Name Sho Type Surname Usage Japanese (Rare) Scripts 初(Japanese Kanji) しょ, しょう(Japanese Hiragana) Pronounced Pron. /ɕo̞/(しょ) /ɕo̞ː/(しょう) Edit Status Status Meaning & History Variant reading of Japanese Kanji 初 (see Hatsu) or a variant transcription of Japanese Kanji 初 (see Shō).