Les noms de famille les plus fréquents au Japon. Satō, Suzuki, Takahashi et Tanaka sont en tête, portés par des millions de personnes. La plupart décrivent un lieu ou un paysage — 山 (montagne), 田 (rizière), 川 (rivière), 本 (origine) — ou contiennent 藤 (glycine), marque de descendance du clan Fujiwara.
Satō (佐藤) – "to assist" + "wisteria"; the single most common surname in Japan.
Suzuki (鈴木) – "bell" + "tree"; the second most common.
Takahashi (高橋) – "tall bridge."
Tanaka (田中) – "in the middle of the rice field."
Watanabe (渡辺) – "crossing, ferry" + "vicinity."
Itō (伊藤) – "that one" + "wisteria."
Yamamoto (山本) – "base of the mountain."
Nakamura (中村) – "central village."
Kobayashi (小林) – "small forest, grove."
Katō (加藤) – "to add, increase" + "wisteria."
Yoshida (吉田) – "lucky, auspicious rice field."
Yamada (山田) – "mountain rice field."
Sasaki (佐々木) – "assist" (repeated) + "tree."
Yamaguchi (山口) – "mountain entrance, mouth of the mountain."
Saitō (斎藤) – "purification, worship" + "wisteria."
Matsumoto (松本) – "base of the pine."
Inoue (井上) – "above the well."
Kimura (木村) – "tree village."
Hayashi (林) – "woods, grove."
Shimizu (清水) – "clear, pure water."
Yamazaki (山崎) – "mountain promontory."
Mori (森) – "forest."
Abe (阿部) – an ancient clan name ("nook, corner" + clan).
Ikeda (池田) – "pond rice field."
Hashimoto (橋本) – "base of the bridge."
Yamashita (山下) – "below the mountain."
Ishikawa (石川) – "stone river."
Nakajima (中島) – "island in the middle."
Maeda (前田) – "rice field in front."
Fujita (藤田) – "wisteria field."
Ogawa (小川) – "small river, stream."
Gotō (後藤) – "behind, after" + "wisteria."
Okada (岡田) – "hill rice field."
Hasegawa (長谷川) – "long valley river."
Murakami (村上) – "above the village."
Kondō (近藤) – "near" + "wisteria."
Ishii (石井) – "stone well."
Sakamoto (坂本) – "base of the slope."
Endō (遠藤) – "distant" + "wisteria."
Aoki (青木) – "green, blue tree."
Fujii (藤井) – "wisteria well."
Nishimura (西村) – "west village."
Fukuda (福田) – "fortune, good-luck rice field."
Ōta (太田) – "big rice field."
Miura (三浦) – "three bays, three inlets."
Okamoto (岡本) – "base of the hill."
Matsuda (松田) – "pine rice field."
Nakagawa (中川) – "river in the middle."
Harada (原田) – "field, plain" + "rice paddy."
Kaneko (金子) – "gold" + "child."