Learning about sumo; taking notes - here they are:
shikona: rikishi's ring name
use of these goes back to Edo period
used to attract customers/hide rikishi
identities
consists of surname and personal/given name,
like a standard japanese name, but personal
name is usually not used outside of formal
occasions
eg. takayasu
sekitori have own honorific in addition to
name: -zeki (instead of -san)
often rikishi start with their family name and
change shikona as they rise through ranks
that being said, huge variations in shikona/
naming conventions, based on traditions of
the rikishi's stable and the rikishi's own
preferences
-can take shikona based on their stable
eg. from oguruma stable -> shikona ending
in '-kaze' after stable founder kotokaze
-shikona based on a rikishi from the past
they have a connection to
eg. kotonowaka -> kotozakura, since
kotozakura is their grandfather
-shikona based on their birthplace
-eg. from hokkaido -> use first character
of hokkaido ('hoku'/'kita', meaning north
-> kitanoumi)
-some rikishi simply use their real family
names as shikona
eg. shodai, takayasu
rikishi can also change their names as they
like, sometimes to improve luck/revitalize
foreign wrestlers usually take shikona at the
very beginning of their careers, and often
choose shikona that give a clue to their origins
eg. mongolians often incorporate characters
for 'eagle', 'horse', 'wolf', or 'dragon'
since these are venerated in mongolia