Family name origins & meanings
- Japanese : ‘wild orange’; the name is listed in the Shinsen shōjiroku. It was first taken as a surname by the distinguished statesman Katsuragi Moroe (684–757), a son of imperial prince Minu and Tachibana no Michiyo (d. 733), a court lady of great renown. Several poems by Moroe and one of his mother’s are included in the eighth-century anthology Manyōshū. Few bearers today are likely to be descended from this family however, due to the practice followed long ago of taking one’s master’s name as one’s own. The name is found mostly in eastern Japan.