The pen name, Ichiyo, is a pun on the fact that she was force to suffer from poverty (having no oashi [money]), and on the anecdote of Darma, who made a voyage to China on a boat made of a leaf (ichiyo) of reed (in Japanese, "ashi") and later lost his hands and legs (in Japanese, "Ashi").
一葉という筆名は、当時困窮していた事（お足が無い）と一枚の葦の葉の舟に乗って中国へ渡り後に手足を失った達磨の逸話に引っ掛けたものである。