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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

Mai

マイ

Given-name classification varies across source records.

まいマイMai
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 spellings94

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows95

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Mai

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まい

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formマイ

The same reading converted to katakana.

RomanizationMai

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

Mora segmentationま · い

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 Mai 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

まい · マイ

Kanji-based spellings93

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 forms7

recorded spellings

2-kanji forms85

recorded spellings

3-kanji forms1

recorded spelling

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

まい in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms94

95 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms8

8 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labelsfemale 93 · unspecified 2

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
まいMai9495 source rowsfemale 93 · unspecified 2source rows · distinct forms: female 92 · unspecified 288 source rows
まいMai00 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 Mai

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 data93

6–30 strokes observed span

Median total strokes18

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms93

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
真衣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?

37 of 80 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 checked80

distinct spellings displayed on this page

Multiple recorded readings37

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading42

within this active given-name corpus

Largest reading set22

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 Mai 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
true, reality, Buddhist sect191900010さな, さね, ただ, ただし +11Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
hemp, flax, numb171700011あ, あざ, おJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
garment, clothes, dressing15014106Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
reliant, depend on, consequently11011008よ, よりJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
ten thousand, 10,000990003かず, ま, ゆるJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
jasmine880008Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
solely, only, merely7070011Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
love, affection, favourite7340013あ, あし, え, かな +5Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
dance, flit, circle7600115Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
by means of, because, in view of404005もちJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
military officer, jailer, old man4040011Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
truth, reality, Buddhist sect4400010さな, ち, まこ, まさ +1Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 10

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

マイ

Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Maiまい
Characters in order
KanaKana
Exact written form

まい

Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Maiまい · this page
Characters in order
KanaKana

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 95. 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 Mai 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 Mai

95 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading まい. 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.

マイ

マイ · Mai

Katakana マイMorae 2Strokes

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

まい

まい · Mai

Katakana マイMorae 2Strokes

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

まい · Mai

Katakana マイMorae 2Strokes 6

Showing the first 80 spelling/reading records out of 95 loaded records for this reading group. The group contains 94 distinct written spellings.

Spelling comparator

Compare Mai 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
マイマイKana-only spellingKana spelling
まいまいKana-only spellingKana spelling
万以まい万 — ten thousand, 10,000 · 以 — by means of, because8All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
万依まい万 — ten thousand, 10,000 · 依 — reliant, depend on11All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
万偉まい万 — ten thousand, 10,000 · 偉 — admirable, greatness15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
万唯まい万 — ten thousand, 10,000 · 唯 — solely, only14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
万尉まい万 — ten thousand, 10,000 · 尉 — military officer, jailer14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
万惟まい万 — ten thousand, 10,000 · 惟 — consider, reflect14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
万意まい万 — ten thousand, 10,000 · 意 — idea, mind16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
万愛まい万 — ten thousand, 10,000 · 愛 — love, affection16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
万衣まい万 — ten thousand, 10,000 · 衣 — garment, clothes9All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
まい妹 — younger sister8All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
愛依まい愛 — love, affection · 依 — reliant, depend on21All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
愛唯まい愛 — love, affection · 唯 — solely, only24All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
愛好まい愛 — love, affection · 好 — fond, pleasing19All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
摩依まい摩 — chafe, rub · 依 — reliant, depend on23All 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 Mai 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 まい

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 Mai

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 →