also: ようみょう · おさなな
Historical term for a name given to a child before their adult name, common in pre-modern Japan (e.g., samurai, aristocrats).
Tokugawa Ieyasu's childhood name was Takechiyo.
Heian-era nobles changed their names from their childhood names after their coming-of-age ceremony.
Standard kanji spelling; most common reading is ようめい.
Alternate reading; less common than ようめい.
Rare reading; may be encountered in older texts.
From 幼 (young) + 名 (name). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term has been used since the Heian period to denote a child's pre-adult name.