Subsequent to the establishment of the Myojihissho system (which required people to adopt surnames) in the Meiji period, the kancho of the Honganji school of the Jodo Shinshu sect (Nishi Hongan-ji Temple) and the kancho of the Otani school of the Shinshu sect (Shunshu-honbyo Mausoleum), which was established when the Hongan-ji was split in two in 1602, both adopted Otani as their surname.
明治時代に名字必称となると、浄土真宗本願寺派（西本願寺）の管長と、1602年に分かれた真宗大谷派（真宗本廟）の管長がともに姓とした。