Surname Maruyama - Meaning and Origin
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Maruyama: What does the surname Maruyama mean?
The last name Maruyama is a Japanese surname, originating in the country’s ancient imperial court. Its literal meaning is “round mountain” – a reference to its original bearer's physical or spiritual connection to the land.
The aristocratic clan of Maruyama traces its lineage back centuries, to Imperial Japan. The Maruyama family can trace its roots to the Tokugawa Shogunate period of the late 1500s, when their ancestors held a seat of power in the Imperial court.
As a family crest, Maruyama traditionally used a crest similar to that of the Tokugawa house – an open fan with a red sun at its center. This crest was believed to symbolize ambition and loyalty, as well as protection and harmony.
The Maruyama family’s ties to the imperial court have earned them significant respect from their peers. Many members of the Maruyama clan have gone on to hold prominent positions in business, government, and the military.
Today, Maruyamas are a common sight in Japan’s three largest cities – Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. As a last name, Maruyama is most closely associated with Japan, but it can be found in other countries around the world as well. Maruyamas have proven that, even after centuries, the legacy of their forebears lives on.
Order DNA origin analysisMaruyama: Where does the name Maruyama come from?
The last name Maruyama is most common today in Japan, where it remains one of the top 100 surnames in the country. Maruyama is an old surname with origins tracing back to feudal times. It is one of the many Buddhist surnames, with the character “Maru” meaning “circle”, and the character “Yama” meaning “mountain”. Historians believe the name was most likely given to strong and powerful individuals who were capable of keeping the peace in mountainous areas.
Despite the origin of the surname in Japan, the last name Maruyama has spread to many other countries throughout the world as a result of the diaspora of the Japanese. Those with the last name Maruyama can now be found in a variety of countries across the globe. Countries with the largest Maruyama population include the United States, Brazil , Canada , Australia , and South Korea.
The name Maruyama is not as instantly recognizable in many other countries as it is in Japan, but those who bear the name Maruyama have been known to make a tremendous impact on their communities, often as successful business professionals, educators, and philanthropists.
Variations of the surname Maruyama
The surname Maruyama originates from the Japanese language and is sometimes transliterated from Japanese as “Maruyama” or “Myunehama”. Some variants, spellings and surnames of the same origin as Maruyama include “Cormiyama”, “Maruama”, “Maressama”, “Marramyama”, “Marosama”, “Maramano”, “Moriyama”, “Muyama”, “Moeyama”, “Mouriyama”, “Muniyama” and “Moriya”.
The origin of Maruyama is a combination of two Japanese characters: “maru” meaning round or circle, and “yama” meaning mountain. Hence, the literal translation of Maruyama is “round mountain”. It is believed the Maruyama family descended from an ancient priestly family that specialized in astrology. The original family crest, a pair of mountains, was said to have been a symbol of someone who could foretell the future.
The origin of the other surnames on the list is believed to be from the same source. For example, Cormiyama is derived from the characters “cormi” and “yama”, with Cormiyama translating to “small mountain”. Maressama and Marramyama, likewise, have the same characters for the ending “yama”, and translate to “straight mountain” and “mountain that divides”, respectively.
There are several other variants and spellings which are derived from Maruyama in East Asian cultures, such as the Korean “Malyama” and the Chinese “Molukama”. However, the one commonality among these surnames is that they all use the Japanese characters for “yama” at the end, translating to mountain.
Famous people with the name Maruyama
- Kaoru Maruyama: Japanese baseball player.
- Hideoki Maruyama: Japanese footballer.
- Sayuri Maruyama: Japanese actress.
- Yutaka Maruyama: Japanese video game composer.
- Asami Maruyama: Japanese fashion designer.
- Toshiyuki Maruyama: A Japanese actor and voice actor.
- Minoru Maruyama: Japanese scriptwriter and director.
- Koji Maruyama: Japanese manga artist.
- Yuuji Maruyama: Japanese animator.
- Junichi Maruyama: Japanese photographer.
- Toshiki Maruyama: Japanese film director.
- Ryotaro Maruyama: Japanese film writer and director.
- Tomofumi Maruyama: Japanese actor and singer.
- Masamichi Maruyama: Japanese actor and voice actor.
- Toshiyuki Maruyama: Japanese journalist and writer.
- Hideki Maruyama: Japanese professional golfer.