SUZUKI in Kanji and Katakana as Japanese family name

Suzuki is said to be the second most common surname in Japan. Originating from Kii Province (Wakayama Prefecture), it began when the Hozumi clan, who served as Shinto priests in Shingu City, Wakayama Prefecture, adopted the Suzuki surname.

A branch family of the Hozumi clan adopted the surname Suzuki. This name was created by combining the word “susuki” (meaning “to stack rice ears” in the Wakayama dialect) with the characters for ‘shiro’ (a sacred tree used as a marker when deities descend from heaven) and “suzu” (bell), representing the bell that rings when a deity dwells in the tree.

Later, the Suzuki clan moved their base to what is now Kainan City, Wakayama Prefecture, becoming the chief priests of Fujishiro Shrine there. From this lineage emerged Suzuki Saburō Shigeie, who served as a retainer to Minamoto no Yoshitsune during the Genpei War (the Jishō Civil War, 1180–85). Shigeie’s descendants spread from Tōhoku to the Kantō and Tōkai regions.

The Suzuki clan that spread from the Tokai region to Kanto and Tohoku evolved their pronunciation to “Suzuki,” but in old families of the Suzuki clan in Wakayama and Mie Prefectures, it is still pronounced without the voiced consonant as “Susuki.”

When you hear the word “Suzuki,” you think of baseball player Ichiro Suzuki (Ichiro). Michio Suzuki, the founder of the automobile manufacturer “suzuki”. Yoshiyuki Suzuki, the 70th Prime Minister of Japan. Former F1 racer, Aguri Suzuki.