Asato Family History

Japanese: variously written; the version listed in the Shinsen shojiroku is written with characters meaning ‘morning’ and ‘door’. Another version, written with characters meaning ‘safe’ and ‘village’, is found in the Ryukyu Islands, where it is sometimes pronounced Yasuzato. One family of this name originated in Asatsu village in Satsuma province (present-day Kogoshima prefecture), and any of four places called Asato in the Ryukyu Islands could also have given rise to the surname.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press