lower-class peasant; peasant working for a landowner
Historical term for a peasant of low status during the Middle Ages and early modern period, often working under a 本百姓 (honbyakushō, full-fledged farmer).
See also: 本百姓
In Edo-period villages, the nago cultivated the land under the authority of the honbyakushō.
The exact derivation is uncertain; the kanji 名 (name, title) and 子 (child) are conventionally associated with this historical social class.