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Evidence-led referenceJapanese names, readings and kanji
littleden.blogJapanese name reference
Canonical reference record
JMnedict-backedKANJIDIC2 character context
Japanese given name

Ao

あお

Female-classified given-name records.

あおアオAo
Compare spellings
Reference coverage

Extended source depth

This reading group has a comparatively broad dictionary footprint across source-recorded spellings or records. The counts describe corpus coverage, not real-world popularity.

Distinct recorded spellings28

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows29

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Ao

The kana reading is source-recorded. Romanization and mora segmentation are deterministic reading aids generated from that kana; pitch accent is not inferred.

Source readingあお

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formアオ

The same reading converted to katakana.

RomanizationAo

Macron-style display. Vowel-sequence form: Ao. Personal spelling and true vowel boundaries can differ.

Mora segmentationあ · お

2 morae in this reading. Small ゃ/ゅ/ょ-type kana join the preceding mora.

Audio note: the play button uses Japanese text-to-speech provided by the visitor’s browser/device. It is a convenience preview, not a recorded native-speaker pronunciation or pitch-accent authority.

Reading profile

How Ao is represented

These counts describe records in the imported name corpus. They are not a ranking of how popular a spelling is among people in Japan.

Recorded kana readings3

あお · あを · アヲ

Kanji-based spellings26

among the forms analyzed on this page

Kana characters2

in the primary dictionary reading

Morae2

small ゃ/ゅ/ょ-type kana combine with the preceding mora

Kana-only3

recorded spellings

1-kanji forms5

recorded spellings

2-kanji forms21

recorded spellings

JMnedict classification evidence

How this reading is classified in the source corpus

This separates dictionary classification from popularity. The same exact kana reading can be recorded as a given name, a surname, or both, and given-name records can carry male, female or unspecified source labels.

Primary reading recorded asGiven name + surname

あお in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms27

27 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms5

5 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labelsfemale 27

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
あおAo2727 source rowsfemale 27source rows · distinct forms: female 2755 source rows
あをAo12 source rowsfemale 2source rows · distinct forms: female 100 source rows
あをAo00 source rowssource rows · distinct forms: —00 source rows

Classification boundary: male/female/unspecified are labels attached to imported JMnedict name records. They are not population shares, probabilities, identity claims, or evidence that a spelling is currently common in Japan. A source row can also be repeated across different written forms, so row counts and distinct-writing counts are shown separately.

Spelling anatomy

Corpus structure behind Ao

This section summarizes the exact source-recorded forms loaded for this reading group. Stroke and character-position statistics are descriptive corpus properties, not popularity or style scores.

Kanji forms with complete stroke data26

8–29 strokes observed span

Median total strokes18

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms26

all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes

Other/unclassified kanji forms0

contains at least one character outside that loaded classification

Reading ambiguity

Can the same writing be read another way?

16 of 29 displayed written forms have more than one given-name reading somewhere in the active JMnedict corpus. This is dictionary-record ambiguity, not a prediction of how a particular person reads the name.

Written forms checked29

distinct spellings displayed on this page

Multiple recorded readings16

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading12

within this active given-name corpus

Largest reading set23

distinct kana readings for one displayed writing

A reading shown without a link is still source-recorded, but its destination group does not currently meet the canonical publication standard. Strong reference pages do not promote limited records merely to create extra internal links.

Kanji role reference

How recurring characters function across Ao spellings

Position counts are calculated only from the distinct written forms analyzed for this page. KANJIDIC2 nanori are character-level name-reading references; they are not used here to decompose or assert the reading of a specific multi-kanji name.

KanjiCharacter glossesFormsFirstFinalInternalSoloStrokesKANJIDIC2 nanoriLoaded class
center, middle909005あきら, え, お, さと +6Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
blue, pale5400113Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
blue, green4300114みどり, あお, たまJinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
thong, beginning, inception3030014Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
love, affection, favourite3300013あ, あし, え, かな +5Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
cherry3030010さ, ろうJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
blue, green311018Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
Asia, rank next, come after220007や, つぎ, つぐJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
empty, sky, void211008うつ, き, くJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
life, genuine, birth202005あさ, いき, いく, いけ +21Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
hollyhock2100112まもる, けJinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
large, big110003うふ, お, おう, た +9Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1

Counts describe this source-recorded spelling set, not population use. A repeated kanji can contribute to more than one position role across different spellings.

