Names of Court Noblewomen

Among the court nobility, tradition was revered in various respects—even during the Northern and Southern Courts period—and this tendency was particularly pronounced regarding the naming conventions for women of this class. First, let us examine the imperial family, which reveals the following:

宮廷貴族の間では、南北朝時代においてもさまざまな面で伝統が尊ばれていたが、この階嘉女性名についても、その傾向は顕著であった。まず皇族についてみると、以下のようである。

It is known that, in all these instances, the names were the “one-character, two-syllable” + 子 type (一字二音の子型). [Translator’s note: That is, each name was composed of a single kanji representing a two-syllable word, plus the suffix -ko/-shi 子.] Furthermore, in the case of imperial princesses, it was considered permissible to use a specific character even if it had previously been used in the name of another imperial princess; no sense of impropriety was attached to such usage. An examination of the names of empresses and consorts from that era reveals the following pattern:

いずれも一字二音節の子型の名であることが知られる。なお、内親王の名の場合には、以前に同じ字の内親王があっても、憚りがないとされていた。当時の后妃の名を探ってみると、つぎのとおりである。

Among the names listed above, those marked with an asterisk (*) are names derived from henki 偏緯, a traditional naming convention in which a character is shared between names. (Translator’s note: In this case, between the father’s and daughter’s names.) Surprisingly, this type of female name is quite common. During the Northern and Southern Courts period, the number of names for women selected and formally submitted by scholars declined compared to the preceding era; nevertheless, names such as Sakako(?) 境子, Komako(?) 薦子, and Junko 殉子 are still considered to fall into this category.

A survey of the names of wives and daughters belonging to the high-ranking aristocratic families of this era—specifically those corresponding to the later Sekkan-ke 摂関家, Seiga-ke 清華家, Daijin-ke 大臣家, and Urin-ke 羽林家—compiled from sources such as the Sonpi Bunmyaku and others, yields the list presented below.

[Translator’s note: The Sekkan-ke 摂関家, Seiga-ke 清華家, Daijin-ke 大臣家, and Urin-ke 羽林家 are the top four ranks of kuge families, who filled top positions at the imperial court.]

右のうち、＊を付したのは、父親の偏緯を採った伝統的な命名法による名であって、この種の女性名は意外に多いのである。南北朝時代には、学者が撰進した女性名は、前代にくらべて減少しているが、なお境子、薦子、殉子などは、この部類に属する名とみなされる。

この時代における高級貴族の諸家（後の摂関家、清華家、大臣家、羽林家に該当する）の妻室や息女の名を『尊卑分脈』その他から拾ってみると、左のとおりである。

With the exception of the name Imako, the female names cited above differ scarcely at all from those of the mid-to-late Heian period. However, among the female names of middle- and lower-ranking court aristocrats during the Nanboku-chō period—even though they uniformly belong to the “one-character, two-syllable” + 子 type—certain variations can be observed. In this regard, the Sontaireki proves to be a convenient resource, as it records the names of numerous court ladies who were granted official ranks.

上記の女性名は、今子を例外とすれば、平安時代中・後期のそれらとほとんど渝っていない。しかし南北朝時代の中級・下級の宮廷貴族の女性名には、ひとしく一字二音節の子型に属してはいても、若干の変異が認められる。その点、『園太暦』には、叙位された多数の官女らの交名が記されており、好都合である。

The names listed above are mostly those of women belonging to the middle and lower ranks of the nobility. While they share the characteristic of being one-character, two-syllable names with the “ko” form with the same connotation as the names of high-ranking noblewomen, names such as these can be considered new names, almost unprecedented in previous eras:

