Naruto: How Sasuke got his name, explored

Naruto is one of the most popular anime and manga series of all time and author Masashi Kishimoto’s success with this story is due to a lot of reasons, some of them including his influences. While classic franchises like Dragon Ball, Hunter X Hunter, and Yu Yu Hakusho all played a big role in how Naruto took form, Kishimoto also drew heavily from history and classic mythology from Japan.

Several different myths and historical events from Japanese culture played a big role in the creation of a lot of characters and elements of the series. However, one of the most telling examples can be connected to one of the protagonists of the series, Sasuke Uchiha, and the origin of his name.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Naruto series.

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The origin of the name of Naruto's Sasuke Uchiha

Sasuke's name is drawn heavily from Japanese history and culture (Image via Studio Pierrot).

Sasuke’s name is inspired by a character from Japanese folklore, known as Sarutobi Sasuke. According to the works that were written in the early 20th century, Sarutobi Sasuke was a ninja that lived during the Meiji and Taisho periods of the Asian country and was highly regarded as one of the finest ninjas that ever lived, even going as far as being viewed as the “superhero of ninjas” by some.

This naturally fits in with the concepts and elements of Naruto as a series: the fact that Sasuke Uchiha shares the same name as this character, that they are both ninjas, and the moniker of “superhero of ninjas” is fitting when it is taken into account how powerful the ninjas are in Naruto. However, there are a lot of other interesting facts regarding the character.

Sarutobi Sasuke as depicted by Japanese folklore.

He was often depicted as a young boy, which does fit with Sasuke’s juvenile look in the original series. He was also described as a super talented ninja, much like Sasuke, and there was a ninja called Kirigakure Saizo with whom he shared both a friendship and a rivalry, which fits quite well with the relationship that the last Uchiha survivor had with Naruto in the series.

Also, it is fairly obvious that this character also inspired the name for Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was the third Hokage in Konoha, the main city in the series. It is fitting because his name means “monkey jump”, which has a lot to do with Hiruzen’s abilities and how he used them, particularly during his final battle against Orochimaru.

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Final thoughts

Sasuke Uchiha (Image via Studio Pierrot).

Masashi Kishimoto took from a lot of different influences over the years to create and develop his magnum opus, which is something that has to be taken into account. The inspiration behind Sasuke’s name is a very good example of that mentality as he drew from the Japanese fiction and folklore of yesteryears in a much more modern and successful story that has become a major part of pop culture in the 21st century.