Characters the stroke dictionary does not hold — outside 13,108
updated · 5 min read
A name reading starts from counting strokes. Which means that without knowing how many strokes each character has, nothing can be produced at all. Where that count comes from actually differs between schools and between providers.
This service builds its stroke table from KANJIDIC2, a character dictionary. It holds 13,108 characters.
Is 13,108 enough?
Compare it with how many characters are in everyday use. The standard set of characters for general use numbers 2,136; adding those approved for names brings it to about 3,000. At more than four times that, an ordinary name is essentially always covered.
| Range | Characters | Against this dictionary |
|---|---|---|
| Characters for general use | 2,136 | All held |
| Including those approved for names | About 3,000 | All held |
| This service's dictionary | 13,108 | Countable to here |
| Parts of the outer JIS levels | Beyond that | Some characters are not held |
Characters still fall outside. Forms that survive only on old family registers, and what are called gaiji. They are common in surnames, and some families have been registered with that spelling for generations.
What happens with a character it cannot count
This service does not stop a reading when a character is missing from the dictionary. It calculates without that character and states on the result screen that the character is not held, so the figures are indicative.
It does not silently count it as zero, nor substitute a similar character. Substitution looks helpful and means reading a name the person did not intend. Deciding which is correct is not ours to do.
When that note appears, the four numbers are not correct. You would need to look up the stroke count of that character and add it in yourself. Take only the general tendency of the result as a reference.
Some older forms are supplied
A few variant characters used every day in real names are absent from KANJIDIC2. For those, the count of the corresponding standard character is used, with a note saying so.
One older form of the character for blue is such a case. Where it appears, it is counted as the older form and a note is added saying that schools differ on how such characters are counted. Nothing done to the count is concealed.
Conversely, modern forms are never converted to older ones automatically. Which you want counted is for the person being read to decide, not for us to choose in advance. Taking the input as it stands leaves that choice with them.
The dictionary holds modern stroke counts
One more thing worth knowing: this dictionary holds the counts of the modern character forms. Some schools of name divination count by the older forms, and their results differ.
Radicals are the clearest example. Schools using older forms count the water radical as the four strokes of the full character for water, and the grass radical as six. In the modern forms they are three and three.
| Radical | Modern form | Older-form school |
|---|---|---|
| Water radical | 3 strokes | 4 (counted as the full character) |
| Grass radical | 3 strokes | 6 (counted as the full character) |
| Heart radical | 3 strokes | 4 (counted as the full character) |
With such a radical in a name, the school alone shifts the count by several strokes. A different answer found elsewhere does not mean either is wrong.
Common questions
- Can a name with a non-standard character still be read?
- The reading proceeds, and that character is not included in the count. The result shows that it is not held in the dictionary, so take it as indicative.
- Can I see the result counted by the older forms?
- At present only the modern forms are used. If you want the older form counted, enter the older character itself and it will be handled as that character.
- Where does the stroke data come from?
- KANJIDIC2, a character database published by the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group. The licence and attribution are set out on the About page.