Gender Masculine & Feminine Usage Japanese Scripts 優, 悠, 勇, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆう(Japanese Hiragana) Pronounced Pron. /jɨᵝː/ Meaning & History From Japanese 優 (yū) meaning "excellence, superiority, gentleness", 悠 (yū) meaning "permanence", 勇 (yū) meaning "brave", or other kanji that are pronounced the same way.