Shadowings by Hearn, Lafcadio;

Long description:

Excerpt: ...however, by the name O-Tsugi ("Next"), which will be found in a subsequent list. Names signifying numbers ranging from eighty to a thousand, and upward, are names of felicitation. They express the wish that the bearer may live to a prodigious age, or that her posterity may flourish through the centuries. NUMERALS AND WORDS RELATING TO NUMBER O-Ichi "One." O-San "Three." O-Mitsu "Three." O-Yotsu "Four." O-Roku "Six." O-Shichi "Seven." O-Hachi "Eight." O-J "Ten." O-Iso "Fifty." 65 65 Such a name may record the fact that the girl was a first-born child, and the father fifty years old at the time of her birth. O-Yaso "Eighty." O-Hyaku "Hundred." 66 66 The "O" before this trisyllable seems contrary to rule; but Hyaku is pronounced almost like a dissyllable. O-Yao "Eight Hundred." O-Sen "Thousand." O-Michi "Three Thousand." O-Man "Ten Thousand." Pg 135 O-Chiyo "Thousand Generations." Yachiyo "Eight Thousand Generations." O-Shigé "Two-fold." O-Yaë "Eight-fold." O-Kazu "Great Number." O-Mina "All." O-Han "Half." 67 67 "Better half?" the reader may query. But I believe that this name originated in the old custom of taking a single character of the father's name sometimes also a character of the mother's name to compose the child's name with. Perhaps in this case the name of the girl's father was Han yémon, or Han bei. O-Iku "How Many?"(?) OTHER NAMES RELATING TO ORDER OF BIRTH O-Hatsu "Beginning," first-born. O-Tsugi "Next," the second. O-Naka "Midmost." O-Tomé "Stop," cease. O-Sué "Last." Some few of the next group of names are probably ?sthetic. But such names are sometimes given only in reference to the time or season of birth; and the reason for any particular yobina of this class is difficult to decide without personal inquiry. NAMES RELATING TO TIME AND SEASON O-Haru "Spring." O-Natsu "Summer." Pg 136 O-Aki "Autumn." O-Fuyu "Winter." O-Asa "Morning." O-Ch "Dawn." O-Yoi "Evening." O-Sayo "Night."...