Editing Japanese name (section)

==Professional names==
Actors and actresses in [[Western culture|Western]] and Japanese [[drama]]tic forms, [[comedian]]s, [[sumo]] wrestlers, [[Puroresu|Western-style professional]] wrestlers, and practitioners of traditional [[craft]]s often use professional names. Many stage names of [[television]] and [[film]] actors and actresses are unremarkable, being just like ordinary Japanese personal names, but a few are tongue-in-cheek. For example, {{nihongo|[[Kamatari Fujiwara]]|藤原 釜足}} chose the name of the aforementioned founder of the [[Fujiwara family]], while the name of {{nihongo|[[Hino Yojin|Hino Yōjin]]|日野 陽仁}} sounds like "be careful with fire" (although written differently). Many stand-up comics like the duo [[Takeshi Kitano|Beat Takeshi]] and [[Beat Kiyoshi]] choose a Western name for the act and use their own (or stage) given names. Writers also tend to be clever about their names, for example [[Edogawa Ranpo]] which is designed to sound like "[[Edgar Allan Poe]]".

[[Sumo]] wrestlers take wrestling names called {{nihongo||醜名|[[shikona]]}} or {{lang|ja|四股名}}. While a {{transliteration|ja|shikona}} can be the wrestler's own surname, most upper-division {{transliteration|ja|[[rikishi]]}} have a {{transliteration|ja|shikona}} different from their surname. A typical {{transliteration|ja|shikona}} consists of two or three kanji, rarely just one or more than three. Often, part of the name comes from the wrestler's master, a place name (such as the name of a [[Provinces of Japan|province]], a [[river]], or a [[sea]]), the name of a weapon, an item identified with Japanese tradition (like a {{transliteration|ja|[[koto (musical instrument)|koto]]}} or {{transliteration|ja|[[nishiki-ori]]}}), or a term indicating superiority. Often, {{transliteration|ja|waka}} indicates a wrestler whose father was also in sumo; in this case, the meaning is "junior".

Wrestlers can change their {{transliteration|ja|shikona}}, as Takahanada did when he became {{nihongo|Takanohana|貴ノ花}} and then {{nihongo|[[Takanohana Koji|Takanohana]]|貴乃花}}. Another notable example is the wrestler [[Sentoryu]], which means "fighting war dragon" but is also homophonous with [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], his city of origin.

[[Geisha]], {{transliteration|ja|[[maiko]]}} and practitioners of traditional crafts and arts such as [[pottery]], the [[tea ceremony]], [[calligraphy]], {{transliteration|ja|[[irezumi]]}} (tattooing) and {{transliteration|ja|[[ikebana]]}} (flower arranging) often take professional names, known as {{nihongo3|{{lit|art name}}||geimei}}. In many cases, these come from the master under whom they studied. For geisha, these names often feature the first part of the name of their "older sister", and typically all the geisha registered to one {{transliteration|ja|[[okiya]]}} share this aspect in their names (such as Ichiume, Ichigiku, Ichiteru, etc.).

[[Kabuki]] actors take one of the traditional surnames such as {{nihongo|Nakamura|中村}}, Bandō or Onoe. Some names are inherited on succession, such as that of the famous kabuki actor {{nihongo|[[Bandō Tamasaburō V]]|五代目 坂東 玉三郎|Godaime Bandō Tamasaburō}} through a [[Shūmei|naming ceremony]].

Women working in the [[yūkaku|red-light districts]] commonly took names as a form of anonymity. However, high-ranking [[oiran|courtesans]] could inherit a {{nihongo|[[oiran#Names|generational name]]|名跡|myōseki}} upon gaining promotion to a [[oiran#Ranks|higher rank]]. These names, exclusively the property of the brothel owner, typically carried the prestige of the person who held it previously, and brothel owners commonly chose only those of similar countenance and reputation to inherit them. {{transliteration|ja|Myōseki}} were written in kanji, and were typically more elaborate than the average woman's name of the time, holding meanings taken from poetry, literary history and nature. As they were property of the brothel owner, {{transliteration|ja|myōseki}} were rarely passed from one {{transliteration|ja|oiran}} directly down to their apprentice, as holders were chosen for their suitability to the name's reputation.<ref name="issendai kamuro">{{cite web |title=Kamuro |url=http://www.issendai.com/japanese-courtesans/kamuro.html |website=issendai.com |publisher=Issendai |access-date=14 July 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200712182032/http://www.issendai.com/japanese-courtesans/kamuro.html |archive-date=12 July 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>