以上は大部分が中級、下級の貴族に属する女性たちの名である。一字二音節の子型である点で、それらは高級貴族の女性名と軌を一にしているけれども、

末子 池子 浦子 枝子 花子 磯子 森子 苔子雪子 米子 浪子 員子 里子 彌子 肴子 景子

などは、前代にほとんど例をみない、新しい名であるといえよう。彌子は、イヤコまたはヒサコと訓んだらしい。肴子は、イヲコと訓まれたようである。

As observed above, during the Northern and Southern Courts period, a fresh array of female names—hitherto almost unprecedented—emerged; while all adhered to the shared structural pattern of a single character comprising two syllables, they introduced novel elements (examples include Yukiko 雪子, Hanako 花子, Namiko 浪子, Moriko 森子, Urako 浦子, Mineko 峯子, and so forth). Generally speaking, within the society of the court aristocracy, a custom had prevailed since the mid-Heian period whereby children were referred to by a childhood name or nickname. In the case of boys, they would assume a formal adult name upon undergoing the genpuku (coming-of-age) ceremony; for girls, however, the practice arose of adopting a formal name on specific occasions—such as the chōmō (first wearing of ceremonial skirts) ceremony, entering court service, receiving a court rank, marriage (including entry into the Imperial Consort’s quarters), or performing as a ceremonial dancer. It is a well-known fact, for instance, that Sugawara no Michizane 菅原道鑽 gave the name “Ama 阿満” to a daughter who died in infancy, and that Ki no Tsurayuki’s 紀貫之 childhood name was “Akokuso 阿古久曽.”

上にみるとおり、南北朝時代には、ひとしく一字二音節の子型には属しながらも、これまでにほとんど例をみない新鮮な女性名が現われた（雪子、花子、浪子、森子、浦子、峯子、等々）。一般に宮廷貴族の社会では、平安時代中期いらい子供は幼名ないし愛称をもって呼ばれ、男子の場合は元服のさいに正式の請を名乗ったし、女子の方は、着裳、宮仕え、叙位、結婚（入内をもふくめた） 、舞姫としての出演などのときに緯をつける風習が生じた。菅原道鑽が夭折した女児を阿満と名づけていたことや、紀貫之の幼名が阿古久曽であったことは、よく知られている。

Fujiwara no Michinaga 藤原道長 referred to his daughter—who was later named Ishiko 嬉子 upon reaching adulthood—by the childhood name “千子.” At that time—in the second year of Kannin (1018)—Ishiko was seven years old. While the exact pronunciation of “千子” remains unclear, it is speculated that she was called “Chiiko.” In The Tale of Genji (the “Tamakazura” chapter), it is recorded that the childhood name of the character Tamakazura was “Ruri-gimi 瑠璃君.” The same tale (in the “Aoi” chapter) records the name of a young girl serving Aoi no Ue as “Ateki [written phonetically],” and refers to a young girl who was Tamakazura’s older sister as “Nareki [written phonetically]” (in the “Takekawa” chapter). The Genji Monogatari Chidori-shō interprets “Ateki” as “Myō-kō 妙公” and “Nareki” as “Nare-kō 馴公.” As evidenced by The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu, ​​”Ateki” appears to have been a common name for young girls.

藤原道長は、成人した後に嬉子と名づけられた自分の娘を「千子」と呼んでいる。嬉子は、このころ、すなわち寛仁二年(一0 一八）において七歳であった。「千子」をどう訓んだかはつまびらかでないが、「チーコ」と呼んだのではないかと臆測される。『源氏物語』（玉覧）でるりのは、玉覧の童名は、「瑠璃君」であったと記されている。同じ物語（葵）は、葵の上に仕えた女童の名を「あてき」と記し、また玉覧の姉の女童を「なれき」と呼んでいる（竹河）。「源氏物語千鳥抄」は、「あてき」は「妙公」、「なれき」は「馴公」であると解している。「紫式部日記』にもみえるとおり、「あてき」は女童の名として一般的であったようである。

As explained in the first volume (pp. 237–240), the names by which Fujiwara no Teika’s sisters—such as Kenju (Gozen) 健寿（御前）and Enju (Gozen) 延寿（御前）—were known were actually common names derived from their childhood names. Upon entering court service, they would adopt a formal name ending in “-ko.” On the twenty-eighth day of the first month of the first year of Kenpō (1213), Enju (Gozen)—the youngest daughter of the Saionji family’s former Minister of the Interior, Fujiwara no Sanemune (1149-1212)—took the tonsure. Having never served at court nor performed as a dancer at the Gosechi Festival, she possessed no formal name; she entered the religious life retaining only “Enju 延寿,” the childhood name that had served as her common name.

