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Samurai & Warlord Names (武将・侍 · 本名)
A single samurai could carry five or more names over one life. "Real name" in this world means something different from today.
The naming custom. - 幼名 (yōmei), childhood name. Given at birth, such as Takechiyo for Tokugawa Ieyasu or Kippōshi for Oda Nobunaga. - Coming of age (元服 genpuku). At about 12–16, a boy took an adult given name, the 諱 (imina), often with a character granted by a lord. - 通称 (tsūshō), common name, used in daily life, like Tōkichirō. - Surname changes through adoption, alliances or honors from the emperor (Hideyoshi received the new surname Toyotomi). - 法名 / 法号 (hōmyō / hōgō), Buddhist names, taken on entering religious life, such as Shingen and Kenshin. - Posthumous names and deified names after death.
So "Takeda Shingen" mixes a family name with a Buddhist name; his given name was Harunobu.
History vs. legend. Some childhood names in popular stories, such as Hideyoshi's "Hiyoshimaru," come from later biographies and are not confirmed by period documents. We label these clearly.
Profiles
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi木下藤吉郎 / 羽柴秀吉
- Tokugawa Ieyasu松平竹千代 / 松平元信 / 元康
- Oda Nobunaga吉法師 / 織田三郎信長
- Takeda Shingen武田晴信
- Uesugi Kenshin長尾景虎