He was commonly called Ecchu no kami, and then, came to be called Ecchu-Zenji (meaning the former governor of Ecchu Province) because of his official position (The Taira clan were eventually stripped of their governmental positions by Genji [the Minamoto clan], and therefore, the name of Ecchu-Zenji which means 'the former governor of Ecchu Province' is used in some history books such as "Heike Monogatari" [The tale of the Heike]).
俗称は官名から越中守、のち越中前司（源氏により平家一門の官職が剥奪されたため、「平家物語」等一部歴史書では「前の越中国司」の意からこの名が用いられている）。