Kōsaburō

Kōsaburō is a traditional Japanese male given name. The name is formed from three kanji characters. 'Kō' (光) means 'light' or 'bright', 'sa' (三) means 'three', and 'burō' (郎) is a common suffix for male names, often meaning 'son' or 'man'. The 'burō' suffix historically indicated birth order, with 'saburō' specifically meaning 'third son'. Therefore, the name literally translates to 'bright third son'.

While the individual kanji have clear meanings, the combination creates a name that was historically given to the third-born son in a family, often with the hope that he would be bright or successful. The use of such suffixes for birth order was very common in feudal Japan and continued into the modern era, though it is less prevalent in contemporary naming practices.