Kanji · JLPT N5 · Level 5
名 name
- Meaning
- name
- On reading
- メイ
- Kun reading
- な
Memory hook
夕 (evening) over 口 (mouth): in the dark you cannot see a face, so you call out a name. メイ in compounds, な on its own. 名前 namae, a name.
Words that use 名
名前
なまえ
name
有名
ゆうめい
famous
How to write 名
Stroke order · 6 strokes
1
2
3
4
5
6
- 1. The sweep down to the left.
- 2. Horizontal, then sweep down to the left.
- 3. A short dot at the middle centre.
- 4. The vertical through the centre.
- 5. Horizontal across the middle, then turn down on the right side.
- 6. The horizontal across the bottom.
Stroke data from KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
General rules
- Top to bottom, left to right.
- Horizontal strokes before crossing vertical ones (十 = horizontal, then vertical).
- Outside before inside - but close a box last (口).
- A vertical that passes all the way through comes last (中).
- Left-falling diagonal before right-falling (大).
名 is taught on day 20 of the kanji course, alongside 姉 妹 友, with two writing passes and a short quiz.