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

Kōji

光寺

Surname-classified records in JMnedict.

こうじコウジKōji
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 spellings17

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows18

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Kōji

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こうじ

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formコウジ

The same reading converted to katakana.

RomanizationKōji

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

Mora segmentationこ · う · じ

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 Kōji 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 “Kōji”, 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

光寺

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

小池

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

小路

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

幸地

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

幸嶋

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

幸次

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

幸治

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

幸路

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

糀

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 17. 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 Kōji 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

こうじ · こうぢ

Kanji-based spellings17

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

1-kanji forms2

recorded spellings

2-kanji forms13

recorded spellings

3-kanji forms2

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

こうじ in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms0

0 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms27

30 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labels—

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
こうしKōshi317340 source rowsmale 99 · female 3 · unspecified 238source rows · distinct forms: male 98 · female 3 · unspecified 22800 source rows
こうじKōji00 source rows—source rows · distinct forms: —2730 source rows
こうちKōchi33 source rowsunspecified 3source rows · distinct forms: unspecified 32930 source rows
こうぢKōji00 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 Kōji

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 data17

9–24 strokes observed span

Median total strokes15

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms14

all component kanji loaded as jōyō/jinmeiyō classes

Other/unclassified kanji forms3

contains at least one character outside that loaded classification

Recurring adjacent kanji sequences
府寺2 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?

10 of 17 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.

Written forms checked17

distinct spellings displayed on this page

Multiple recorded readings10

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading7

within this active surname corpus

Largest reading set11

distinct kana readings for one displayed writing

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 Kōji 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
幸happiness, blessing, fortune550008こ, さき, さし, さっ +6Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
寺Buddhist temple303006—Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
治reign, be at peace, calm down303008し, ぢ, はり, はる +1Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
府borough, urban prefecture, govt office200208い, う, お, はんJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
小little, small220003いさら, こう, さざ, しゃお +1Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
路path, route, road2020013—Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 3
高tall, high, expensive2200010か, こ, じょい, た +1Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
光ray, light110006あき, あきら, こお, てる +3Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
国country110008くな, こJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
圀country110009こつUnclassified in the loaded KANJIDIC grade field
孝filial piety, child's respect110007たか, たかし, のり, よしJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 6
池pond, cistern, pool101006—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.

Source-recorded full-name readings in this name class
Kōjiこうじ · this pageMitsuderaみつでら
Other public forms containing the same contiguous sequence

The exact sequence 光寺 appears contiguously inside these other source-recorded forms.

Showing research maps for the first 10 distinct written forms out of 17. Every detailed spelling card below still links to exact-writing search and its component kanji.

Corpus pattern

Kanji recurring across Kōji 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 Kōji

17 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading こうじ. 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.

糀

こうじ · Kōji

Katakana コウジMorae 3Strokes 13

麹

こうじ · Kōji

Katakana コウジMorae 3Strokes 15
Spelling comparator

Compare Kōji 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
光寺こうじ光 — ray, light · 寺 — Buddhist temple12All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
国府寺こうじ国 — country · 府 — borough, urban prefecture · 寺 — Buddhist temple22All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
圀府寺こうじ圀 — country · 府 — borough, urban prefecture · 寺 — Buddhist temple23Includes unclassified/outside loaded jōyō-jinmeiyō class
孝治こうじ孝 — filial piety, child's respect · 治 — reign, be at peace15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
小池こうじ小 — little, small · 池 — pond, cistern9All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
小路こうじ小 — little, small · 路 — path, route16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
幸地こうじ幸 — happiness, blessing · 地 — ground, earth14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
幸嶋こうじ幸 — happiness, blessing · 嶋 — island22All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
幸次こうじ幸 — happiness, blessing · 次 — next, order14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
幸治こうじ幸 — happiness, blessing · 治 — reign, be at peace16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
幸路こうじ幸 — happiness, blessing · 路 — path, route21All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
糀こうじ糀 — malt, (kokuji)13Includes unclassified/outside loaded jōyō-jinmeiyō class
興治こうじ興 — entertain, revive · 治 — reign, be at peace24All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
香至こうじ香 — incense, smell · 至 — climax, arrive15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
高司こうじ高 — tall, high · 司 — director, official15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
高吉こうじ高 — tall, high · 吉 — good luck, joy16All 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 Kōji 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 こう

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 surnames sharing kanji with Kōji

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 Kōji

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 →