Isao

Isao (いさお, イサオ) is a masculine Japanese given name which was popular during the Shōwa period.

Isao

Pronunciation	í-sá-ó
Gender	Male
Language(s)	Japanese
Origin
Meaning	It can have many different meanings depending on the kanji used.

Possible writings

Isao can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:

• 功, "achievement"
• 勲, "meritorious"
• 績, "exploits"
• 公, "public"
• 勇男, "brave, man"
• 勇夫, "brave, man"
• 勇雄, "brave, masculine"
• 伊佐夫
• 伊佐雄
• 伊三男

The name can also be written in hiragana or katakana.

People with the name

• Isao Abe (阿部 功, 1912–1980), Japanese hammer thrower
• Isao Aoki (功, born 1942), Japanese professional golfer
• Isao Asai (浅井 功, born 1942), Japanese ice hockey player
• Isao Harimoto (勲, born 1940), Zainichi Korean professional baseball player
• Isao Hashizume (功, born 1941), Japanese actor
• Isao Hayashi (林 伊佐緒, 1912–1995), Japanese singer and composer
• Isao Homma (born 1981), Japanese footballer who plays for Albirex Niigata
• Isao Inokuma (功, 1938–2001), Japanese judoka
• Isao Iwabuchi (born 1933), Japanese Olympic football player
• Isao Kakihara (垣原 功, born 1944), Japanese ice hockey player
• Isao Kawabuchi (河淵 勲, born 1936), Japanese ice hockey player
• Isao Kikuchi (born 1921), American graphic designer, painter, carver, illustrator
• Isao Kimura (功, 1923–1981), Japanese actor
• Isao Kubota (born 1983), Japanese footballer who plays for Samut Songkhram
• Isao Kuraishi (倉石 功, born 1944), Japanese actor
• Isao Matsumiya, Japanese politician
• Isao Matsuoka (功, born 1934), Chairman of Toho
• Isao Morishita (森下 勲), Japanese motorcycle racer
• Isao Nakajima (中島 功, born 1941), Japanese swimmer
• Isao Nakauchi (功, 1922–2005), founder of Daiei
• Isao Obata (1904–1976), pioneering Japanese master of Shotokan karate
• Isao Okano (功, born 1944), Japanese judoka
• Isao Okawa (功, 1926–2001), former Chairman of Sega
• Isao Okazaki (功, 1920–2006), Japanese right-wing activist
• Isao Ono (小野 悳, born 1933), Japanese ice hockey player
• Isao Sasaki, (功, Japanese anime singer, actor, and voice actor
• Isao Shinohara, (篠原 功), Japanese voice actor
• Isao Takagi (高木 功, born 1961), Japanese professional wrestler
• Isao Takahata (勲, 1935–2018), Japanese anime director
• Isao Tamagawa (伊佐男, 1922–2004), Japanese actor
• Isao Tomita (勲, born 1932), Japanese electronic music composer
• Isao Yamada (山田 勇男, born 1952), Japanese film director
• Isao Yamagata (1915–1996), Japanese film actor (fl. 1951 and 1984)
• Isao Yamagishi (山岸 勲, born 1966), Japanese diver
• Isao Yoneda (功, born 1977), Japanese gymnast
• Isao Yukisada (勲, born 1968), Japanese film director

Fictional characters

• Isao, a character in the manga series How to Keep a Mummy
• Isao Iinuma, protagonist of the novel Runaway Horses
• Isao Ohta (功), a character in the anime and manga series Mobile Police Patlabor
• Kondo Isao, a character in the anime and manga series Gin Tama