I was trying satiate my nostalgia by looking for theme songs of classic
Japanese dramas on YouTube, when it suddenly occurred to me that 中島 can be
pronounced in two ways:

  * 中島 みゆき is Nakajima Miyuki
  * 中島 美嘉 is Nakashima Mika

So I looked up the [Japanese
Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%B3%B6%E6%B0%8F) for
clues about the distinction. It was only mentioned in passing:

> 清音の「なかしま」から時代が経つにつれて濁音の「なかじま」と変わった家や、中嶋から中島に変えた家がある。

"Some houses have changed from the seion Nakashima to the dakuon Nakajima."
There is no reference offered for that claim, however.

The Wikipedia page then lists several different origins of 中島 from different
areas of Japan. It explicitly put なかじま between parentheses for the 中島 of 土佐.

Am I to understand that the 中島 of 土佐 is predominantly pronounced "Nakajima",
whereas the 中島 from other areas are predominantly pronounced "Nakashima"?

So was there really an evolution of the pronunciation? Was there any traceable
record of such?

Is there anyway to infer the origin of a 中島 member from the pronunciation of
the surname? Or vice versa?
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question
pronunciation names language-evolution
Evolution of the pronunciation of the surname 中嶋/中島 from "Nakashima" to "Nakajima"
According to several sources, なかしま is dominant in western Japan.

  * [中島さん、愛知で「なかしま」宣言 読み方違うのなぜ](https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL7D56V6L7DOIPE01R.html)
  * [「なかしま」ＶＳ「なかじま」](https://maru9.at.webry.info/201210/article_10.html)
  * [九州だと中島という名字は「なかじま」ではなく「なかしま」（濁らない）というパターンが多いのでしょうか？](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1117669121)

But guessing the reading of a 中島さん based on their birthplace is not very
realistic. Practically, if you don't know how to read a particular 中島さん, I
think it's usually okay to default to なかじま and switch to なかしま after being
corrected. As pointed out in the comment section, there are many similar
examples, and even native speakers often make mistakes regarding the rendaku
of proper nouns.
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answer