Given name & surname · Chinese · Japanese
健
“solid, congealed, frozen, viscous, strong”
健 is a surname from Proto-Sino-Tibetan. It is used in Chinese and Japanese.
Chinese and JapaneseWritten in Chinese characters script. In English: Ken.
Meaning & origin
What it means
健 goes back to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(g/k)aː(r/l), meaning “solid, congealed, frozen, viscous, strong.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(g/k)aː(r/l) (“solid, congealed, frozen, viscous, strong”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
健’s family of names
In Japanese usage, 健 can be written in the Roman alphabet as Ken. In Japanese usage, 健 can be written in the Roman alphabet as Takeshi.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named 健
- Ken NaganumaJapanese association football player and manager (1930–2008)
- Taejo of Goryeofounder of the Goryeo Dynasty (877-943)
- Takeshi ObataJapanese manga artist (born 1969)
- Goh KunActing President of South Korea from March to May 2004, Prime Minister of South Korea from 1997 to 1998 and from 2003 to 2004born 1938
- Ken AkamatsuJapanese manga artist and politicianborn 1968
- Ken KutaragiJapanese businessmanborn 1950
- Ken MatsubaraJapanese association football playerborn 1993
- Ken IwaseJapanese association football player and managerborn 1975
- Ken FujitaJapanese association football player (born 1979)
Characters named 健: Ken Wakashimazu (Captain Tsubasa).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love 健, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.