Yoko (name)

Yoko and Yōko (ヨウコ, ようこ) are Japanese feminine given names. Yōko is sometimes transliterated as Yohko and Youko.

The name Yoko is almost always written with the kanji 子 (ko), meaning "child". The syllable ko is not generally found at the end of masculine names.

In Japanese, Yoko and Yōko have numerous orthographical variations. Some of the meanings of the kanji used to write it are:

• 瑛子, "crystal, sparkle of jewelry, child"
• 陽子, "sunshine, child", "sunny, child"
• 洋子, "ocean, child"
• 遥子, "long ago, child"
• 楊子, "willow, child"
• 瑶子, "beautiful, child"
• 謡子, "noh (Japanese word for skill or talent), child"
• 八子, "eight, child"
• 羊子, "sheep, child"
• 要子, "vital, need, child"
• 暢子, "free, child"
• 容子, "glorious, child"
• 妖子, "bewitch, child"
• 葉子, "leaf, child"
• 曜子, "weekday, child"

The masculine name Yōkō, as in the given name of pro boxer Yoko Gushiken (具志堅 用高), is transliterated similarly, but in Japanese it is written and pronounced differently. A family name, Yokoo, as in Yoko Taro (横尾 太郎), also exists.