This topic contains 17 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by 
-
Posts
-
I just go to the introduction chapter, and it came up that your Japanese name might be different so I though I might ask what would Tom be in Japanese? And how would you go about translating last names? Also leave your Japanese-afied name and or what Japanese name you wish you had down below… It’ll be fun :D
I would guess for your name you would just transliterate it into the closest available with kata kana,
トム ジェンセンThe transliteration of my name I use is アンデリュ
If I had a Japanese name it would be 愛苺
I spent a year writing my name as ジョール in class (because that’s how it’s pronounced) only to be told at the end of it by the lecturer that for common words and names, there’s already an established way of spelling them in katakana. For Joel, that’s ジョエル. Andrew, incidentally, is アンドリュー.
If I were to pick a kanji surname, I figured I’d go with either 山田 or 三田 – it’s the section of my surname that sounds most like Japanese, converted piecewise into kanji. Plus, they’re nice common names. None of this “my Japanese name is Mighty Dragon Coming Down From Heaven In Thundering Vengeance”. =P
Long story short, asked a Japanese person I know to help me and we came up with this:
Last First
王維 拳
Ir requires some furigana modding.
アーバン・カイル
吾判 ・海流想理兄 円造 【そうりあに えんぞう】 is the name I’m tentatively choosing for myself. It’s basically a kanjification of my actual name and doesn’t mean anything.
In a fortunate twist, my real given name actually turns out to be a valid Japanese name. My name is of Italian origin, but there’s a Japanese-origin name that sounds exactly like it, a fact noted by some Japanese natives I know that helped me pick my kanji.
My family name is much harder to render in kanji. If I ever found myself becoming a Japanese citizen (not very likely, but hey) I’d probably change it to something more common but similar-sounding for convenience’s sake, like 宗利 or 惣流.
I’ve got another Quest(ion) for you guys. トム ジェンセン would technically bet the phonetic spelling of my name, however I was wondering if that type of spelling happens often in Japan or should I look into finding some kanji for my name and how would I go about doing that. I really am a bit clueless, after all I am a bit new to this whole ‘Japanese’ thing.
Thanks, and I’m glad people are enjoying the thread :D
If you use jisho.org and stick in the romanisation into the japanese box it should return anything close. I think tomu is standard enough that its probably nothing obscene :)
Also as Joel said there’s a specific way that some names are transliterated, I’ll see if I can find that resource from ages ago I ignored :P
This one seems safe.
http://japanesetranslator.co.uk/dictionaries/your-name-in-japanese/?forename=Tom&style=0
Here’s a hilarious one.
http://www.yournameinjapanese.com/
Apparently my name in kanji has the meaning of Safe Work Flow! Or it could mean Concern Work Absent. I’ll just go ahead and not use those :P
People with western names typically just use katakana. I put those kanji up there for me but they are not official. My alien registration card is all katakana and that’s what I write on any official documents. Unless you have a name that already exists in Japanese. Then you might use kanji (Manaka, Erika, Ken, etc).
The one that shows kanji is pretty awesome, but I guess until a make a Japanese friend who could help me out I’ll just have to stick with katakana. Oh well
Is Hashi getting Tofugu article ideas from reading threads in this forum? =P
(On a side note, I’m aware 山田 is pronounced やまだ and 三田 is みた. Realised after reading the article that I didn’t really make that clear in my post above. =D )
…..Oh sorry did I miss the punchline?
@andrew – thanks for “your name in japanese” – rad
One thing to be aware is that kanjification site splits your name into syllables and then kanjifies them, but there are other ways to kanjify your name, Also look at the advanced bit where you can choose the syllables directly.
Have fun.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.