A Future Japan: Will ‘Sato’ Be the Only Last Name by 2531?

This study was created as part of a awareness campaign called 'Think Name Project' by two advertisers, to educate the Japanese and especially the Japanese who are, most often, those who abandon their name for the benefit of that of their spouse during a marriage.

Article initially published in April 2024

Family names: between tradition, culture, and evolution of legislation

The way in which family names are attributed or inherited is the result of a real jumble of traditions, and sometimes the start of a patriarchal and family culture. Their assignment continues to evolve over the centuries. For example, in France, it is only since March 4, 2022 that the mother can choose to give her name to her child (s), just like the father.

Inseparable from an individual's civil status, the family name is part of the identity of a person. If at the origin he designated a profession, a geographical position or the father's first name, it allows today an individual to distinguish himself. In France, the most common surname is Martin. In Spain, it's Garcia. And in Japan, it's Sato. He may also become the only last name in Japan within 2531.

Sato, the surname that will conquer Japan

According to a study carried out by Hiroshi Yoshida, professor of economics at the Center for Research on Aging, the Economy and Society, “Sato” alone represents the surname of 1.5% of the population in Japan. Indeed, in the current Japanese system, the couple must adopt a single family name after their marriage.

Because of this system and the demographic tumble under the archipelago, 50,000 of the 130,000 family names counted in Japan in the Meiji era are “endangered” according to the study. Between 2022 and 2023, the number of “Sato” has already increased by 0.83%. According to forecasts, 50% of Japanese will be called Sato in 2446.

“In addition to being extremely incontesting, this situation would harm the dignity of each person, because the family and regional stories that names are simply lost would be lost […] If everyone becomes Sato, we may have to call us by our first names or by figures ” commented Yoshida in The Mainichi newspaper.

Ancient Rome and patriarchal system

In ancient Rome, the attribution of family names was connected to an even less complex, more elitist (and more patriarchal) system: a free man had three names, tria nomina : Praenomen (first name), nomen (surname or surname) and Cognomen (nickname).

There were only 18 first names for boys. The name announced the line, (people) to which the citizen belonged. As for the nickname, it could be inherited from one of the ancestors or detail a specific physical or psychological character. Women, they had a single name, that of their people But in a feminized version.

Source : International mail, The Mainichi