group-level written forms
Canonical reference record
JMnedict-backedKANJIDIC2 character context
Japanese given name
Kao
伽緒
Given-name classification varies across source records.
かおカオKao
Reference coverageDistinct recorded spellings32 Source spelling/reading rows32 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 Kao
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: Kao. 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.
Meaning by written form
What can Kao mean?
A Japanese name can be written in more than one way, and its meaning can change with the kanji used. Rather than assigning one English meaning to “Kao”, this page explains each recorded spelling separately.
character meanings available
no kanji meaning attached
based on the exact written form
Kanji spelling
伽緒
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
佳乙
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
佳央
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
佳桜
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
佳緒
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
加桜
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
加緒
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
可緒
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
嘉緒
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
圭央
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
夏生
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Kanji spelling
夏緒
These are dictionary meanings for the kanji used in this spelling. Together they can suggest associations, but they do not establish one fixed English translation or a particular person’s naming intent.
Characters and loaded glosses
Showing meaning context for the first 12 distinct written forms out of 32. The recorded-spellings section below retains the wider source set.
How to read these meanings
The English words shown here are dictionary meanings of individual kanji. They help explain what a spelling can suggest, but they are not a guaranteed translation of the full name and do not establish why a particular person was given that name.
Reading profile
How Kao 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.
かお
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.
かお in the imported JMnedict corpus
35 source spelling/reading rows
4 source spelling/reading rows
row counts carrying each JMnedict source label
| Exact reading | Given-name evidence | Given-name labels | Surname evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| かおKao | 3535 source rows | female 34 · unspecified 1source rows · distinct forms: female 34 · unspecified 1 | 44 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 Kao
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.
9–29 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| かお | Kao | 2 | 32 |
Reading ambiguity
Can the same writing be read another way?
16 of 32 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.
distinct spellings displayed on this page
exact written forms with 2+ source readings
within this active given-name corpus
distinct kana readings for one displayed writing
夏生
華生
花生
佳央
3 source-recorded readings
夏緒
桂生
花央
花桜
A reading shown without a link is still source-recorded, but its destination group does not yet meet the reference-depth standard used for the main library. Limited records are not promoted merely to create extra internal links.
Kanji role reference
How recurring characters function across Kao 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 緒 | thong, beginning, inception | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 14 | ほ | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8 |
| 桜 | cherry | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 | さ, ろう | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5 |
| 央 | center, middle | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | あきら, え, お, さと +6 | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3 |
| 生 | life, genuine, birth | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | あさ, いき, いく, いけ +21 | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1 |
| 花 | flower | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | わ | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1 |
| 佳 | excellent, beautiful, good | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | けい, よし | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8 |
| 華 | splendor, flower, petal | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | わ | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8 |
| 果 | fruit, reward, carry out | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | み | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4 |
| 歌 | song, sing | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | — | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2 |
| 香 | incense, smell, perfume | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | こ, こお, ひゃん, よし | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4 |
| 加 | add, addition, increase | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | — | Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4 |
| 夏 | summer | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | — | 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
伽緒
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kaoかお · this page
Characters in order
Other public forms containing the same contiguous sequence
The exact sequence 伽緒 appears contiguously inside these other source-recorded forms.
Exact written form
佳乙
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kaoかお · this page
Characters in order
Exact written form
佳央
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Characters in order
Other public forms containing the same contiguous sequence
The exact sequence 佳央 appears contiguously inside these other source-recorded forms.
Exact written form
佳桜
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kaoかお · this page
Characters in order
Exact written form
佳緒
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kaoかお · this pageKaoruかおる
Characters in order
Exact written form
加桜
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kaoかお · this page
Characters in order
Exact written form
加緒
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kaoかお · this page
Characters in order
Exact written form
可緒
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kaoかお · this page
Characters in order
Exact written form
嘉緒
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kaoかお · this page
Characters in order
Exact written form
圭央
Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kaoかお · this page
Characters in order
Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 32. Every detailed spelling card below still links to exact-writing search and its component kanji.
Corpus pattern
Kanji recurring across Kao 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.
緒thong, beginning, inception11 of 32 analyzed forms桜cherry7 of 32 analyzed forms央center, middle6 of 32 analyzed forms生life, genuine, birth5 of 32 analyzed forms花flower5 of 32 analyzed forms佳excellent, beautiful, good4 of 32 analyzed forms華splendor, flower, petal4 of 32 analyzed forms果fruit, reward, carry out3 of 32 analyzed forms歌song, sing3 of 32 analyzed forms香incense, smell, perfume3 of 32 analyzed forms
Same reading, different writing
Explore written forms of Kao
32 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading かお. 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.
