Kanji Library
Kanji VocabularyJLPT N2 › 姓

姓 — Surname

JLPT N28 strokesSecondary school#1628 most used
surname
On’yomiセイ (sei)
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomi

Stroke order (8 strokes)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).

Common words using 姓

WordReadingMeaning
せい
sei
surname; family name; hereditary title (used in ancient Japan to denote rank and political standing)
旧姓きゅうせい
kyuusei
one's original family name; maiden name
姓名せいめい
seimei
(full) name; family name and given name
同姓どうせい
dousei
same surname
百姓ひゃくしょう
hyakushou
farmer; peasant; farm laborer

Study notes

姓 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1628 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).

← 麦 barley筒 cylinder →

🔊 Tap the big kanji, any reading or any example word to hear it.