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Is there any logical and canonical reason to why Naruto used his mother's family name, Uzumaki, instead of his father's family name?

Makoto
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aikur
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8 Answers8

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According to the Naruto Wiki:

Suddenly orphaned, Naruto was left to grow up knowing nothing of his parents, receiving only his mother's last name as Hiruzen believed it was best that nobody knew that he was related to the Fourth Hokage.

Cattua
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Chetter Hummin
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    and why is it best that nobody know about his relation to the Fourth? – aikur Feb 21 '13 at 04:52
  • Again, from the wiki, With Minato dead, Hiruzen once more assumed the role of active Hokage while deciding to protect the orphaned child by giving him his mother's last name to conceal his relation to Konoha's Yellow Flash – Chetter Hummin Feb 21 '13 at 05:04
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    Maybe to prevent his father's enemies from seeking revenge on him? – Chetter Hummin Feb 21 '13 at 05:05
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    Or to give him a normal (as possible) childhood? – Veger Feb 21 '13 at 08:02
  • @Veger That too – Chetter Hummin Feb 21 '13 at 08:16
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    @Chetter Hummin, your theory would be correct, if the villagers wouldn't know,that Minato's wife was Kushina...what do you think about that? – Rinneg4n Feb 18 '14 at 17:26
  • @Rinneg4n Maybe the enemies from outside the village would not know that? Also, his mother cannot be the only person with that last name. – Chetter Hummin Jun 14 '15 at 12:29
  • @Chetter Hummin To be honest, never thought about these ones...But the same could go for you: a) Minato cant be the only one with that last name so, practically the danger that the "Namikaze" name could mean, it could also get a protection by blending him into society.(++ can;t imagine the outsiders attacking Naruto while he's still young, and when he's older, he could defend himself/ or maybe the other villagers wouldn't know that HE is Naruto Namikaze) – Rinneg4n Jun 15 '15 at 16:21
  • b) I think you have more chance to have only one person with the Uzumaki name, than more...I always thought that there are clans, and that's all, not too much separate guys (ninja, not villager): so Kushina must've been the only Uzumaki in the Hidden Leaf (or almost the last one from her clan), especially since after their death, Naruto was totally orphan, and not raised by his kins – Rinneg4n Jun 15 '15 at 16:23
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The three main reasons for Hiruzen giving Naruto his mother's surname Uzumaki were to protect the village, Naruto, and the kyuubi.

Like the other posts stated, giving him the name Namikaze will make him a target for his father's enemies.

But there is more to Uzumaki name than just that. Hiruzen understood that the mysterious masked man (Tobi) didn't attack Minato Namikaze. What Tobi did was attack the kyuubi. And a fashionable trend seemed to be having the jinchuuriki as the Kage's son, for example Gaara was a jinchuuriki and his father was the Kazekage. So by giving Naruto the Uzumaki surname, this made Naruto + the kyuubi safer from anyone after the kyuubi.

Hiruzen also made sure to conceal the information about Naruto altogether, as shinobi that knew about the attack (on the kyuubi) were not allowed to talk about it (hence many people not knowing Naruto is Minato's son).

My extra 2 cents : This all ties well with Naruto's personality, as the Uzumaki nature (brash personality, powered by will and conviction) better suits the main character of a shounen compared to the Namikaze depiction (Genius, excels at everything). Maybe I give Kishimoto too much credit, but I feel like he had this all planned out (with Naruto being the son of the fourth, yet having his mother's name and personality).

krikara
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    and his dad's hair, and once he master's the nine tails his extreme speed makes Naruto appear as a "Yellow Flash" – debal Nov 05 '13 at 05:55
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The reason why Naruto has his mother's last name is because if people found out Naruto was the son of the fourth Hokage, he would have been in danger. This was actually explained to Naruto by Minato Namikaze the fourth Hokage himself in episode 168 of Naruto Shippuden. Naruto got to punch his dad in the stomach which was very funny even if he was mad at him.

nhahtdh
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brianahj
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I think a child's last name depends on what clan it has been born in. Naruto Uzumaki therefore show that he's a Uzumaki clan member. Just like Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto's mom. The preference of Uzumaki over Yamikaze is probably because the Minato and Kushina wanted to make Naruto less recognisable in public, as he is the 9 tail Jinchūriki and will be on the hitlist of many groups and organizations such as the Akatsuki.

  • Sasuke Uchiha comes from the Uchiha clan.
  • Hinata Hyuga comes from the Hyuga clan and so on.
Federico1001
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Hiruzen(the third Hokage) Decided to put Naruto's Surname as Uzumaki because the Uzumaki was a clan which has Split after the village was destroyed,which meant that Most of the Uzumakis were refugees, which meant that it would be harder to confirm that Naruto was Minato's child(although he has yellow hair instead of the trademark red hair of the Uzumaki's), Secondly, the Namikaze from what I see on the wiki was a clan that was located in konohakagure,and Minato was the only famous Namikaze(once again,Wikipedia.),so If Naruto was given Namikaze, it would be easier for Anyone hunting for the Kyuubi or getting revenge to Find Naruto and Kill/hold him hostage, which would put the village in jeopardy.Thirdly, Hiruzen wanted to give Naruto a normal life(which he failed because of mizuki =_=).

Minatoxkushina
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I feel like Naruto was given Uzumaki was because of these reasons:

  1. Hiruzen just didn't want another attack on Konohagakure involving Naruto.
  2. The main character would be killed/taken hostage by groups (Akasutki, etc.)
  3. Naruto would be constantly on the run (making the story intense yet boring)
  4. Naruto wouldn't have met all the characters besides Akatsuki members (when Masashi Kishimoto made them)
Aki Tanaka
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Tyler Robbins
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I agree with Demietra95. It is a custom in Japan for prestigious families to have more "weight" when it comes to last names (E.g. A samurai family is given preference over non-samurai ones), so it would be natural for the Uzumaki clan to be given priority over the Namikaze clan.

Juan Irizarry
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Well according to me I think Naruto Uzumaki uses his mother's last name cause it was a reputed clan, however there was nothing about his father's clan in the scenario. though Minato Namikaze was the fourth hokage still there was no details about his family in the whole manga series.

Demietra95
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