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Gender Masculine
Usage Japanese (Archaic)
Scripts 半兵衛(Japanese Kanji) はんべえ(Japanese Hiragana) ハンベエ(Japanese Katakana)
Other Forms FormsHanbee, Hanbei, Hambē, Hambee, Hambei
Meaning & History
This name combines 半 (han, naka.ba) meaning "half, middle, odd number, part-, semi-" with 兵衛 (bee) (see Hyōe).Bearers of this name include ukiyo-e illustrator Hanbee Yoshida (or Yoshida Hanbee, if surname is used first) (吉田 半兵衛) and Sengoku period (1467-1603) samurai Shigeharu Takenaka (or Takenaka Shigeharu) (竹中 重治), who was also known as Hanbee (半兵衛) (1544-1598).This name, along with other names that end with -bee (sometimes transliterated as -bei), was most commonly used in the Edo Period (1603-1868) but nowadays, it's very rarely given to boys, if given at all.