During the first half of the Meiji period, due to opposition toward family or change in family name, female novelists showed this tendency to avoid using family names in their signatures and to use pen names in fictitious works; Ichiyo is believed to have been very conscious of her position as female head of her family.
明治前半期の女性作家においては家への抵抗や姓の変遷などから同様に姓の忌避や創作世界においては雅号を用いるといった署名傾向があり、一葉にも女戸主としての意識が強くあったとも考えられている。