Japanese Female Names 



O-Kama .... "Caldron." 



Ka^asbi .... "Hair-pin." 



O-Kinu .... " Cloth-of-Silk." 



O-Koto "Harp." 



O-Nabe "Pot," or cooking-vessel 



O-Nui " Embroidery." 



O-Sbime . . . . " Clasp," ornamental fastening. 



O-Some .... "The Dyer." 



O-Taru .... "Cask," barrel. 



The following list consists entirely of material 

 nouns used as names. There are several yobina 

 among them of which I cannot find the emblem- 

 atical meaning. Generally speaking, the yobina 

 which signify precious substances, such as silver 

 and gold, are aesthetic names ; and those which 

 signify common hard substances, such as stone, 

 rock, iron, are intended to suggest firmness or 

 strength of character. But the name " Rock " 

 is also sometimes used as a symbol of the wish 

 for long life, or long continuance of the family 

 line. The curious name Suna has nothing, how- 

 ever, to do with individual " grit " : it is half- 

 moral and half -aesthetic. Fine sand especially 

 colored sand is much prized in this fairy-land 



vants' names. Servants in old time not only trained their children to 

 become servants, but gave them particular names referring to their 

 future labors. 



