group-level written forms
Canonical reference record
JMnedict-backedKANJIDIC2 character context
Reference coverageDistinct recorded spellings13 Source spelling/reading rows13 Coverage levelExtended
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.
records contributing to this reading group
based only on the imported source footprint
Pronunciation & romanization
How to read Ken
The kana reading is source-recorded. Romanization and mora segmentation are deterministic reading aids generated from that kana; pitch accent is not inferred.
Normalized to hiragana for comparison.
The same reading converted to katakana.
Macron-style display. Vowel-sequence form: Ken. Personal spelling and true vowel boundaries can differ.
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 Ken 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.
けん
among the forms analyzed on this page
in the primary dictionary reading
small ゃ/ゅ/ょ-type kana combine with the preceding mora
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.
けん in the imported JMnedict corpus
32 source spelling/reading rows
23 source spelling/reading rows
row counts carrying each JMnedict source label
| Exact reading | Given-name evidence | Given-name labels | Surname evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| けんKen | 3032 source rows | male 2 · female 3 · unspecified 27source rows · distinct forms: male 2 · female 2 · unspecified 27 | 2123 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 Ken
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.
7–18 strokes observed span
among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data
all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes
contains at least one character outside that loaded classification
| Reading | Romanization | Morae | Forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| けん | Ken | 2 | 13 |
Reading ambiguity
Can the same writing be read another way?
12 of 13 displayed written forms have more than one surname reading somewhere in the active JMnedict corpus. This is dictionary-record ambiguity, not a prediction of how a particular person reads the name.
distinct spellings displayed on this page
exact written forms with 2+ source readings
within this active surname corpus
distinct kana readings for one displayed writing
乾
間
厳
筧
縣
阮
健
4 source-recorded readings
権
4 source-recorded readings
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 Ken 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.
| Kanji | Character glosses | Forms | First | Final | Internal | Solo | Strokes | KANJIDIC2 nanori | Loaded class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 乾 | drought, dry, desiccate | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | — | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8 |
| 健 | healthy, health, strength | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | かつ, たけ, たけし, たて +3 | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4 |
| 厳 | stern, strictness, severity | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | いつ, いづ, きゅうら, とし | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 6 |
| 権 | authority, power, rights | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | — | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 6 |
| 甄 | porcelain, make clear, distinguish between | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | — | Unclassified in the loaded KANJIDIC grade field |
| 県 | prefecture | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | あがた, がた | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3 |
| 研 | polish, study of, sharpen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | のり | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3 |
| 筧 | waterpipe, flume | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | かけい | Unclassified in the loaded KANJIDIC grade field |
| 縣 | county, district, subdivision | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | あがた, がた | Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 10 |
| 観 | outlook, look, appearance | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | — | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4 |
| 謙 | self-effacing, humble oneself, condescend | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | かね, ゆずる | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8 |
| 間 | interval, space | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | ちか, は, はざ, はし | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2 |
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
乾
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Characters in order
Exact written form
健
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Characters in order
Exact written form
厳
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Characters in order
Exact written form
権
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Characters in order
Exact written form
甄
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kenけん · this page
Characters in order
Exact written form
県
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
AgataあがたKenけん · this page
Characters in order
Exact written form
研
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kenけん · this pageTogiとぎ
Characters in order
Exact written form
筧
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Characters in order
Exact written form
縣
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Characters in order
Exact written form
観
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Characters in order
Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 13. 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.
Same reading, different writing
Explore written forms of Ken
13 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading けん. 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.
乾
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
健
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
厳
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
権
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
甄
けん · Ken
Character-set checkContains at least one kanji outside the loaded jōyō/jinmeiyō classification
県
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
研
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
筧
けん · Ken
Character-set checkContains at least one kanji outside the loaded jōyō/jinmeiyō classification
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
縣
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
観
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
謙
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
間
けん · Ken
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
阮
けん · Ken
Character-set checkContains at least one kanji outside the loaded jōyō/jinmeiyō classification
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported surname corpus.
Spelling comparator
Compare Ken 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.
| Spelling | One source reading | Character-level glosses | Total strokes | Loaded character class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 乾 | けん | 乾 — drought, dry | 11 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 健 | けん | 健 — healthy, health | 11 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 厳 | けん | 厳 — stern, strictness | 17 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 権 | けん | 権 — authority, power | 15 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 甄 | けん | 甄 — porcelain, make clear | 14 | Includes unclassified/outside loaded jōyō-jinmeiyō class |
| 県 | けん | 県 — prefecture | 9 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 研 | けん | 研 — polish, study of | 9 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 筧 | けん | 筧 — waterpipe, flume | 13 | Includes unclassified/outside loaded jōyō-jinmeiyō class |
| 縣 | けん | 縣 — county, district | 16 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 観 | けん | 観 — outlook, look | 18 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 謙 | けん | 謙 — self-effacing, humble oneself | 17 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 間 | けん | 間 — interval, space | 12 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 阮 | けん | 阮 — place name | 7 | Includes unclassified/outside loaded jōyō-jinmeiyō class |
What does Ken 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 surnames beginning with けん
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.
Surname · limited reference
Kenjō
22 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceKenmotsu
16 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceKenmochi
14 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceKenzaki
14 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceKenda
13 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceGenba
12 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceGen
10 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceGenma
8 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceGenta
8 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceGenda
7 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceKendō
7 recorded spellings
Explore →Surname · limited referenceKenmoto
7 recorded spellings
Explore →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 →