Save Gender Feminine Usage Japanese Scripts 園芽, 園女, etc.(Japanese Kanji) Pronounced Pron. SO-NO-ME [key] Meaning & History From Japanese 園 (sono) meaning "garden" combined with 芽 (me) meaning "bud, sprout, shoot" or 女 (me) meaning "woman". Other kanji combinations are possible. A famous bearer was Sonome Shiba, a Japanese zen poetess.