Canonical reference record

JMnedict-backedKANJIDIC2 character context

Japanese given name

Minami

ミナミ

Given-name classification varies across source records.

みなみミナミMinami

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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 spellings147

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows148

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Minami

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みなみ

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formミナミ

The same reading converted to katakana.

RomanizationMinami

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

Mora segmentationみ · な · み

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.

Meaning by written form

What can Minami 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 “Minami”, this page explains each recorded spelling separately.

Kanji spellings10

character meanings available

Kana-only spellings2

no kanji meaning attached

InterpretationBy spelling

based on the exact written form

Kana-only spelling

ミナミ

This spelling is written only in kana. Because it contains no kanji, there is no kanji meaning to interpret here. The kana record the name’s sound; any personal or cultural meaning would depend on context not supplied by the dictionary.

Characters and loaded glosses

ミKana characterナKana characterミKana character

Kana-only spelling

みなみ

Characters and loaded glosses

みKana characterなKana characterみKana character

Mixed kanji and kana spelling

みな実

This spelling combines kanji and kana. Dictionary meanings are shown only for the kanji characters; the kana represent sound and do not add a kanji-derived English meaning.

Characters and loaded glosses

みKana characterなKana character実reality, truth, seed

Mixed kanji and kana spelling

みな海

This spelling combines kanji and kana. Dictionary meanings are shown only for the kanji characters; the kana represent sound and do not add a kanji-derived English meaning.

Characters and loaded glosses

みKana characterなKana character海No English gloss loaded

Mixed kanji and kana spelling

みな美

This spelling combines kanji and kana. Dictionary meanings are shown only for the kanji characters; the kana represent sound and do not add a kanji-derived English meaning.

Characters and loaded glosses

みKana characterなKana character美beauty, beautiful

Kanji spelling

三七実

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

三three七seven実reality, truth, seed

Kanji spelling

三也美

Characters and loaded glosses

三three也to be (classical)美beauty, beautiful

Kanji spelling

三奈実

Characters and loaded glosses

三three奈Nara, what?実reality, truth, seed

Kanji spelling

三奈未

Characters and loaded glosses

三three奈Nara, what?未un-, not yet, hitherto

Kanji spelling

三奈海

Characters and loaded glosses

三three奈Nara, what?海No English gloss loaded

Kanji spelling

三奈美

Characters and loaded glosses

三three奈Nara, what?美beauty, beautiful

Kanji spelling

三波

Characters and loaded glosses

三three波waves, billows, Poland

Showing meaning context for the first 12 distinct written forms out of 148. 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 Minami 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

みなみ · ミナミ

Kanji-based spellings146

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

Kana-only2

recorded spellings

1-kanji forms6

recorded spellings

2-kanji forms62

recorded spellings

3-kanji forms78

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

みなみ in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms147

148 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms30

30 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labelsfemale 147 · unspecified 1

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact reading	Given-name evidence	Given-name labels	Surname evidence
みなみMinami	147148 source rows	female 147 · unspecified 1source rows · distinct forms: female 146 · unspecified 1	3030 source rows
みなみMinami	00 source rows	—source 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 Minami

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 data145

8–39 strokes observed span

Median total strokes21

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms145

all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes

Other/unclassified kanji forms1

contains at least one character outside that loaded classification

Source-reading distribution

Reading	Romanization	Morae	Forms
みなみ	Minami	3	148

Recurring first-position kanji

美beauty, beautiful30 forms 実reality, truth17 forms 未un-, not yet15 forms 南south12 forms 三three8 forms 水water8 forms

Recurring final-position kanji

美beauty, beautiful35 forms 海Kanji20 forms 波waves, billows15 forms 実reality, truth13 forms 南south12 forms 未un-, not yet7 forms

One-character kanji forms

南south1 form 翠green, kingfisher1 form 陽sunshine, yang principle1 form

Recurring adjacent kanji sequences

奈美9 analyzed forms 未奈7 analyzed forms 菜美6 analyzed forms 那美6 analyzed forms 美菜6 analyzed forms 奈実5 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?

