According to those who knew him in his lifetime, Yoshinobu himself liked to be called "Keiki-sama", and he called himself "Keiki" in a telegraph sent to his younger brother, Akitake TOKUGAWA.
生前の慶喜を知る人によると、慶喜本人は「けいき様」と呼ばれるのを好んだらしく、弟・徳川昭武に当てた電報にも自分のことを「けいき」と名乗っている。