What is a "Kyotokko"? Kyoto's word for its own — and kyo-suzume
In old Kyoto, a kyo-suzume and a kyo-warabe were not quite the same. The capital kept several words for the people who lived there.
"Kyotokko" is a word for someone born and raised in Kyoto.
The old capital also had older words, kyo-suzume and kyo-warabe. Here is where they came from, and how locals name their speech.
We also sort out the older names for the place itself — Heian-kyo, Rakuyo (Rakuchu), Yamashiro and Saikyo — and when each was used, drawing on dictionaries and the city's own records.
What "Kyotokko" means
"Kyotokko" is a long-standing name for someone born and raised in Kyoto and still living there, often carrying the manners and speech of the old capital.
Kyotokkokyotokko
It means someone born and raised in Kyoto, or living there — often tied to the distinctive manners and speech of a place that was long the capital.
Source:ウィキペディア「京言葉」
Kyo-suzume
"Kyo-suzume" is an old word for a Kyotoite well versed in town affairs and gossip, attested in Edo-period literature such as an early-1700s joruri play.
Kyo-suzume
"Kyo-suzume" ("Kyoto sparrow") is an old word for a Kyotoite well versed in town affairs and fond of gossip; it appears in works such as a 1705 joruri play.
Source:コトバンク「京雀」
Kyo-warabe
"Kyo-warabe" was an old term for the sharp-tongued young people who lived in the capital, appearing in literature from the Heian period onward.
Kyo-warabe
"Kyo-warabe" named the sharp-tongued young people of the capital. It appears in literature from the Heian to Edo periods, and as early as the mid-11th-century Shin-sarugakuki.
Source:コトバンク「京童」
Why "kyo-kotoba," not a dialect
Because Kyoto was the capital, the provincial-sounding label "Kyoto-ben" never quite fit; locals call their speech "kyo-kotoba," with a quiet pride in the old capital.
Kyo-kotoba
Kyotoites call their speech "kyo-kotoba," not "Kyoto-ben." Blending court speech and townsfolk speech, it reflects a quiet pride in the old capital.
Source:ウィキペディア「京言葉」
What were Kyoto's old names?
Kyoto's old names include its formal name "Heian-kyo," "Rakuyo" (the Tang-style name of its left half) and "Rakuchu" derived from it, the province name "Yamashiro," and the Meiji-era "Saikyo."
Heian-kyo
The formal name Emperor Kanmu gave the capital when he moved it from Nagaoka-kyo in 794 (Enryaku 13). Suzaku Avenue split the city into a left and right capital, and today's grid of streets descends from that plan.
Source:コトバンク「平安遷都」（百科事典マイペディア／山川 日本史小辞典）京都市上京区役所「平安京の創建」コトバンク「京都」（デジタル大辞泉）
Rakuyo / Rakuchu
In the early Heian period, under Emperor Saga, the left capital was styled "Rakuyo" (Luoyang) and the right capital "Chang'an," after the Tang capitals. The low-lying right capital declined early and only the left side flourished, so "Rakuyo" came to stand for Heian-kyo, and then for Kyoto itself. "Rakuchu" (the city center), "joraku" (going up to Kyoto) and "Keiraku" all keep that name alive.
Source:京都市上京区役所「上京区の成立」コトバンク「洛陽」（精選版 日本国語大辞典・世界大百科事典「京都［市］」の項）コトバンク「京都」（日本大百科全書）
Yamashiro
The old province centered on the Kyoto basin. Its name was respelled from characters meaning "behind the mountains" to "mountain castle" at the time of the move to Heian-kyo. Today's Kyoto Prefecture covers the former provinces of Yamashiro and Tango in full and most of Tanba.
Saikyo
Once the capital moved to Tokyo in the Meiji era, Kyoto came to be called "Saikyo," the western capital, by contrast. The earliest example the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten cites is the 1871 (Meiji 4) periodical Shinbun Zasshi, no. 6. Note that today's Nishikyo Ward, written with the same characters, is read "Nishikyo" and is a 1976 administrative split from Ukyo Ward — a different name.
FAQ
What sort of person is a "kyo-suzume"?
A Kyotoite well versed in the town's affairs and talk. It is an old expression seen in Edo-period literature, and not necessarily an insult.
Why say "kyo-kotoba" instead of "Kyoto dialect"?
In Kyoto, long the capital, a regional "-ben" label feels out of place, so the custom is to say "kyo-kotoba."
Why do so many Kyoto schools and place names use "Raku"?
"Raku" is one character of Kyoto's old alias "Rakuyo." Rakuhoku, Rakusei, Rakunan and Rakuto are directional names seen from the city center, and school names carry the same character.