Ken (けん)
Ken is read けん and has 2 beats. Our data lists 2 spellings: 健 and 剣. All two are masculine. All of them are on our hand-reviewed list of everyday names.
Reading
け·ん (2 beats)
Kanji spellings
2 in our data
Gender
Masculine
Source
Hand-reviewed list of everyday names
Kanji spellings of Ken
One sound can be written with different kanji. Each spelling below is a different name on paper.
- 健けんCommonMasculine
Healthy
- 剣けんCommonMasculine
Sword
The kanji in Ken
What each kanji means on its own, and in how many of the spellings above it appears.
- 健healthy1 spelling
- 剣sword1 spelling
Ken with common surnames
Full names with a different spelling and surname on each card. Tap a card for the kanji breakdown.
Names that sound similar
Names that start or end with the same sounds.
Other names that use 健 (healthy)
Ken on our lists
Topic pages that include a spelling of this name.
Questions about Ken
Is Ken a boy's or a girl's name?
In our data every spelling of Ken is masculine.
What does Ken mean?
Ken is a sound, so the meaning comes from the kanji: 健 reads as "healthy" and 剣 reads as "sword". Those come from what each kanji means by itself, and parents may have had a fuller picture in mind.
How many ways can Ken be written in kanji?
Our data lists 2: 健 and 剣. Other spellings exist, so ask how a person writes their own name before you write it for them.
How do you pronounce Ken?
けん is 2 beats: け · ん. Give every beat the same length and keep vowels short and clear; Japanese has no stressed syllable the way English does.
Where this comes from
The spellings are from our hand-reviewed list of everyday names and from JMnedict, the open Japanese name dictionary. Meanings are built from what each kanji means on its own, so they describe the characters, not what a particular family had in mind.
How we check names · Content last reviewed: 2026-11-08.
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