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

Shirō

之朗

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

しろうシロウShirō
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 spellings58

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows58

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Shirō

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しろう

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formシロウ

The same reading converted to katakana.

RomanizationShirō

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

Mora segmentationし · ろ · う

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 Shirō 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 “Shirō”, this page explains each recorded spelling separately.

Kanji spellings12

character meanings available

Kana-only spellings0

no kanji meaning attached

InterpretationBy spelling

based on the exact written form

Kanji spelling

之朗

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
之of, this朗clear, bright, distinct
Kanji spelling

之浪

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
之of, this浪wandering, waves, billows
Kanji spelling

之良

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
之of, this良good, pleasing, skilled
Kanji spelling

仔郎

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
仔offspring (animal), detailed, fine郎son, counter for sons
Kanji spelling

仕郎

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
仕attend, doing, official郎son, counter for sons
Kanji spelling

伺朗

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
伺pay respects, visit, ask朗clear, bright, distinct
Kanji spelling

伺郎

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
伺pay respects, visit, ask郎son, counter for sons
Kanji spelling

史朗

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
史history, chronicle朗clear, bright, distinct
Kanji spelling

史楼

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
史history, chronicle楼watchtower, lookout, high building
Kanji spelling

史琅

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
史history, chronicle琅a precious stone
Kanji spelling

史良

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
史history, chronicle良good, pleasing, skilled
Kanji spelling

史郎

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
史history, chronicle郎son, counter for sons

Showing meaning context for the first 12 distinct written forms out of 58. 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 Shirō 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 readings1

しろう

Kanji-based spellings58

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

2-kanji forms58

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 asSurname

しろう in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms0

0 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms4

4 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labels—

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
じろうJirō8686 source rowsmale 85 · female 1source rows · distinct forms: male 85 · female 100 source rows
しろうShirō00 source rows—source rows · distinct forms: —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 Shirō

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 data58

10–24 strokes observed span

Median total strokes16

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms54

all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes

Other/unclassified kanji forms4

contains at least one character outside that loaded classification

Source-reading distribution
ReadingRomanizationMoraeForms
しろうShirō358
Reading ambiguity

Can the same writing be read another way?

10 of 58 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 checked58

distinct spellings displayed on this page

Multiple recorded readings10

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading48

within this active given-name corpus

Largest reading set2

distinct kana readings for one displayed writing

史朗
2 source-recorded readings
Shirōしろう · this pageFumioふみお
史郎
2 source-recorded readings
Shirōしろう · this pageFumioふみお
嗣郎
2 source-recorded readings
Shirōしろう · this pageTsuguoつぐお
始郎
2 source-recorded readings
Shirōしろう · this pageMotōもとお
滋朗
2 source-recorded readings
ShigeoしげおShirōしろう · this page
白雨
2 source-recorded readings
Shirōしろう · this pageHakūはくう

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 Shirō 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
郎son, counter for sons26026009いら, お, とう, もん +2Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
朗clear, bright, distinct200200011—Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 10
良good, pleasing, skilled707007じ, なが, まこと, よし +3Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
史history, chronicle550005あきら, あや, お, こ +7Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
之of, this330003ゆき, いたる, あき, つな +5Jinmeiyō · KANJIDIC grade 9
司director, official, govt office330005つ, つか, つかさJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
四four330005あ, つ, よつJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
士gentleman, scholar, samurai330003お, まJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
志intention, plan, resolve330007じん, べ, べし, ゆきJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
紫purple, violet3300012さい, ゆかりJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
伺pay respects, visit, ask220007—Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 8
楼watchtower, lookout, high building2020013—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.

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 58. Every detailed spelling card below still links to exact-writing search and its component kanji.

Corpus pattern

Kanji recurring across Shirō 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.

