Matsuoka

Matsuoka is a Japanese surname and toponym. It is most commonly written with the kanji 松岡, meaning pine hill. The reading Matsuoka is the standard romanization in Hepburn, and the name is typically treated as a single unit in written form. Like many Japanese surnames, it may appear with minor stylistic variations in non-Japanese texts.

As a surname, Matsuoka is widely found across Japan and in Japanese diaspora communities. People bearing the name have been active in a range of fields, including sports, academia, science, the arts, and business. The name does not point to a single, defining figure, but rather to a common family name that appears across many generations and regions.

As a place name, Matsuoka appears in multiple locations in Japan, including neighborhoods and former municipalities, as well as geographic features that carried the name in the past. The toponym is sometimes used in the names of institutions, facilities, and landmarks, reflecting local history or geographic characteristics associated with the pine-hill imagery of the kanji. While 松岡 is the standard kanji form, rare alternate spellings or representations can occasionally occur in historic records or nonstandard usage. Overall, Matsuoka functions as a routine element in Japanese naming, applicable to both people and places.