Gender Feminine Usage Japanese Scripts 陽子, 洋子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ようこ(Japanese Hiragana) Pronounced Pron. /jo̞ː.ko̞/ Meaning & History From Japanese 陽 (yō) meaning "light, sun, male" or 洋 (yō) meaning "ocean" combined with 子 (ko) meaning "child". Other combinations of kanji characters can also form this name.