上巻でも説明したように（237-240頁）、藤原定家の姉妹の健寿（御前）、延寿（御前）などは、童名に由来した通称であった。彼女らは、宮仕えに上がる際に、あらためてX子という正式の譜をつけたのである。建保元年（―ニ―三）の正月二十八日、西園寺家の前内大臣•藤原実宗(――四九- ―ニ―ニ）の末娘の延寿（御前）が出家した。宮仕えもせず、また五節の舞姫なども奉仕しなかったこの女性は、正式の緯をもたず、延寿という童名=通称を帯びたままで出家したのであった。

According to Teika, the wife of the Governor of Dewa, Fujiwara no Motosada 藤原基定, was named “Kimiyo 君代.” This, too, can be considered an example of a childhood name serving as a common name [warina 童名]. Although names ending in “-yo 代” became extremely popular in later eras, Motosada’s wife Kimiyo represents a precursor to this type of female name.

As previously mentioned, the woman who was the daughter of Fujiwara no Shigeyasu 藤原重保 (Director of the Bureau of the Treasury), the wife of Taira no Munenori 平棟範 (Middle Controller of the Right; 1150–1194), and the mother of Norisuke 範資 (a Lesser Counsellor who died young), was named “Hagoromo 羽衣” (see Volume 1, p. 283). Takashina no Yukimasa was appointed Governor of Hitachi Province in the eighth month of Jōwa 1 (1345); his daughter was known by the name “Enoko [spelled phonetically].”

Translator’s note: Hagoromo 羽衣 means “feather cloak.” Enoko may mean “puppy.”

定家によると、出羽守•藤原基定の妻の名は、「君代」であったという。これなども、童名=通称の一例とされよう。この「X代」という名は、後代にいたって大いに流行する名であるが、基定の妻の君代は、「X代」型の女性名の先駆をなすものである。

前に述べたように、大蔵大輔•藤原重保の娘で、右中辮•平棟範（1150-― ―九四）の妻となり、範資（少納言で早世）を産んだ婦人は、名を「羽衣」といった（上巻、二八三頁）。高階行氏は、貞和元年（一三 四五）八月、常陸介に任命された人物である呵、彼の娘の辺いは、「エノコ」といったとい汀。

As these examples suggest, from the late Heian period through the Northern and Southern Courts period, female names ending in the character –ko became the standard formal names for women of the court nobility. In other words, women were given such names when they entered service as ladies-in-waiting at the Imperial Palace or the residences of retired emperors and empresses, when they were granted court rank, or when they appeared at court to perform ceremonial dances. In the fourth month of Karoku 2 (1226), the Regent Iezane selected a formal name for his daughter (1218–1275; later known as Takatsukasa-in); acting on a written proposal regarding name selection submitted by the Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Yorisuke 藤原頼資 (1182–1236), he named her “Nagako 長子.” She was nine years old at the time and was invested with Junior Third Rank on that same day.

これらから想察されるとおり、平安時代の末葉から南北朝時代にかけて、X子、xx子型の女性名は、宮廷貴族の女性にとって公式の名と化したのである。つまり内裏や院宮の女房として出仕したり、位を授けられたり、あるいは舞姫として参内したりする場合に、あらためてX子型の名をつけられるのである。嘉禄二年(一二二六）四月、関白・家実は娘（一二一八-一二七五、のちの鷹司院）の名字定を行ったが、彼は、権中納言•藤原頼資（一一八二-一ニ三六）が持参した名字勘文にもとづいて「長子」と命名した。ときに彼女は、九歳であって、同日、従一二位に叙された。

Whether a woman ceased using her childhood name after receiving an official name ending in ko, or continued to have it used as a courtesy name (azana) by relatives and close associates, appears to have been determined by her own preferences and the circumstances surrounding her. Teika, for instance, never recorded the official ko-ending name of his older sister, Kenju-gozen 健寿御前; instead, he consistently referred to her as “Ken-gozen 健御前”—the name she had borne since childhood (Vol. 1, p. 239).

Thus, noblewomen of the Kamakura and Northern and Southern Courts periods possessed childhood names and courtesy names; those who appeared in public settings would, in addition, adopt an official name consisting of a single character representing a two-syllable word, followed by the suffix –ko.