伽緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
佳乙
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
佳央
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
佳桜
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
佳緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
加桜
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
加緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
可緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
嘉緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
圭央
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
夏生
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
夏緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
果桜
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
果生
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
果緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
桂生
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
歌央
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
歌穂
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
歌緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
花央
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
花桜
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
花欧
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
花生
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
花緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
華央
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
華桜
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
華生
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded readings
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
華緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
霞桜
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
香央
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
香桜
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
香緒
かお · Kao
Character-set checkAll kanji are classified as jōyō/jinmeiyō in KANJIDIC2
Same writing, other recorded reading
Exact written-form relationship inside the imported given-name corpus.
Spelling comparator
Compare Kao 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 伽緒 | かお | 伽 — nursing, attending · 緒 — thong, beginning | 21 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 佳乙 | かお | 佳 — excellent, beautiful · 乙 — the latter, duplicate | 9 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 佳央 | かお | 佳 — excellent, beautiful · 央 — center, middle | 13 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 佳桜 | かお | 佳 — excellent, beautiful · 桜 — cherry | 18 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 佳緒 | かお | 佳 — excellent, beautiful · 緒 — thong, beginning | 22 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 加桜 | かお | 加 — add, addition · 桜 — cherry | 15 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 加緒 | かお | 加 — add, addition · 緒 — thong, beginning | 19 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 可緒 | かお | 可 — can, passable · 緒 — thong, beginning | 19 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 嘉緒 | かお | 嘉 — applaud, praise · 緒 — thong, beginning | 28 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 圭央 | かお | 圭 — square jewel, corner · 央 — center, middle | 11 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 夏生 | かお | 夏 — summer · 生 — life, genuine | 15 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 夏緒 | かお | 夏 — summer · 緒 — thong, beginning | 24 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 果桜 | かお | 果 — fruit, reward · 桜 — cherry | 18 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 果生 | かお | 果 — fruit, reward · 生 — life, genuine | 13 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 果緒 | かお | 果 — fruit, reward · 緒 — thong, beginning | 22 | All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified |
| 桂生 | かお | 桂 — Japanese Judas-tree, cinnamon tree · 生 — life, genuine | 15 | All 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 Kao 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 かお
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.
Given name · female · limited reference
Kaori
255 recorded spellings
Explore →Given name · mixed records · limited referenceKaoru
64 recorded spellings
Explore →Given name · female · limited referenceKaoko
61 recorded spellings
Explore →Given name · female · limited referenceKaoriko
39 recorded spellings
Explore →Given name · female · limited referenceKaon
20 recorded spellings
Explore →Given name · mixed records · limited referenceKaoruko
14 recorded spellings
Explore →Given name · female · limited referenceKaomi
7 recorded spellings
Explore →Given name · female · limited referenceKaō
7 recorded spellings
Explore →Given name · female · limited referenceGao
3 recorded spellings
Explore →Shared-kanji relationships
Other names sharing kanji with Kao
These links are calculated from exact characters appearing in source-recorded spellings on this page. Sharing a kanji does not mean two names have the same reading, origin, gender or intended meaning.
Given-name relationship
Kaori
佳央果桜歌生緒花華香
10 shared kanji · 160 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipKaoko
佳央果桜歌生緒花華香
10 shared kanji · 44 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipKaoru
佳央果桜生緒花華香
9 shared kanji · 26 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipNaoka
佳央桜歌生緒花華香
9 shared kanji · 26 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipHaruka
佳央果桜歌花華香
8 shared kanji · 145 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipMika
佳央果桜歌花華香
8 shared kanji · 99 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipAkika
佳果桜歌生花華香
8 shared kanji · 71 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipFūka
佳果桜歌生花華香
8 shared kanji · 31 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipTakako
佳央果歌生花華香
8 shared kanji · 20 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipMioka
佳央桜生緒花華香
8 shared kanji · 17 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipSayaka
佳果桜歌花華香
7 shared kanji · 244 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →Given-name relationshipErika
佳央果歌花華香
7 shared kanji · 242 matching source-recorded spellings
Inspect name →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.
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 →