Exact writing research map

Move from a spelling to its readings, characters and literal sequence context

These relationships are exact and source-backed. Whole-name readings shown in each card come from JMnedict within the current name class; exact-writing search can surface records from other name classes. Character links open KANJIDIC2-backed kanji pages. Sequence context means the same kanji string occurs contiguously in another recorded written form—it does not prove shared origin or meaning.

Exact written form

あお

Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Aoあお · this page
Characters in order
KanaKana
Exact written form

あを

Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Aoあを · this page
Characters in order
KanaKana
Exact written form

アヲ

Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Aoあを
Characters in order
KanaKana

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 29. Every detailed spelling card below still links to exact-writing search and its component kanji.

For VPS safety, contiguous-sequence lookups are limited to six 2–4 kanji forms per canonical page and cached for 12 hours per active JMnedict generation.

Corpus pattern

Kanji recurring across Ao spellings

Only characters appearing in at least two distinct analyzed spellings are shown here. Frequency describes this source-recorded spelling set, not real-world baby-name popularity.

Same reading, different writing

Explore written forms of Ao

27 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading あお. Other source readings can appear in this romanized group when the imported records converge on the same index form. Use Compare to inspect exact spellings side by side.

あお

あお · Ao

Katakana アオMorae 2Strokes

This written form uses kana rather than kanji, so there are no character-level kanji glosses to combine.

あを

あを · Ao

Katakana アヲMorae 2Strokes

This written form uses kana rather than kanji, so there are no character-level kanji glosses to combine.

アヲ

アヲ · Ao

Katakana アヲMorae 2Strokes

This written form uses kana rather than kanji, so there are no character-level kanji glosses to combine.

Spelling comparator

Compare Ao forms side by side

Each exact written spelling appears once in this table even when JMnedict records more than one reading for that writing. Stroke totals and character glosses come from KANJIDIC2 when all component kanji are available.

SpellingOne source readingCharacter-level glossesTotal strokesLoaded character class
あおあおKana-only spellingKana spelling
あをあをKana-only spellingKana spelling
アヲアヲKana-only spellingKana spelling
亜央あお亜 — Asia, rank next · 央 — center, middle12All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
亜緒あお亜 — Asia, rank next · 緒 — thong, beginning21All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
大空あお大 — large, big · 空 — empty, sky11All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
安央あお安 — relax, cheap · 央 — center, middle11All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
愛央あお愛 — love, affection · 央 — center, middle18All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
愛桜あお愛 — love, affection · 桜 — cherry23All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
愛生あお愛 — love, affection · 生 — life, genuine18All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
明青あお明 — bright, light · 青 — blue, green16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
杏央あお杏 — apricot · 央 — center, middle12All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
あお碧 — blue, green14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
碧央あお碧 — blue, green · 央 — center, middle19All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
碧生あお碧 — blue, green · 生 — life, genuine19All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
碧穂あお碧 — blue, green · 穂 — ear, ear (grain)29All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified

The comparison table shows the first 16 distinct written forms; the detailed cards above show up to 80 spelling/reading records.

What does Ao mean?

There is not necessarily one fixed English meaning. The reading identifies the spoken name; different written forms can use different kanji. Character glosses describe individual kanji and should not be treated as proof of the intention behind a particular person’s name.

Related readings

More names beginning with あお

Related by the opening kana of the dictionary reading. This is a deterministic browsing relationship, not a claim that the names share the same meaning.

Continue research

Where to go next from Ao

Use literal reading, character and corpus relationships to continue without treating nearby records as automatically related.

Evidence on this page

What each source establishes

JMnedict establishes recorded written forms, readings and name classifications; where safely associated, this page can also show JMnedict-supplied trans_det source text without treating it as a whole-name meaning. KANJIDIC2 supplies character readings, nanori, stroke counts, grade classes and English character glosses. The Ministry of Justice remains the official reference for Japanese child-name character rules. The Agency for Cultural Affairs romanization guidance is the reference for generated Latin-script reading aids.

JMnedictChecked 17 Sep 2026Active data built 16 Sep 2026Stored status: downloaded
KANJIDIC2Checked 17 Sep 2026Active data built 17 Sep 2026
Japan Ministry of Justice — characters usable in children’s namesChecked 17 Sep 2026
Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs — Romanization Rules (2025)Checked 17 Sep 2026
Source boundary

The spelling-frequency and structural counts on this page are calculated from imported JMnedict records. They are corpus counts, not population-frequency claims. KANJIDIC2 supplies the kanji metadata used in character and stroke comparisons.

Review sources →