X子型の公的な譜をつけたのち、幼名ないし童名を停止するか、字としてなお縁者や側近が用いつづけるかは、本人の意向や周囲の事情によって定められたらしい。定家は、姉の健寿御前のX子型の公式名を記さず、いつも「健御前」と幼いときからの名で呼んでいた（上巻、二三九頁）。

このようにして鎌倉・南北朝時代の貴族の女性たちは、幼名、字（呼び名）をもち、公的な場に出る者は、さらに一字二音節の子型の請をつけたのである。

The custom of referring to noblewomen as “Goryō 御料” emerged during the late Heian period. According to the Chōya Gunsai (a collection of official documents and literary works) citing the court noble Minamoto no Morotoki 源師時 (1077–1136), a certain lady-in-waiting to Imperial Princess Yoshiko 薩子内親王 (1122–1133)—who served as the Kamo Saiin (Imperial Princess serving at the Kamo Shrines)—was the daughter of the Regent Moromichi (1062–1099) and had Fujiwara no Yoshitsuna 藤原良綱, the Governor of Tajima, as her maternal grandfather. Although her formal designation was “Tajima-no-kimi 但馬公” (Lady Tajima), derived from Yoshitsuna’s official title, she was respectfully referred to as “Goryō” within the Saiin’s household.

貴族の女性を「御料」と呼ぶ風は、平安時代後期からみられた。権中納言・源師時(一〇七七-――三六）によると、賀茂齋院・禧子内親王(― ―ニニ-――三三）の女別嘗は、関白・師通(一〇六二-一〇九九）の娘であって、但馬守•藤原良綱を外祖父としていた。その候名は、良綱の官名に因んで「但馬公」であったが、齋院内では彼女は、敬意をこめて「御料」と呼ばれていたという。

The honorific “Goryō” appears to have become widespread throughout the Kamakura period. Nakahara no Moromori 中級貴族, a mid-ranking noble serving as Junior Secretary (Shō-gaiki), referred to the young daughter of his elder brother—Senior Secretary (Dai-gaiki) Moroshige 師茂 (1312–1378), born on the 23rd day of the seventh month in the third year of Jōji—by names such as “Gōni-Goryō ゴウニ御料,” “Gōni-Go 御宇仁御,” and “Chii-Goryō チイ御料.” Moromori also referred to his own daughter as “Kone 古禰*”; she later became the wife of Morohide 師秀 (Moroshige’s son), an assistant professor at the Imperial University (Daigaku-no-suke). The son born to Kone and Morohide bore the childhood name “Ako 阿古.” As Morohide’s wife did not frequent public settings, it is surmised that she retained only the name “Kone” throughout her life and never adopted an official name ending in -ko. The person whom Moromori refers to as “Chacha” in his diary appears to be a female relative.

* Translator’s note: I am not certain of the pronunciation of Kone 古禰.

「御料」という敬称は、鎌倉時代を通じて一般化したらしい。中級貴族である少外記・中原師守は、兄の大外記・師茂(―三―二-一三七八） の幼い娘（貞治三年七月二十三日生）を「ゴウニ御料」、「御宇仁御」、「チイ御料」などと呼んでいる。また師守は、自分の娘を「古禰」と呼んでいるが、これはのちに大学助教・師秀（師茂の子）の妻となった婦人である。古禰が産んだ師秀の息子は、幼名を阿古といった。師秀の妻は、公的な場所に出入せず、ために最後まで古禰という字だけを帯び、X子型の緯を持つにはいたらなかったものと想察される。師守が日記の中で「チャチャ」という字で呼んでいるのは、近親の一婦人のことのようである。

As noted above, Moromori records his elder brother’s daughter using the honorific title “Goryō.” While “Goryō” (or “Goryōnin 御寮”) is a term used to respectfully address a nobleman or his children, it also functions as a suffix attached to personal names or terms denoting a person. The Taiheiki, for instance, mentions Takatoki’s 高時 son Tokiyuki 時行 (whose childhood name was Manju 萬寿), stating: “Godai-in Uemon Muneshige escorted and presented Manju Goryō…” Similarly, the Akamatsu-ki records, “There was a daughter at Ogata; she was called Matsu Goryōnin.” Although the term later evolved during the Edo period—shifting from referring to the daughters of daimyō (feudal lords) to denoting daughters of samurai families, and eventually even daughters of middle-class merchant households—during the Northern and Southern Courts and Muromachi periods, it was used in the manner described above.

