Today, it is generally acknowledged that the names of ordinary families that were recorded in the family register compiled during the early Meiji period had been inherited from their ancestors, but since no written records are available it is impossible to accurately identify the origins of these names.
現在の研究では、庶民の苗字は明治初めにもともと先祖伝来のものを戸籍に載せたとされるが、記録が伝わらないのでその正確な由来を尋ねることは不可能である。