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Evidence-led referenceJapanese names, readings and kanji
japanesenameatlas.infoJapanese name reference
Canonical reference record
JMnedict-backedKANJIDIC2 character context
Japanese given name

Shima

シマ

Given-name classification varies across source records.

しまシマShima
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 spellings44

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows45

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Shima

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しま

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formシマ

The same reading converted to katakana.

RomanizationShima

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

Mora segmentationし · ま

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 Shima 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 “Shima”, 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

シマ

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
シKana characterマKana character
Kana-only spelling

しま

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
しKana characterまKana character
Kanji spelling

偲麻

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

史万

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.

Kanji spelling

史真

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.

Kanji spelling

史馬

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

史麻

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

司馬

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

四麻

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

姿摩

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

姿磨

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.

Kanji spelling

姿麻

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 45. 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 Shima 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

しま · シマ

Kanji-based spellings43

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 forms2

recorded spellings

2-kanji forms41

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

しま in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms44

45 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms18

19 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labelsfemale 43 · unspecified 2

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
しまShima4445 source rowsfemale 43 · unspecified 2source rows · distinct forms: female 42 · unspecified 21819 source rows
しまShima00 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 Shima

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 data43

6–28 strokes observed span

Median total strokes19

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms42

all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes

Other/unclassified kanji forms1

contains at least one character outside that loaded classification

Reading ambiguity

Can the same writing be read another way?

7 of 45 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 checked45

distinct spellings displayed on this page

Multiple recorded readings7

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading37

within this active given-name corpus

Largest reading set4

distinct kana readings for one displayed writing

詩麻
3 source-recorded readings
ShiasaしあさShioしおShimaしま · this page
司馬
2 source-recorded readings
Shimaしま · this pageShimeしめ
子麻
2 source-recorded readings
ShioしおShimaしま · this page
志麻
2 source-recorded readings
ShioしおShimaしま · this page
慈真
2 source-recorded readings
JishinじしんShimaしま · 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 Shima 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
志intention, plan, resolve11110007じん, べ, べし, ゆきJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
麻hemp, flax, numb9090011あ, あざ, おJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
真true, reality, Buddhist sect6060010さな, さね, ただ, ただし +11Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
摩chafe, rub, polish6060015—Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
万ten thousand, 10,000505003かず, ま, ゆるJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
紫purple, violet5500012さい, ゆかりJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
史history, chronicle440005あきら, あや, お, こ +7Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
馬horse4040010た, ばんJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
子child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM440003い, き, ぎ, く +2Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
茉jasmine404008みJinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
詩poem, poetry4400013—Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
姿figure, form, shape330009しなJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 6

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

シマ

Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Shimaしま
Characters in order
シKanaマKana
Exact written form

しま

Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Shimaしま · this page
Characters in order
しKanaまKana

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 45. Every detailed spelling card below still links to exact-writing search and its component kanji.

Corpus pattern

Kanji recurring across Shima 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 Shima

45 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading しま. 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.

シマ

シマ · Shima

Katakana シマMorae 2Strokes —

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

しま

しま · Shima

Katakana シマMorae 2Strokes —

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

Spelling comparator

Compare Shima 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
シマシマKana-only spelling—Kana spelling
しましまKana-only spelling—Kana spelling
偲麻しま偲 — recollect, remember · 麻 — hemp, flax22All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
史万しま史 — history, chronicle · 万 — ten thousand, 10,0008All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
史真しま史 — history, chronicle · 真 — true, reality15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
史馬しま史 — history, chronicle · 馬 — horse15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
史麻しま史 — history, chronicle · 麻 — hemp, flax16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
司馬しま司 — director, official · 馬 — horse15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
四麻しま四 — four · 麻 — hemp, flax16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
姿摩しま姿 — figure, form · 摩 — chafe, rub24All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
姿磨しま姿 — figure, form · 磨 — grind, polish25All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
姿麻しま姿 — figure, form · 麻 — hemp, flax20All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
子万しま子 — child, sign of the rat · 万 — ten thousand, 10,0006All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
子真しま子 — child, sign of the rat · 真 — true, reality13All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
子茉しま子 — child, sign of the rat · 茉 — jasmine11All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
子麻しま子 — child, sign of the rat · 麻 — hemp, flax14All 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 Shima 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 しま

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.

Shared-kanji relationships

Other names sharing kanji with Shima

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.

Continue research

Where to go next from Shima

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.

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 →