Is there a particular meaning or origin to the last name 宇多田?


Japanese last names often refer to some type of location or geographical
feature, but in this case I am not certain if the name has an abstract,
metaphorical, or literal meaning. "Many rice fields in the universe" just
seems a bit unusual to be merely literal, especially since it's three
characters instead of the usual two.

What is the origin of this name? web searches have yielded no useful results,
at least in English.




### Meaning

Digging a little bit into the etymology of [宇]{u}[多]{ta}, according to [this
website](https://folklore2017.com/gogen/056.htm):

> うた{uta}（歌、謡、 **宇多** 、宇田、鵜田、宇太）
>
> ① ウダ{uda}、ムタ{muta}と同じく「湿地」の意味。

> "uta" in its forms 歌, 謡, **宇多** , 宇田, 鵜田 or 宇太 means the same as "uda" and
> "muta", i.e. "shicchi" (damp ground, wetland).

The meaning of [宇田]{uta} can be traced back to
[[湿地]{shicchi}](https://jisho.org/search/%E6%B9%BF%E5%9C%B0) (damp ground,
wetland), which seems much more fitting as a literal or descriptive name for a
geographical place rather than "rice fields in the universe".

### Origin

From [myoji-yurai.net - 宇多田](https://myoji-
yurai.net/searchResult.htm?myojiKanji=%E5%AE%87%E5%A4%9A%E7%94%B0):

>
> 現広島県西部である安芸国高田郡宇多田村が起源（ルーツ）であるとされる。現兵庫県の日本海側である但馬国新井庄地頭に宇多田氏が記述されている。また長州藩の士族にも宇多田氏の名がみられ、ビリケン宰相と呼ばれた寺内正毅（宇多田寿三郎）首相はこの家系である。近年、山口県、長崎県にわずかにみられる。

> It is said to have its roots in Utada Village, Takada District, Aki
> Province, which is currently the western part of Hiroshima Prefecture. The
> Utada clan is mentioned in Araisho, Tajima Province, on the Sea of ​​Japan
> side of present-day Hyogo Prefecture. The name of the Utada clan was also
> found among the samurai families of the Choshu domain, and Prime Minister
> Masatake Terauchi (Jusaburo Utada), who was known as the Billiken Prime
> Minister, was a descendant of this family. In recent years, it has been seen
> in small numbers in Yamaguchi and Nagasaki prefectures.

So, as you guessed, the name seems to come from a location, the past
[宇]{u}[多]{ta}[田]{da} village in what is now the prefecture of Hiroshima. The
site also shows the distribution of people bearing the family name 宇多田 across
Japan's prefectures, which is coherent with the provided explanation since
most people with this name live in that area. Of course, you could go down the
rabbit hole and ask how that particular village came to be called 宇多田.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jWRTb.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jWRTb.png)




### Meaning

Digging a little bit into the etymology of [宇]{u}[多]{ta}, according to [this
website](https://folklore2017.com/gogen/056.htm):

> うた{uta}（歌、謡、 **宇多** 、宇田、鵜田、宇太）
>
> ① ウダ{uda}、ムタ{muta}と同じく「湿地」の意味。

> "uta" in its forms 歌, 謡, **宇多** , 宇田, 鵜田 or 宇太 means the same as "uda" and
> "muta", i.e. "shicchi" (damp ground, wetland).

The meaning of [宇田]{uta} can be traced back to
[[湿地]{shicchi}](https://jisho.org/search/%E6%B9%BF%E5%9C%B0) (damp ground,
wetland), which seems much more fitting as a literal or descriptive name for a
geographical place rather than "rice fields in the universe".

### Origin

From [myoji-yurai.net - 宇多田](https://myoji-
yurai.net/searchResult.htm?myojiKanji=%E5%AE%87%E5%A4%9A%E7%94%B0):

>
> 現広島県西部である安芸国高田郡宇多田村が起源（ルーツ）であるとされる。現兵庫県の日本海側である但馬国新井庄地頭に宇多田氏が記述されている。また長州藩の士族にも宇多田氏の名がみられ、ビリケン宰相と呼ばれた寺内正毅（宇多田寿三郎）首相はこの家系である。近年、山口県、長崎県にわずかにみられる。

> It is said to have its roots in Utada Village, Takada District, Aki
> Province, which is currently the western part of Hiroshima Prefecture. The
> Utada clan is mentioned in Araisho, Tajima Province, on the Sea of ​​Japan
> side of present-day Hyogo Prefecture. The name of the Utada clan was also
> found among the samurai families of the Choshu domain, and Prime Minister
> Masatake Terauchi (Jusaburo Utada), who was known as the Billiken Prime
> Minister, was a descendant of this family. In recent years, it has been seen
> in small numbers in Yamaguchi and Nagasaki prefectures.

So, as you guessed, the name seems to come from a location, the past
[宇]{u}[多]{ta}[田]{da} village in what is now the prefecture of Hiroshima. The
site also shows the distribution of people bearing the family name 宇多田 across
Japan's prefectures, which is coherent with the provided explanation since
most people with this name live in that area. Of course, you could go down the
rabbit hole and ask how that particular village came to be called 宇多田.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jWRTb.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jWRTb.png)

