"Teacher... uh..." Uchiha Fugaku looked utterly bewildered.
"Do you think Weasel sounds awful? Good. It's supposed to."
Yanbai waved a hand, beaming. "They say an ugly name makes a child easier to raise. I don't know whether that's true, but look at me-I give children names that roll off the tongue."
This world was very similar to ancient Japan.
Ordinary commoners often had no surnames.
A person's name could reveal whether they were of noble birth.
Their name could also tell others what trade they practiced or what was near their home-a high bridge, a small storehouse, a riverside field, or a field out in the countryside...
Some daimyo and nobles had especially long, strange names. Without taking some time to learn them, you couldn't even say their full names.
Moreover, the surnames of particular families carried special meanings.
For example, the Hattori family had originally worked in a trade related to clothing.
Uchiha, for instance, meant "paper fan"...
Many ordinary commoners had names beginning with "A."
Why "A"?
Because their names were merely labels, replacing calls like "hey" or "you there" with a designation unique to that person.
That was also why, in Yin and Yang arts, a name was considered a particular kind of spell.
Once someone had a name, they would be bound by that "specific" word.
With a one-character name, naturally they needed that "A" prefix-A-Cat A-Dog A-Flower A-Grass...
Wealthy merchants also gave themselves names with a few extra characters to distinguish themselves from the penniless rabble.
Usually, though, the names they chose were related to their business, or to landmark buildings and local products where they lived.
People of standing generally wouldn't change their names lightly, because their names were their calling cards.
The Uchiha Clan was a shinobi clan with a surname.
Its crest