郎son, counter for sons26 of 58 analyzed forms朗clear, bright, distinct20 of 58 analyzed forms良good, pleasing, skilled7 of 58 analyzed forms史history, chronicle5 of 58 analyzed forms之of, this3 of 58 analyzed forms司director, official, govt office3 of 58 analyzed forms四four3 of 58 analyzed forms士gentleman, scholar, samurai3 of 58 analyzed forms志intention, plan, resolve3 of 58 analyzed forms紫purple, violet3 of 58 analyzed forms
Same reading, different writing

Explore written forms of Shirō

58 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading しろう. 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.

Spelling comparator

Compare Shirō 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
之朗しろう之 — of, this · 朗 — clear, bright14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
之浪しろう之 — of, this · 浪 — wandering, waves13All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
之良しろう之 — of, this · 良 — good, pleasing10All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
仔郎しろう仔 — offspring (animal), detailed · 郎 — son, counter for sons14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
仕郎しろう仕 — attend, doing · 郎 — son, counter for sons14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
伺朗しろう伺 — pay respects, visit · 朗 — clear, bright18All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
伺郎しろう伺 — pay respects, visit · 郎 — son, counter for sons16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
史朗しろう史 — history, chronicle · 朗 — clear, bright16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
史楼しろう史 — history, chronicle · 楼 — watchtower, lookout18All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
史琅しろう史 — history, chronicle · 琅 — a precious stone16Includes unclassified/outside loaded jōyō-jinmeiyō class
史良しろう史 — history, chronicle · 良 — good, pleasing12All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
史郎しろう史 — history, chronicle · 郎 — son, counter for sons14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
司朗しろう司 — director, official · 朗 — clear, bright16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
司良しろう司 — director, official · 良 — good, pleasing12All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
司郎しろう司 — director, official · 郎 — son, counter for sons14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
嗣朗しろう嗣 — heir, succeed · 朗 — clear, bright24All 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 Shirō 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 しろ

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 · male · limited reference

Jirō

28 recorded spellings

Explore →Given name · limited reference

Shirō

6 recorded spellings

Explore →Given name · female · limited reference

Shiroko

5 recorded spellings

Explore →Given name · male · limited reference

Jirokichi

3 recorded spellings

Explore →Given name · male · limited reference

Jirōzaemon

3 recorded spellings

Explore →Given name · mixed records · limited reference

Shiro

3 recorded spellings

Explore →Given name · limited reference

Shiroku

3 recorded spellings

Explore →Given name · female · limited reference

Shiromi

3 recorded spellings

Explore →Given name · limited reference

Shiroshi

3 recorded spellings

Explore →
Shared-kanji relationships

Other names sharing kanji with Shirō

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

Yoshio

史司四士志朗良郎

8 shared kanji · 74 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Kōshirō

之史司四士志朗郎

8 shared kanji · 34 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Kenshirō

之史司四士志朗郎

8 shared kanji · 24 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Seishirō

之史司四士志朗郎

8 shared kanji · 23 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Takashi

之史司四士志紫

7 shared kanji · 121 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Hiroshi

之史司四士志朗

7 shared kanji · 104 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Takeshi

之史司四士志紫

7 shared kanji · 69 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Masashi

之史司四士志紫

7 shared kanji · 60 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Satoshi

之史司四士志紫

7 shared kanji · 58 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Toshio

史司四士志朗郎

7 shared kanji · 52 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Kiyoshi

之史司四士志良

7 shared kanji · 52 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →Given-name relationship

Seishi

之史司四士志紫

7 shared kanji · 41 matching source-recorded spellings

Inspect name →
Continue research

Where to go next from Shirō

Use literal reading, character and corpus relationships to continue without treating nearby records as automatically related.

Exact reading

Search しろう

See source records matching this kana reading or beginning with it.

Continue →Reading family

Shi / し

Browse other public given names with the same opening reading family.

Continue →Character reference

郎 — son, counter for sons

Open the kanji page for readings, classifications and literal name-use context.

Continue →Character reference

朗 — clear, bright

Open the kanji page for readings, classifications and literal name-use context.

Continue →Interactive discovery

Open Name Explorer

Use the same name type and 3-mora reading length as a starting point.

Continue →
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 →