Greetings! I have a small question regarding samurai names.
I have seen that samurai names are usually composed of three structures:
Surname / Courtesy name / Given name (which shall not be spoken)
or
Surname / Courtesy name (occupational) / Courtesy name (order of birth) / Given name
or
Surname / Courtesy name (place) / Courtesy name (occupational) / Courtesy name (order of birth) / Given name
What I wanted to ask was in which context these names were used. In popular media and recriations of the period, I've only ever seen samurai use/be called by their surnames and given names (i.e. Oda Nobunaga, Date Masamune, etc.). However, I have read that given names were very important, and if a samurai let somebody know of their true given name, it meant the counter person would have control of their life and will. So Samurais never told their true name to anyone other than family. As a result, we don't even know true names of some of the most famous samurais.
Is this true? If so, did samurais in the Sengoku Jidai only use their courtesy names when speaking with other non-close samurai? Such as Nobunaga calling himself SaburÅ, Hideaki calling himself Kingo, Kiyomasa calling himself Toranosuke, etc.? In which circumstances would each name be used?
Also, if such a thing exists, could someone kindly indicate me a guide (Japanese or not) with known samurai full names?
Thank you very much!
Please see this fairly comprehensive thread on traditional Japanese names.