I am sorry if this does not belong here, but I do hope it does.

I have been looking into my family name-- Kawano-- and the Kanji that my grandparents and great-grandparents have used for it.

I know for sure about 野, as I can recognize that from the calligraphy. It's the Kawa that stumps me; the calligraphy looks something like this:


http://i32.tinypic.com/2llkd3m.jpg

(My sad attempt at recreation of it.)


Is this just a form of 河? I just want to confirm or disprove it, or something. The name is supposed to mean "River on the plain", but I've searched through all of the Kanji dictionaries I can find online and I can never seem to find a match.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Katsuo]

SequelKMK Wrote:Is this just a form of 河?

Yes it is. Picture the small "mouth" 口 in 河 turning into the even smaller loop in your drawing, and then it becomes clear.

Thank you-- that really helps.