ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3126 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3126 ************************************ 17 Jul 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if 'Moonflake of the Hattori Clan' is an appropriate name for a 15th-century Japanese woman living in the Heian period. Here is the information we have found. The Heian period lasted from 794 to 1184. The 15th century falls in the Muromachi period, which was from 1333 to 1573. Because we have found some of the elements of your name in the Heian period and not in the 15th century, we have focused on the former instead of the latter. We've found only one example of a feminine given name containing the element 'winter': , which is found in the Heian era. [2] We also found the given names 'moon, month' in 1183 and , also sometime in the Heian era. [3,6] Either or is a fine choice for a given name. However, seeing as we have only one example of a name with , and only one compound with <-tsukime>, we simply have no idea whether is a reasonable constructed given name. If this is a plausible given name, it would have been pronounced \foo-yoo-tsoo-kee-meh\, with equal stress on all the syllables. However, it would not have meant 'moonflake'. Rather it would have meant 'winter moon' or 'winter month'. is an uji (clan name). It is described as the name of an ancient or medieval clan, but we were unable to find any clear dates for this uji, or solid evidence that it was used during the Heian period. [1] It's not implausible that it was, but we cannot recommend it as the best re-creation without better evidence. The Japanese word , as used in names, roughly means "of". It was never written in names, but was customarily inserted in speech to indicate membership in a family, marital relationship, or (in men's names) ownership of land. For example, represents a correct 12th century written name meaning "Fuyume [of the] Daigo [family]". The same name when spoken could have been . [4,5] We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Ari Ansson, Mari neyn Brian, Ines Alfon, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 17 July 2006 -- References: [1] Solveig Throndardottir, _Name Construction in Mediaeval Japan_ (Carlsbad, N. Mex.: The Outlaw Press, 1994; Potboiler Press, 1999 [Box 30171, Columbia, MO 65205]), p. 391 [2] Solveig, op. cit., p. 128 [3] Solveig, op. cit., p. 153 [4] May 2002 Letter of Acceptances and Returns (WWW: SCA, Inc., 2002), Acceptances, East Kingdom, Fujiwara no Aoi. http://www.sca.org/heraldry/loar/2002/05/02-05lar.html [5] was also the posthumous name of a 9th-10th century emperor; a 13th century emperor adopted the name "the latter Daigo" in his honor. Simon Cozens, "Go-Daigo" (WWW: privately published). http://www.compsoc.net/~gemini/simons/historyweb/go-daigo.html [6] Halpern, Jack, editor in chief, _The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary_ (New York: Kodansha International, 1999).