Hello, Mr. Yamamoto. This is an explanation of the origin of the surname Yamamoto, which is shared by your ancestors and friends.

This is another surname with the same pronunciation but different kanji characters.

Unlike the common Yamamoto in Japan (where the second character is “本” meaning “book”), this one uses “元” meaning ‘origin’ or “source.”

Its origin is said to be primarily from the area around Okinawa, where the Ryukyu Kingdom once existed, extending to the Tokara Islands, due to its prevalence in Kagoshima Prefecture. A leading theory suggests it derives from the geographical feature “at the foot of the mountain,” and these branches likely spread to Kagoshima over generations.
Its strong association with the Shimazu clan of Satsuma Domain, which ruled Kagoshima during the Edo period, serves as evidence for this.

Nationwide, 23,000 people bear this surname.
That’s enough to fill the O2 Arena in the UK.
Compared to all surnames in Japan, this is a relatively small number.

Japanese American Surname Ranking (U.S. Census Bureau, 1990 Survey)

In English-speaking countries, surnames are grouped by pronunciation.

	Surname	Kanji	Supplement
1	Tanaka		4th in Japan
2	Yamamoto		8th in Japan
3	Nakamura	・・・	7th in Japan
4	Watanabe	・・・	6th in Japan
5	Sato		1st in Japan
6	Yamada		12th in Japan
7	Kimura	(written vertically)	17th in Japan
8	Suzuki	(written vertically)	2nd in Japan
9	Kato		10th in Japan
10	Yoshida		11th in Japan
11	Takahashi		3rd in Japan
12	Higa		1st in Okinawa, Japan
13	Kobayashi		9th in Japan
14	Nakano	・・・	46th in Japan
15	Hayashi		20th in Japan
16	Hashimoto		24th in Japan
17	Saito	・・・	19th in Japan
18	Sasaki		13th in Japan
19	Mori	・・・	22th in Japan
20	Matsumoto	(written vertically)	15th in Japan