Name meanings?
 

Ah, I'm looking for someone who can tell me the meanings of these name(s) and surname(s)? Sorry I do not know the Kanji for any one them so they're all in Romaji... But like godwine pointed out -which I totally forgot- there are multiple Kanji for each, and preferably I'd like to see as many as anyone can name. I like options and it would mean a lot to me.

Kengamine
Tsunenaga
Kichida
Samurakami
Takeuchi
Ekiguchi
Tsuji
Tsujimoto
Tsujimura
Tsuchie
Karako
Koshio
Tsushima

EDIT: two more I'd like to know more about...
Shiro and Nagi.
Thanks for any help~ I'll be posting more names unless someone can point me to a website that would help...?

I know you said you cannot read Kanji, but do you have access to the Kanji itself? Romaji is very difficult, it can mean multiple things. Take Koshio for example, I can already come up with 2 different surname, and can come up with more if its not limited to names.. so, if you can copy and paste the kanji here, more people can help you with it

I didn't go through your entire list, Koshio pop out for some reason to me, thats all....

Some of them, sure I can try, but not all of them. Actually I forgot to mention that I wanted options in the Kanji. But if that's to much I can do the ones I know...

Kengamine　剣ヶ峰？I'm not sure...　剣=sword, ヶ=of, 's 　峰=peak, ridge, back (of a sword)

Tsunenaga　恒永(or常長?) =forever, eternity

Kichida　橘田; 橘=Citrus tachibana,　田=rice field, field

Samurakami　?? If it's just 'Murakami'... 村上; 村=village, 上=up, upper, top, over

Takeuchi　竹内or武内; 竹=bamboo, 武=samurai, warrior, being gallant 内=inside

Ekiguchi　？？I have no idea...

Tsuji　辻=crossroad

Tsujimoto　辻本or辻元; 辻=crossroad, 本=originally「元」,　元=root ,foot

Tsujimura　辻村; 辻=crossroad, 村=village

Tsuchie　土江; 土=soil, earth, 江=river?

Karako　唐比?? I'm not sure...唐=China? 比=to compare, to be close to.

Koshio　越尾; 越=to climb, to go over, 尾=tail, end, peak (of a mountain)

Tsuhima --Isn't it 'Tsushima'? Tsushima=津島; 津=to ferry, to ferry across the river, bank, port, wharf , 島=island

Thank you~ This is very helpful ;D
I found Ekigushi online...I've never heard of a surname like that.
And your right, it is suppose to be Tsushima, sorry!

Do you think you could do Shiro and Nagi?
I looked up Shiro and every site says it different but the ones I see alot is "castle", "white", and "Fourth Born Son". Plus I'm confused, it says Shiro is a boys name but I've met a lot of girls with that name...

Family name that doesn't exist(fictitious family name)
Kengamine, Kichida, Samurakami, Ekiguchi

Takeuchi 竹内/武内
Tsuji　辻/逵/津路/津地/都司/街/津氏/都子/津治/津次/都治
Tsujimoto 辻本/辻元/逵本
Tsujimura 辻村/逵村/辻邑/辻邨
Tsuchie 土江/槌江
Koshio 小塩/古塩/越尾/越生/小汐/腰尾/越塩/小椎尾
Tsushima 対馬/津島/津嶋/對馬/対島/都島/津嶌/對島/津洲/對嶋
Karako 唐子/柄子

I don't understand what you mean by fictitious... I'll admit I have yet to meet anyone with the name Kengamine or Ekiguchi, but I have seen Kichida and Samurakami...

sorry
Unusual pronunciation........

Samurakami 村上　
(usually: murakami/ others: mukami,muragami,muraoka,muraue)
Kichida 吉田
(usually yoshida/ others: yojida,kitta)

The origin is a lot and is troublesome.
As for the family name that uses the same Chinese character, the origin might be different because of the pedigree.

'Shiro' may be 城(=castle), but I think it's not likely to be 白(＝white) as a surname.
The boys name you're talking about must be 'Shiroo' or 'Shirou' (=史郎、史朗、司郎、司朗、志郎、志朗、四郎、四朗 etc.) 史=history, 司＝to administer, 志=will, wish 四=4(four). 郎＝a boy, a man. 朗=cheerful, bright, merry.

'Nagi' may be 名城(名＝name, famous. 城=castle) or 名木(木=tree, wood), I guess...

My impression was that a number of family names were places where people came from, similar to how hundreds of years ago what we take to be surnames were really just saying 'Person of So-and-so city' like how 'Leonardo da Vinci' (probably misspelled a bit) is just 'Leonardo of Vinci'. Similarly someone with the family name 川口 might have had ancestors who lived in an area at the mouth of a river.

Would anyone with more experience in japanese family names and history care to confirm or deny this for me? It's an assumption I carry and if it's wrong I'd love to know so I don't continue.

This is basically true. The vast majority of Japanese did not have family names until about 300 years ago. Those who did were the nobility, the higher-ranked samurai and such. The rest of us commoners had been addressed mostly as "(First name) of the so-and-so district". I just said "first name" but it was not really a first name since that was the ONLY name they had.

After the commoners were permitted to own family names, some just took the name of the area they lived in, which is what they had essentially been adressed as before they had family names. Some took the family name of their village chief while others created their own.

For those who know some Japanese, you must have noticed that many family names contain the names of the things that exist around us such as 「山」「川」「谷」「田」, etc. This fact should explain how many family names were created.

You do realize that without the original kanji form of the names, finding out a Japanese name's meaning is not only hard, but utterly impossible? Take "tsuji" for example, JMNdict lists the following names, all pronounced "tsuji":
十
巷
街
辻
逵
達
十字
津地
津慈
津持
津治
津路
辻季
都司
都地
都治
All of them would imply a different meaning. But I guess you could use Find words - Denshi Jisho names dictionary, enter a name in romaji and then click on "kanji details" at the results page to show the kanjis' individual meanings...