19 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 readings19

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading60

within this active given-name corpus

Largest reading set12

distinct kana readings for one displayed writing

心海

12 source-recorded readings

Kiyomiきよみ Kokoaここあ Kokomiここみ Kokoroこころ Konoaこのあ Konomiこのみ

太陽

10 source-recorded readings

SanさんSoruそるTaiyōたいよう TakaharuたかはるTahiたひTsubasaつばさ

南

8 source-recorded readings

NamiなみNamuchoruなむちょるNanなんNantetsuなんてつHinataひなた Miumiみうみ

優花

7 source-recorded readings

Harukaはるか MasakaまさかMinamiみなみ · this pageYūkaゆうか Yukaゆか Yoshikaよしか

南風

7 source-recorded readings

Nauなう NaoなおNanpūなんぷうMikaみか MikazeみかぜMinamiみなみ · this page

光波

4 source-recorded readings

Kanamiかなみ Kōhaこうは MitsuhaみつはMinamiみなみ · this page

南帆

4 source-recorded readings

Naoなお Nahoなほ MinahoみなほMinamiみなみ · this page

小南

4 source-recorded readings

Konamiこなみ KonanこなんShōnanしょうなんMinamiみなみ · this page

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 Minami 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
美	beauty, beautiful	64	30	35	0	0	9	はる, よし, よしみ, り	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
南	south	34	12	12	11	1	9	なみ, は, みな, みまみ	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
実	reality, truth, seed	29	17	13	0	0	8	ぐみ, さね	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
海	—	28	8	20	0	0	10	—	Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 10
奈	Nara, what?	24	0	0	24	0	8	—	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
未	un-, not yet, hitherto	21	15	7	0	0	5	—	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
波	waves, billows, Poland	18	0	15	3	0	8	ひら, みな, みなみ, わ	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
菜	vegetable, side dish, greens	14	0	0	14	0	11	よう	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
那	what?	9	0	0	9	0	7	とも, やす	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
水	water	9	8	1	0	0	4	うず, ずみ, つ, ど +5	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
三	three	8	8	0	0	0	3	か, さ, さい, さえ +11	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
弥	all the more, increasingly	8	6	2	0	0	8	わたる, みつ, ひろ, よ	Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8

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

ミナミ

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Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ

Characters in order

ミKanaナKanaミKana

Exact written form

みなみ

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Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ · this page

Characters in order

みKanaなKanaみKana

Exact written form

みな実

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Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ · this page

Characters in order

みKanaなKana実reality, truth

Exact written form

みな海

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Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ · this page

Characters in order

みKanaなKana海Kanji reference

Exact written form

みな美

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Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ · this page

Characters in order

みKanaなKana美beauty, beautiful

Exact written form

三七実

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Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ · this page

Characters in order

三three七seven実reality, truth

Exact written form

三也美

Search exact writing →

Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ · this page

Characters in order

三three也to be (classical)美beauty, beautiful

Exact written form

三奈実

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Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ · this page

Characters in order

三three奈Nara, what?実reality, truth

Exact written form

三奈未

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Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ · this page

Characters in order

三three奈Nara, what?未un-, not yet

Exact written form

三奈海

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Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class

Minamiみなみ · this page

Characters in order

三three奈Nara, what?海Kanji reference

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 148. Every detailed spelling card below still links to exact-writing search and its component kanji.

Corpus pattern

Kanji recurring across Minami 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.

美beauty, beautiful64 of 148 analyzed forms 南south34 of 148 analyzed forms 実reality, truth, seed29 of 148 analyzed forms 海Kanji record28 of 148 analyzed forms 奈Nara, what?24 of 148 analyzed forms未un-, not yet, hitherto21 of 148 analyzed forms 波waves, billows, Poland18 of 148 analyzed forms 菜vegetable, side dish, greens14 of 148 analyzed forms 那what?9 of 148 analyzed forms水water9 of 148 analyzed forms

Same reading, different writing

Explore written forms of Minami

148 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading みなみ. 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.

ミナミ

ミナミ · Minami

Katakana ミナミMorae 3Strokes —

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

Character-set checkKana spelling

Minami

Extended source depth

How to read Minami

What can Minami mean?

ミナミ

みなみ

みな実

みな海

みな美

三七実

三也美

三奈実

三奈未

三奈海

三奈美

三波

How to read these meanings

How Minami is represented

How this reading is classified in the source corpus

Corpus structure behind Minami

Can the same writing be read another way?

How recurring characters function across Minami spellings

Move from a spelling to its readings, characters and literal sequence context

ミナミ

みなみ

みな実

みな海

みな美

三七実

三也美

三奈実

三奈未

三奈海

Kanji recurring across Minami spellings

Explore written forms of Minami

ミナミ

みなみ

みな実

みな海

みな美

三七実

三也美

三奈実

三奈未

三奈海

三奈美

三波

三菜美

優花

光波

光那美

凡美

南

南光

南南南

南夢

南奈実

南奈美

南実

南帆

南果

南海

南珠

南美

南風

史奈美

太陽

実な美

実七海

実並

実南

実南弥

実南海

実名望

実名海

実奈実

実奈海

実奈美

実波

実浪