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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

Kanaka

伽那華

Female-classified given-name records.

かなかカナカKanaka
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 spellings15

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows15

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Kanaka

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かなか

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formカナカ

The same reading converted to katakana.

RomanizationKanaka

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

Mora segmentationか · な · か

3 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 Kanaka 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 readings1

かなか

Kanji-based spellings15

among the forms analyzed on this page

Kana characters3

in the primary dictionary reading

Morae3

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

2-kanji forms5

recorded spellings

3-kanji forms10

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

かなか in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms15

15 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms13

13 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labelsfemale 15

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
かなかKanaka1515 source rowsfemale 15source rows · distinct forms: female 151313 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 Kanaka

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 data15

15–28 strokes observed span

Median total strokes24

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms15

all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes

Other/unclassified kanji forms0

contains at least one character outside that loaded classification

Recurring adjacent kanji sequences
珂那3 analyzed forms那華2 analyzed forms

Shown only when the same adjacent two-kanji sequence occurs in at least two analyzed source forms. Open a sequence in Kanji Pair Research for corpus co-occurrence context.

Reading ambiguity

Can the same writing be read another way?

4 of 15 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 checked15

distinct spellings displayed on this page

Multiple recorded readings4

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading11

within this active given-name corpus

Largest reading set3

distinct kana readings for one displayed writing

哉佳
2 source-recorded readings
Kanakaかなか · this pageSaikaさいか
奏歌
2 source-recorded readings
Kanakaかなか · this pageSōkaそうか

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 Kanaka 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
excellent, beautiful, good523008けい, よしJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
what?400407とも, やすJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
splendor, flower, petal4130010Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
Nara, what?300308Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
jewel330009Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
incense, smell, perfume321009こ, こお, ひゃん, よしJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
flower303007Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
nursing, attending, entertainer211007Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
add, addition, increase211005Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
play music, speak to a ruler, complete220009すすむJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 6
south200209なみ, は, みな, みまみJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
寿longevity, congratulations, one's natural life101007かず, じ, じゅう, すっ +9Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8

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.

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 15. 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 Kanaka 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 Kanaka

15 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading かなか. 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.

Spelling comparator

Compare Kanaka 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
伽那華かなか伽 — nursing, attending · 那 — what? · 華 — splendor, flower24All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
佳奈加かなか佳 — excellent, beautiful · 奈 — Nara, what? · 加 — add, addition21All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
佳寿かなか佳 — excellent, beautiful · 寿 — longevity, congratulations15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
加奈佳かなか加 — add, addition · 奈 — Nara, what? · 佳 — excellent, beautiful21All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
叶華かなか叶 — grant, answer · 華 — splendor, flower15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
哉佳かなか哉 — how, what · 佳 — excellent, beautiful17All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
奏伽かなか奏 — play music, speak to a ruler · 伽 — nursing, attending16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
奏歌かなか奏 — play music, speak to a ruler · 歌 — song, sing23All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
珂那夏かなか珂 — jewel · 那 — what? · 夏 — summer26All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
珂那華かなか珂 — jewel · 那 — what? · 華 — splendor, flower26All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
珂那香かなか珂 — jewel · 那 — what? · 香 — incense, smell25All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
華菜花かなか華 — splendor, flower · 菜 — vegetable, side dish · 花 — flower28All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
風南花かなか風 — wind, air · 南 — south · 花 — flower25All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
香南佳かなか香 — incense, smell · 南 — south · 佳 — excellent, beautiful26All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
香奈花かなか香 — incense, smell · 奈 — Nara, what? · 花 — flower24All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified

What does Kanaka 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 かな

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 Kanaka

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 →