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Tokugawa Ieyasu's Real Name: Matsudaira Takechiyo (childhood); Matsudaira Motonobu / Motoyasu
history
Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康) 本名: Matsudaira Takechiyo (childhood); Matsudaira Motonobu / Motoyasu (松平竹千代 / 松平元信 / 元康)
Answer: Tokugawa Ieyasu was born Matsudaira Takechiyo (竹千代). He was later Matsudaira Motonobu and Motoyasu, became Ieyasu, and changed his surname to Tokugawa in 1566.
Ieyasu was born in 1543 at Okazaki Castle in Mikawa Province, son of Matsudaira Hirotada. His childhood name was 竹千代 (Takechiyo). As a boy he was held as a hostage by the Imagawa clan. At his coming of age he received the name 元信 (Motonobu), using 元 from his overlord Imagawa Yoshimoto, and later changed it to 元康 (Motoyasu).
After Yoshimoto's death in 1560 he broke from the Imagawa and dropped the 元, becoming 家康 (Ieyasu). In 1566 he received court permission to change his family name from Matsudaira to 徳川 (Tokugawa).
He won the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) and founded the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603. After death (1616) he was deified as 東照大権現 (Tōshō Daigongen), enshrined at Nikkō Tōshō-gū.
FAQ
What was Tokugawa Ieyasu's childhood name? Takechiyo (竹千代).
Why did Ieyasu change his name from Motoyasu? He dropped the 元 taken from Imagawa Yoshimoto after breaking with the Imagawa.