Can で mean 'and'?

Question

I'm completing my Japanese homework, and we were given a letter that we need to write a response to.

There is a line that goes:

私の名前はみのりで、十五さいです。

I assume that here で means 'and' but I'm not familiar with this usage, so I wanted to enquire.

Answer 1

It's the conjuncitve (te-form) of だ; the conjunctive, among other things, can express 'and': 目を開けて、木を見た 'I opened my eyes and looked at a tree.'

Answer 2

で, in this case, functions like the -て form of the copula だ. Thus, it's used to connect two sentences together to make a single, natural-sounding sentence.

私の名前はみのりだ。十五さいです。My name is Minori. I am 15 years old.
私の名前はみのりで、十五さいです。My name is Minori and I am 15 years old.

This is the same as what the normal -て form does:

朝ご飯を食べた。そして、急いで学校へ行った。I ate breakfast. Then I hurried to school.
朝ご飯を食べて、急いで学校へ行った。I ate breakfast and hurried to school.

So yes, it essentially does mean 'and' here.