Sato Family History
Sato Name Meaning
Japanese (Satō): written 佐藤. The Satō descend from the northern Fujiwara through Fujiwara no Hidesato (10th century) who governed Shimotsuke (now Tochigi) prefecture from a place called Sano hence Sano no Fujiwara or Satō. Another tradition takes the sa from the title Saemon no jō an office held by a distinguished descendant of Hidesato's. With Suzuki this is one of the two most common surnames in Japan. It is also spelled Satou and Satow in America.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022