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

Motoki

元喜

Surname-classified records in JMnedict.

もときモトキMotoki
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 spellings9

group-level written forms

Source spelling/reading rows9

records contributing to this reading group

Coverage levelExtended

based only on the imported source footprint

Pronunciation & romanization

How to read Motoki

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もとき

Normalized to hiragana for comparison.

Katakana formモトキ

The same reading converted to katakana.

RomanizationMotoki

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

Mora segmentationも · と · き

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

Kanji spellings9

character meanings available

Kana-only spellings0

no kanji meaning attached

InterpretationBy spelling

based on the exact written form

Kanji spelling

元喜

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

元城

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

元希

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

元木

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

旧木

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

本城

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

本木

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

蘓来

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.

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 Motoki 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

もとき

Kanji-based spellings9

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 forms9

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

もとき in the imported JMnedict corpus

Given-name written forms45

45 source spelling/reading rows

Surname written forms13

15 source spelling/reading rows

Given-name labelsmale 3 · female 7 · unspecified 35

row counts carrying each JMnedict source label

Exact readingGiven-name evidenceGiven-name labelsSurname evidence
もときMotoki4545 source rowsmale 3 · female 7 · unspecified 35source rows · distinct forms: male 3 · female 7 · unspecified 351315 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 Motoki

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 data9

8–26 strokes observed span

Median total strokes13

among forms with complete KANJIDIC2 stroke data

All-kanji name-classified forms8

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?

4 of 9 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 checked9

distinct spellings displayed on this page

Multiple recorded readings4

exact written forms with 2+ source readings

Single recorded reading5

within this active surname corpus

Largest reading set5

distinct kana readings for one displayed writing

元木
3 source-recorded readings
GenkiげんきMotogiもとぎMotokiもとき · this page
本木
3 source-recorded readings
HonmokuほんもくMotogiもとぎMotokiもとき · this page
元城
2 source-recorded readings
Motokiもとき · this pageMotoshiroもとしろ

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 Motoki 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
元beginning, former time, origin550004ちか, はじめ, はる, ゆき +1Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 2
木tree, wood303004ぐ, も, もとJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
城castle202009いく, がき, き, くに +7Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
本book, present, main220005まと, ごうJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 1
喜rejoice, take pleasure in1010012あき, きゅ, のぶ, ゆき +1Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
基fundamentals, radical (chem), counter for machines1010011きい, ともJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
希hope, beg, request101007のぞ, のぞみJōyō · KANJIDIC grade 4
旧old times, old things, old friend110005—Jōyō · KANJIDIC grade 5
蘓be resurrected, resuscitated, revived1100019—Unclassified in the loaded KANJIDIC grade field
来come, due, next101007くり, くる, ごろ, さ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.

Corpus pattern

Kanji recurring across Motoki 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 Motoki

9 source-recorded forms use the primary source reading もとき. 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 Motoki 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
元喜もとき元 — beginning, former time · 喜 — rejoice, take pleasure in16All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
元城もとき元 — beginning, former time · 城 — castle13All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
元基もとき元 — beginning, former time · 基 — fundamentals, radical (chem)15All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
元希もとき元 — beginning, former time · 希 — hope, beg11All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
元木もとき元 — beginning, former time · 木 — tree, wood8All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
旧木もとき旧 — old times, old things · 木 — tree, wood9All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
本城もとき本 — book, present · 城 — castle14All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
本木もとき本 — book, present · 木 — tree, wood9All kanji jōyō/jinmeiyō-classified
蘓来もとき蘓 — be resurrected, resuscitated · 来 — come, due26Includes unclassified/outside loaded jōyō-jinmeiyō class

What does Motoki 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 もと

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 Motoki

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 Motoki

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 →