紀貫之
Before feudal times, Japanese clan names figured prominently in history: names with fall into this category. The Japanese particle can be translated as 'of', and is similar in usage to the German aristocratic , although the association is in the opposite order in Japanese, and is not generally explicitly written in this style of name. Thus, Minamoto no Yoritomo () was Yoritomo () of the Minamoto () clan. Fujiwara no Kamatari (), Ki no Tsurayuki (), and Taira no Kiyomori () are additional examples. These family names were recorded in the Shinsen Shōjiroku. The Ryukyuan ruling class used names composed of Chinese characters, usually of one or two syllables and read in their own languages, like Korean and Chinese names.