About the kanji 兎: can rabbit be also pronounced as "to"?


There is a well known personage in Japan called Tsukishiro Yukito (月城 雪兎) from
Cardcaptor Sakura. Tsuki stands for moon, shiro for castle, yuki for snow and
the kanji "兎" means rabbit but it sounds like "usagi" and not as "to" (the
name of Yukito).

**Can rabbit be also pronounced as "to" in Japan?**




Let's learn about [on- and kun-readings of
kanji](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/onyomi-kunyomi/), including their
history and roles. After understanding them, you can answer your own question.

In 兎's case, _usagi_ is the kun-reading, which often means it can be used as a
standalone word. On the other hand, _to_ is the on-reading, which often
implies it's a "component" rather than a standalone word. The sound _to_ by
itself is obviously too short, and does not work as a word meaning "rabbit" in
Japanese. [There are many kanji whose on-reading is
_to_](http://kanji.jitenon.jp/cat/yomi20.html). But the sound _to_ appears in
some longer compound words such as 脱兎.

At any rate, both are valid readings of this character, and in person names,
_on_ and _kun_ readings are used more or less arbitrarily.

