This is garnered from /really/ patchy reading, so take it with a grain of salt. But the pattern I've seen is that, yes, titles very often stand in completely for names (still do today). The order seems to be title-alone is most formal, title-appended-to-name is next most formal, and name-generic-title is least formal of the formal options.
For his wife to be using a position-title for him kind of suggests that it was dynastic marriage, not a love match of any kind, which (again, take with salt) seems to have been more common than not among the whole buke/samurai class, even the petty-samurai.
For a modern example, Prince of Tennis is actually a pretty clear one: the first years call the third year captain "buchou" the second years call him "name-buchou" and the third year yearmates call him last-name. That's not all that different from what I've come across in historical reading. The main difference I know of is that place-titles seem to be more weighty and preferred for formal occasions than vocation-titles or generic-titles (it matters more if you're landed). LandHolding-no-kimi carries more formal oomph than AppointedOffice, though the appointed office in question may well have more actual power (depending on the period).
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Date: 3 Feb 2012 01:13 am (UTC)For his wife to be using a position-title for him kind of suggests that it was dynastic marriage, not a love match of any kind, which (again, take with salt) seems to have been more common than not among the whole buke/samurai class, even the petty-samurai.
For a modern example, Prince of Tennis is actually a pretty clear one: the first years call the third year captain "buchou" the second years call him "name-buchou" and the third year yearmates call him last-name. That's not all that different from what I've come across in historical reading. The main difference I know of is that place-titles seem to be more weighty and preferred for formal occasions than vocation-titles or generic-titles (it matters more if you're landed). LandHolding-no-kimi carries more formal oomph than AppointedOffice, though the appointed office in question may well have more actual power (depending on the period).