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Kanji for Son
The kanji most commonly used for "Son" are 息、子、男.
息
Kanji that mean Son
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息
breath, rest, son
Onyomi: soku Kunyomi: iki 10 strokes Jōyō
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子
child, boy
Also associated with honorific.
Onyomi: shi, su, tsu Kunyomi: ko, ne 3 strokes Jōyō
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男
man, son
Also associated with vigorous person.
Onyomi: dan, nan Kunyomi: o, otoko 7 strokes Jōyō
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郎
man, son, official title
Onyomi: roh, ryoh Kunyomi: otoko 9 strokes Jōyō
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児
child, young man
Also associated with son.
Onyomi: gei, ji, ni Kunyomi: kko, ko 7 strokes Jōyō
No single character in Japanese simply means “son.” The ordinary word is 息子 (musuko), two characters, and 息 by itself means breath — 息 (iki), 休息 (rest), 利息 (interest on money). It means son only inside that compound.
子 is the character doing the real work there: child, and in classical usage a son specifically. It is the most common character in this space, though alone it reads as “child,” and as a name suffix it is overwhelmingly feminine (花子, 洋子).
男 is male rather than son, but sons are counted with it: 長男 (eldest son), 次男 (second son). 郎 is the classic male-name suffix, the 郎 of 太郎 and 次郎, and it appears in 新郎 (bridegroom). 兒 is the old form of 児, child, as in 児童 (children) and 幼児 (infant); the modern form 児 is what you would normally write.
Before you use Son kanji
No single character says "son." 息 alone means breath and 男 means male; the word is 息子. For naming, 郎 as a suffix (太郎, 健太郎) is the traditional way to mark a son, while 子 as a suffix now reads as a girl's name.