Successive generations of Kubo used the Japanese kanji character of "uji" (氏) as their tsuji (distinctive character used in the names of all people belonging to a single clan or lineage) for their personal names, to which another character taken from the name of the then Shogun was added. (An exception to this was the name given to the third Kamakura kubo, Mitsukane ASHIKAGA, which contained only the character "mitsu" (満), which was taken from the personal name of the then Shogun, Yoshimitsu ASHIKAGA, because otherwise he would have had the same name as his father, Ujimitsu ASHIKAGA.)
歴代公方は諱において氏の字を通字として時の将軍の片諱を重ねた（ただし、第3代鎌倉公方足利満兼は父・足利氏満と重なるために将軍足利義満からの片諱のみを用いた。