姓名判断 · fortune-checked kanji
Ken in Japanese Kanji
Ken in Japanese is ケン. Written in kanji, a stroke-checked spelling is 賢.
16 strokes + 1 rei-su — the “spirit number” traditionally added to single-kanji names — = 17
“Willpower that turns conviction into achievement.”
This is not a random conversion. Every kanji below is genuinely used in Japanese names, and this combination was selected because its stroke total lands on a lucky number under seimei handan (姓名判断) — the traditional check Japanese families use.
What each kanji means
Wise — the 賢 of sages (賢者) and the virtue of intelligent virtue. Ken (賢) and Satoshi (賢) aim higher than clever: wisdom in service of good.
Other lucky spellings of Ken
Want the interactive version — with your gender preference, a downloadable meimei card, and the full stroke-by-stroke breakdown?
Try the meimei generator (free) →Common questions
How do you say Ken in Japanese?
Ken in Japanese is ケン. Japanese does not translate foreign names by meaning — the sound is transliterated into katakana first, and kanji can then be chosen to match that sound.
What is the kanji for Ken?
A stroke-checked kanji spelling of Ken is 賢 (wise), with a stroke total of 17 — Good fortune (Kichi) under seimei handan, the traditional Japanese name-fortune check.