’s surname employ the phrase go-sei in written and spoken Japanese; when referring to a full name, 姓 is paired with 名 to form 姓名 in formal writing.
Variants and close terms
- 苗字 (myouji) — everyday term for surname
- 氏 (shi) — formal or third-person reference to a surname in documents and speeches
- ご姓 (go-sei) — polite form for asking someone's surname; romanization go-sei
Composition
- 女 left radical; commonly interpreted as indicating kinship or family linkage
- 生 right component; conveys life or birth; together with the left part, the term expresses belonging to a lineage
Etymology
On'yomi sei — borrowed from Chinese 姓 (xing4). The kanji is composed of 女 left and 生 right, a traditional formation associated with lineage; phonetic adaptation in Japanese yields the reading sei and there is no native kun-reading.
Origin
Meiji period modernization: Japan mandated the adoption of family names for all citizens, leading to the widespread use of 姓 as the surname term in official registries and everyday life; before that, many people used personal names or clan-related names (苗字) and the usage of 姓 varied by region.
Word class
Noun (名詞)