Talk:鹿児島

Dubious Etymology

As far as I'm aware, the etymology of 鹿児島 is undetermined and I could not find a source which explicitly identifies "鹿子 + 島" as its origin. It appears that most sources agree on separating the name into "鹿児" and "島" parts, but I could not find a definite explanation on what "鹿児" means. For example, this page on Kagoshima Prefecture's official website[1] suggests multiple possible etymologies along with the "fawn" (鹿 + 子) origin, such as "surrounded by Satsuma and Osumi peninsula" (囲む /kako-mu/), a (possibly unattested) "word 'カグ /kagu/' meaning 'volcano'", and "seamen (水夫 /kako/)". Could someone please add reference to the etymology part if such a thing exists? Ryomnalybn (talk) 15:17, 3 December 2023 (UTC)