Frequency: (308)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Japanese: ‘abundant mountains’; found mostly in eastern Japan. The same characters are pronounced Tomiyama in the Ryūkyū Islands. The same name, written with characters meaning ‘outer mountain’ (and sometimes read Sotoyama), is less common. Many bearers of all versions of the name have samurai or noble connections. Yet another name, properly Romanized Tōyama, means ‘far mountain’. The name is taken from a village in Shinano (now Nagano prefecture) and is found in eastern Japan and the Ryūkyū Islands.
GIVEN NAMES: Japanese 48%. Hiroshi (2), Kenji (2), Noriko (2), Shigemi (2), Toki (2), Yasuko (2), Yoshiko (2), Akihiko, Akiko, Akio, Atsuko, Emiko.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
