title: Japanese Names: Comprehensive Index By Characters And Readings
author: P. G. O'Neill
description: P. G. O'Neill, a native Londoner, is Professor of Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he also obtained his Ph.D. in 1957 with a thesis on traditional Japanese drama. His publications include <i>Japanese Names, A Guide to No, Early No Drama, An Introduction to Written Japanese </i>(with S. Yanada), and <i>A Programmed Introduction to Literary-Style Japanese. </i>
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  ## Translation Notes  
  
  
    
    
  
  
  **General**  
  
  
  **Names**
  
  
  \- In Japanese, names are typically given last name first. The
  
  
  character written as Muroi Seishin's first name is Seishin. They
  
  
  will typically write Western names in Western order, however
  
  
  (nobody calls John Smith by Smith John in Japanese, not even in
  
  
  formally written history books). In Japanese, people are more
  
  
  commonly than in English referred to by their last name, usually
  
  
  with an honorific. Referring to someone by their first name tends
  
  
  to imply either an adult talking to a child or
  
  
  familiarity/closeness (childhood friends Maeda Motoko and Yano
  
  
  Kanami; Ozaki Toshio and Muroi Seishin; current friends Mutou Tohru
  
  
  and Yuuki/Koide Natsuno, etc. do this, though in Natsuno's case
  
  
  there are special circumstances regarding his last name). Likewise,
  
  
  using no honorific either on a last name or a first name is either
  
  
  very brusque and rude or rather intimate.
  
  
    
  
  
  **Honoro