少年 (しょうねん, shounen) Japanese meaning: boy

少年 (しょうねん, shounen) Japanese meaning: boy | Kotomora

Kanji

男おとこの子こN5sense 1
男の子 is the everyday, casual word for 'boy', while 少年 is more formal and typical of writing or official contexts.
青せい年ねんN3sense 1
青年 refers to a young man in his late teens to twenties, an older stage of life than 少年.
ボーイN3
少年 is a formal or literary word for 'boy' often used in official or written contexts, while ボーイ is a casual loanword used in everyday speech.
男だん子しN3
少年 specifically emphasizes youth and is often literary or legal in tone, whereas 男子 is more neutral and commonly used in school or sports contexts.

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小こ僧ぞう
少年 is the neutral, standard word for a boy, whereas 小僧 is colloquial and can sound derogatory or condescending.
子こ供どもN5
少年 refers specifically to a boy of roughly elementary to middle-school age, while 子供 is gender-neutral and covers a wider range of ages.

少しょう女じょN3sense 1
少年 refers to a boy, while 少女 is the direct female counterpart meaning 'girl'.

初しょ年ねん
少年 (a boy or youth) sounds similar to 初年 (the first year) but has a completely unrelated meaning.
未み成せい年ねんN3
少年 just means 'boy' or 'juvenile' in a general sense, whereas 未成年 is the precise legal category of being under the age of majority.
青せい少しょう年ねんN2
少年 specifically means a (pre-teen or teenage) boy, while 青少年 is a broader collective term including both boys and girls across adolescence into young adulthood.

人にん
The everyday counter for people: 一人 (ひとり), 二人 (ふたり), 三人 (さんにん).
名めいN2
More formal than 人 — used for headcounts in reservations, staff lists, and announcements (5名様).

Compound of 少 (shō, 'little, few') and 年 (nen, 'year, age'). The combination originally meant 'few years' and came to refer to a young person.