I have seen the honorific used in front of nouns and was wondering if it can be used in front of a person's name. Thank you.
asked Mar 20, 2017 at 13:51
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I've only seen it used with names in the case of deities, such as お稲荷{いなり}さん– a20Commented Mar 20, 2017 at 14:27
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5昔は女性の名前に「お」をつけましたけどね・・・「お雪」「おトミさん」「お菊さん」「お銀」「おカヨちゃん」とか。。。– chocolate ♦Commented Mar 20, 2017 at 16:29
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2 Answers
Yes, it can certainly be. Don't just take my word for it; Look it up in a dictionary, preferably a monolingual one, yourself. For instance, デジタル大辞泉 gives the definition:
２ 女性{じょせい}の名{な}に付{つ}いて、尊敬{そんけい}、親{した}しみの意{い}を表{あらわ}す。
My translation of that would be:
"Attached to feminine names, it expresses respect and/or intimacy"
おしん, the TV drama became popular around the world so it needs no introduction. The heroine's name is しん, so that お is the honorific.
Next, let me introduce my neighbor お珠{たま}さん, whose real given name is 珠子{たまこ}.
Finally, here is the well-known song called おゆき.
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1Hmmm... While true, I'm not convinced by the example of お珠 - it is more akin to a nice nickname (Lady T) rather than adding お to a real name. And in that case it's not strictly feminine, starting with お拾様.– macrafCommented Mar 21, 2017 at 6:23
No it can not be used with people's actual names. It's on added to nouns that are used to refer to people. e.g. お相撲{すもう}さん (a sumo wrestler)
