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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

Shikako

しか子

Female-classified given-name records.

しかこシカコShikako
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 spellings18

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows18

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Shikako

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しかこ

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formシカコ

The same reading converted to katakana.

RomanizationShikako

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

Mora segmentationし · か · こ

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 Shikako 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

しかこ

Kanji-based spellings18

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

1-kanji forms1

recorded spelling

2-kanji forms1

recorded spelling

3-kanji forms16

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

しかこ in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms23

24 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms0

0 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labelsfemale 24

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
しかこShikako2324 source rowsfemale 24source rows · distinct forms: female 2300 source rows
しかごShikago00 source rowssource rows · distinct forms: —11 source row

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 Shikako

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 data18

3–26 strokes observed span

Median total strokes19

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms18

all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes

Other/unclassified kanji forms0

contains at least one character outside that loaded classification

Source-reading distribution
ReadingRomanizationMoraeForms
しかこShikako318
Recurring adjacent kanji sequences
香子5 analyzed forms佳子3 analyzed forms華子2 analyzed forms加子2 analyzed forms花子2 analyzed forms鹿子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 18 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 checked18

distinct spellings displayed on this page

Multiple recorded readings4

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading14

within this active given-name corpus

Largest reading set4

distinct kana readings for one displayed writing

四華子
2 source-recorded readings
Shikakoしかこ · this pageShigekoしげこ
姿華子
2 source-recorded readings
Shikakoしかこ · this pageShigekoしげこ
紫花子
2 source-recorded readings
AikoあいこShikakoしかこ · this page

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 Shikako 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
child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM18018003い, き, ぎ, く +2Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
incense, smell, perfume500509こ, こお, ひゃん, よしJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
excellent, beautiful, good300308けい, よしJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
director, official, govt office220005つ, つか, つかさJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
splendor, flower, petal2002010Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
intention, plan, resolve220007じん, べ, べし, ゆきJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
add, addition, increase200205Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
flower200207Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
purple, violet2200012さい, ゆかりJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
鹿deer2101011ししJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
poem, poetry2200013Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
only, free, in addition110005Jinmeiyō · 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.

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 18. 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 Shikako 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 Shikako

18 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading しかこ. 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 Shikako 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
しか子しかこ子 — child, sign of the rat3All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
只香子しかこ只 — only, free · 香 — incense, smell · 子 — child, sign of the rat17All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
司佳子しかこ司 — director, official · 佳 — excellent, beautiful · 子 — child, sign of the rat16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
司圭子しかこ司 — director, official · 圭 — square jewel, corner · 子 — child, sign of the rat14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
四華子しかこ四 — four · 華 — splendor, flower · 子 — child, sign of the rat18All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
姿華子しかこ姿 — figure, form · 華 — splendor, flower · 子 — child, sign of the rat22All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
志佳子しかこ志 — intention, plan · 佳 — excellent, beautiful · 子 — child, sign of the rat18All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
志加子しかこ志 — intention, plan · 加 — add, addition · 子 — child, sign of the rat15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
思香子しかこ思 — think · 香 — incense, smell · 子 — child, sign of the rat21All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
時花子しかこ時 — time, hour · 花 — flower · 子 — child, sign of the rat20All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
椎香子しかこ椎 — chinquapin, mallet · 香 — incense, smell · 子 — child, sign of the rat24All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
紫花子しかこ紫 — purple, violet · 花 — flower · 子 — child, sign of the rat22All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
紫鹿子しかこ紫 — purple, violet · 鹿 — deer · 子 — child, sign of the rat26All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
至香子しかこ至 — climax, arrive · 香 — incense, smell · 子 — child, sign of the rat18All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
蒔香子しかこ蒔 — sow (seeds) · 香 — incense, smell · 子 — child, sign of the rat25All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
詩佳子しかこ詩 — poem, poetry · 佳 — excellent, beautiful · 子 — child, sign of the rat24All 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 Shikako 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 しか

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 Shikako

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 →