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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

こう

Recorded with both male and female given-name labels across dictionary entries.

こうコウ
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 spellings77

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows78

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Kō

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こう

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formコウ

The same reading converted to katakana.

Romanization

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

Mora segmentationこ · う

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 Kō 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 readings2

こう · コウ

Kanji-based spellings76

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-only2

recorded spellings

1-kanji forms67

recorded spellings

2-kanji forms9

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

こう in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms84

91 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms46

50 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labelsmale 8 · female 34 · unspecified 49

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
こう8491 source rowsmale 8 · female 34 · unspecified 49source rows · distinct forms: male 8 · female 32 · unspecified 474650 source rows
こう00 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 Kō

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 data76

3–18 strokes observed span

Median total strokes10

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms66

all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes

Other/unclassified kanji forms10

contains at least one character outside that loaded classification

Reading ambiguity

Can the same writing be read another way?

63 of 78 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 checked78

distinct spellings displayed on this page

Multiple recorded readings63

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading14

within this active given-name corpus

Largest reading set16

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 Kō 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
feathers, counter for birds, rabbits404006しゅう, ばJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
eaves, roof, house303006いえ, たか, ひろ, ひろしJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 6
ray, light210016あき, あきら, こお, てる +3Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
happiness, blessing, fortune210018こ, さき, さし, さっ +6Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
crimson, deep red210019くれ, もみJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 6
large2100110ひろ, ひろしJinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
tiger, drunkard220008たけJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
rainbow210019Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
incense, smell, perfume210019こ, こお, ひゃん, よしJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
span, range, extend over100016のぶ, とうる, わたる, ひさしJinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
pass through, go smoothly100017とうる, みち, ゆき, あきら +4Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
happiness, luck1000110Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9

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

こう

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

コウ

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

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 78. 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 Kō 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 Kō

78 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading こう. 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.

こう

こう · Kō

Katakana コウMorae 2Strokes

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

コウ

コウ · Kō

Katakana コウMorae 2Strokes

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

こう · Kō

Katakana コウMorae 2Strokes 12
Same writing, other recorded reading

Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.

こう · Kō

Katakana コウMorae 2Strokes 6
Same writing, other recorded reading

Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.

こう · Kō

Katakana コウMorae 2Strokes 8
Same writing, other recorded reading

Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.

こう · Kō

Katakana コウMorae 2Strokes 16

こう · Kō

Katakana コウMorae 2Strokes 10
Same writing, other recorded reading

Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.

こう · Kō

Katakana コウMorae 2Strokes 13
Same writing, other recorded reading

Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.

こう · Kō

Katakana コウMorae 2Strokes 16
Spelling comparator

Compare Kō 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
こうこうKana-only spellingKana spelling
コウコウKana-only spellingKana spelling
こう亘 — span, range6All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう亨 — pass through, go smoothly7All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう倖 — happiness, luck10All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう候 — climate, season10All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう光 — ray, light6All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
光有こう光 — ray, light · 有 — possess, have12All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう公 — public, prince4All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう凰 — female phoenix bird11All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう剛 — sturdy, strength10All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう功 — achievement, merits5All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう厚 — thick, heavy9All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう喬 — high, boasting12All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう好 — fond, pleasing6All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
こう孝 — filial piety, child's respect7All 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 Kō 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 こう

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 Kō

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 →