師守は、上記のように、兄の娘を「御料」と敬称をつけて記している。「御料（御寮）」ないし「御料人（御寮人） 」とは、貴人またはその子息、子女を敬っていう語であるが、人名ないし人を表わす語につけ、接尾語的にも用いられる。『太平記』には、高時の子・時行（幼名・萬寿）に触れて、「萬寿御料ヲモ五大院右衛門宗繁ガ具足シ進セ候ツルヲ」とあり、『赤松記』にも、「尾形に女子一人御座候。御名をば松御りやう人と申し」とみえている。この語は、江戸時代にはいって、大名の息女を姫君と呼ぶのに対して、武家の娘の意に用いられ、ひいては中流町家の娘を指すにいたったが、南北朝時代や室町時代には、上記のような意味に使われたのであった。

While female names of the “-hime 姫” type were in use to some extent during the Kamakura period (see Vol. 1, p. 306), they declined sharply by the Northern and Southern Courts period. Separately, the title “himegimi 姫君” was long used for the daughters of the Sekkan-ke (the Regent families). For example, the Tōji Hyakugō Monjo (Tōji Temple Documents) contains a contains a “Draft Deed of Donation of Rice Fields by Nijō-den-himegimi 二條殿姫君” dated the 21st day of the third month of Enkyō 3 (1310).

Translator’s note: Nijō-den is the name of a Fujiwara palace. Ladies were often formally referred to by the name of their residence, so presumably Nijō-den-himegimi either lived in Nijō-den or came from there.

鎌倉時代には、一部に姫型の女性名が行われていたが（上巻、三〇六頁）、南北朝時代になると、この型の女性名はいちじるしく減少した。これとは別に、「姫君」という呼び方は、摂関家の息女たちに対して永く用いられていた。たとえば、『東寺百合文書』には、延慶三年（ 一三一〇) 三月二十一日付の「二條殿姫君田地寄進状案」がみられる。

In the first month of Jōwa 1 (1345), the Shogun Takauji sent an envoy to Fujiwara no Kinkata (1291–1360)—a former Minister of the Left from the Tōin family—to ask whether it was appropriate to refer to his own daughter as “himegimi.” In response, Kinkata stated, “Is this title not one that is normally reserved for the Shippei-ke alone? However, in actual practice, where one ought not to be overly calculating, the decision should rest upon wise judgment.”

It appears that, exercising such wisdom, he chose to address his beloved daughter Tsuruō 鶴王 (also known as Yoriko 頼子) as “himegimi.” While the custom of addressing a daughter of the Shogun’s family as “himegimi” or “[Name]-hime” originated here, by the late Muromachi period, the practice had extended to the daughters of military commanders and daimyo. Nōhime 濃姫—the wife of Oda Nobunaga and daughter of Saitō Dōsan 齋藤道三—serves as an early example of this usage.

Translator’s note: The Nō of Nōhime refers to Mino Province, where Nōhime came from.

貞和元年(一三四五）正月にいたって、将軍・尊氏は、洞院家の前左大臣・藤原公賢（ 一二九一-一三六〇)に使者を遣わし、自分の娘を「姫君」と呼ぶことの可否を尋ねた。これに対して公賢は、

此の号は、執柄家の外、常には称せざるか。但し、実儀においては、強いて分別あるべからざるの上は、賢慮に在るべし。

と答えたという。彼は、賢慮の結果、愛娘の鶴王こと頼子を「姫君」と呼んだとみえる。将軍家の息女を正姫君」または「X姫」と呼ぶ風習はこれよりおこったが、室町時代の末葉になると、それは武将や大名の娘を呼ぶにも用いられたのである。信長の妻の濃姫（齋藤道三の娘）などは、その早い例であろう。