Japanese symbol for “descendant”
子孫
しそん
Romaji: shison
descendant; progeny; offspring
In Japanese, descendant is 子孫, read しそん (shison).
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Meanings
- n descendant; progeny; offspring
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “descendant”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 後 | あと ato | descendant; successor; heir |
| 末裔 | まつえい matsuei | descendant |
| 孫 | そん son | descendant (usu. of a certain generation) |
| 後 | のち nochi | descendant |
| 後者 | こうしゃ kousha | successor; descendant |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 子供 | こども kodomo | child; children |
| 女子 | じょし joshi | woman; girl |
| 女の子 | おんなのこ onnanoko | girl; daughter; baby girl |
| 男子 | だんし danshi | boy |
| 息子 | むすこ musuko | son |
| 様子 | ようす yousu | state (of affairs); situation; circumstances |
| 孫娘 | まごむすめ magomusume | granddaughter |
| 孫子 | まごこ magoko | children and grandchildren; posterity; descendants |
See also: Chinese symbol for “descendant”.
Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.