Surnames that start with “A”: from common to rare
How many surnames starting with “A” can you name?
Across the country, there are people with all kinds of surnames: not only common ones you’re likely to find among our acquaintances, but also the surnames of famous people and politicians, and even rare surnames held by only a few hundred people nationwide.
In this article, we’ll introduce a large number of surnames that start with “A.”
We’ll cover everything from familiar surnames to unusual ones, so please take a look.
We also hope you’ll find this useful as a source of hints for surname shiritori.
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- Food names starting with “ne,” categorized by character count
- Useful for shiritori! A list of food names that start with 'fu'
- Heisei-era graduation songs roundup: iconic youth anthems from the ’90s to the 2010s
- Can you find your destined partner? A roundup of psychology tests about names
- [Surprisingly hard to recall?] Food names starting with 'go' by character count
- Usable for Shiritori! A roundup of animals that start with “shi”
- Famous quotes everyone knows, including words from great figures and characters
- Can you say them? A collection of Nagoya-dialect tongue twisters
- [Name Psychology Test] Will your destined person or next potential lover be revealed?!
- A collection of words that start with “de”. Perfect for shiritori and word games.
Rare surnames (1–10)
Aitake (forty-bamboo)
Let me introduce the surname “Aitake,” which has a deep historical background.
While there are kanji spellings like 相武 for “Aitake,” the one being introduced here is 四十竹.
This surname is thought to have originated during the Meiji-era adoption of family names, when surnames were granted to all citizens.
It’s said that there are as few as about 20 people with the surname Shijitake nationwide, or as many as 300.
Either way, it’s rare enough to be considered quite uncommon.
The surname Shijitake is reportedly concentrated in Azumamachi, Namerikawa City, Toyama Prefecture.
In conclusion
We introduced many surnames that start with “A.” In addition to covering surnames that are common nationwide, we also featured some rare ones.
In the section highlighting especially rare surnames, many of them were probably new to you, weren’t they? We hope you enjoyed reading it that way, and that it also serves as a helpful source of hints for a surname shiritori game.