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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

ユウ

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

ゆうユウ
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 spellings129

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows134

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Yū

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ゆう

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formユウ

The same reading converted to katakana.

Romanization

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

Mora segmentationゆ · 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 Yū 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

ゆう · ユウ

Kanji-based spellings128

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 forms33

recorded spellings

2-kanji forms95

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

ゆう in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms129

134 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms20

20 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labelsmale 4 · female 121 · unspecified 9

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
ゆう129134 source rowsmale 4 · female 121 · unspecified 9source rows · distinct forms: male 4 · female 120 · unspecified 92020 source rows
ゆう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 Yū

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 data128

3–30 strokes observed span

Median total strokes15

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms125

all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes

Other/unclassified kanji forms3

contains at least one character outside that loaded classification

Reading ambiguity

Can the same writing be read another way?

53 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 readings53

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading26

within this active given-name corpus

Largest reading set17

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 Yū 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, rabbits17017006しゅう, ばJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
possess, have, exist1678016あ, あら, あり, ある +3Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
life, genuine, birth14014005あさ, いき, いく, いけ +21Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
tenderness, excel, surpass121100117ゆ, よしJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 6
wherefore, a reason12101015Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
eaves, roof, house11011006いえ, たか, ひろ, ひろしJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 6
urge to eat1072018あつむ, すすむ, ゆき, ゆJinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
permanence, distant, long time10810111Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
tie, bind, contract9710112ゆい, ゆうJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
linen, cloth, spread808005う, の, ほJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
friend843014う, ど, ゆJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
help, assist733017すけ, たすく, ゆJinmeiyō · 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

ユウ

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

ゆう

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

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 130. 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 Yū 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 Yū

130 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading ゆう. 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.

ユウ

ユウ · Yū

Katakana ユウMorae 2Strokes

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

ゆう

ゆう · Yū

Katakana ユウMorae 2Strokes

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

ゆう · Yū

Katakana ユウMorae 2Strokes 4
Same writing, other recorded reading

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

ゆう · Yū

Katakana ユウMorae 2Strokes 3
Same writing, other recorded reading

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

ゆう · Yū

Katakana ユウMorae 2Strokes 12

Showing the first 80 spelling/reading records out of 130 loaded records for this reading group. The group contains 129 distinct written spellings.

Spelling comparator

Compare Yū 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
ユウユウKana-only spellingKana spelling
ゆうゆうKana-only spellingKana spelling
ゆう佑 — help, assist7All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
佑海ゆう佑 — help, assist · 海17All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
佑生ゆう佑 — help, assist · 生 — life, genuine12All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
佑羽ゆう佑 — help, assist · 羽 — feathers, counter for birds, rabbits13All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
ゆう侑 — urge to eat8All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
侑宇ゆう侑 — urge to eat · 宇 — eaves, roof14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
侑布ゆう侑 — urge to eat · 布 — linen, cloth13All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
侑海ゆう侑 — urge to eat · 海18All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
侑生ゆう侑 — urge to eat · 生 — life, genuine13All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
侑羽ゆう侑 — urge to eat · 羽 — feathers, counter for birds, rabbits14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
侑雨ゆう侑 — urge to eat · 雨 — rain16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
侑風ゆう侑 — urge to eat · 風 — wind, air17All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
ゆう優 — tenderness, excel17All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
優友ゆう優 — tenderness, excel · 友 — friend21All 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 Yū 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 ゆう

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 Yū

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 →