The short story of Kanji pictures
This kanji depicts a baby inside a house under a roof. Originally, it meant ‘to raise or nurture a child.’ By extension, it came to mean the name given to a child, and eventually came to refer to written characters or ‘letters’ as we know them today.
Just look closely at the character—you can easily find a cute BABY or CHILD exactly as it is in this shape! The top portion forms the round head, the long horizontal stroke represents the little arms spread wide for a hug, and the bottom center shows the wrapped body. It is a perfect, heartwarming pictogram of a child!