Japanese-style names

[Zhen Lin]

A name in Japanese is simple enough - katakana renditions of your name, or in my case, the kun reading of my Chinese name (ryū shin rin, not too far from the Mandarin líu zhèn lín) (The on reading is œvil: koros.u fur.i naga'ame).

But if you could have a Japanese-style name, what would you pick, and why?

A few ideas:
1. For those lucky enough to have a name that coincides with a Japanese one, there's nothing much to be done. (Naomi - Naomi, Emma - Ema, Ken - Ken, etc.)
2. Translate your name into Japanese. (Archaic's 折橋　守 Orihashi Mamoru, translated from Liam Pomfret, guardian broken-bridge)
3. Other arcane methods to find corresponding Japanese names. (For example, since 劉 líu is the 5th most common in China , I could pick 渡辺 [i]Watanabe, which is 5 most common in Japan .)

My preferred Japanese pseudonym is 雨宮龍一 [i]Amamiya Ryūichi - with the following (ir)rationale:
1. 劉 líu was the surname of a number of royal families in Chinese history - this is reflected by 宮 miya, palace.
2. The kun reading for 劉 is ryū, which is the same as 龍, dragon.
3. There is a 雨 ame, rain, in 霖 naga'ame, a long spell of rain, both visually and semantically.
3a. The on reading for 振 is furi, which is the same as 降り, which means rain/snowfall.
4. 龍 ryū is a bit too short of a name for me, so I appended 一 ichi, one, since I'm the first son.

[Kasumi]

Okay, so my name which is Alexandra, means:

Protector of Men, and translated with Babelfish results in 人の保護装置

or Defender of Men: 人の擁護者

But knowing how these online translators can be pretty inacurate, what would the romanized version of my name would be?

EDIT:

Found the following site makes "translations" of names to Japanese:

Alexandra is written like this:
http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3238&stc=1

It is pronounced "AREKUSANDORA". (Consonants are pronounced more or less the same way as in English. "A" sounds like a in father, but shorter. "U" sounds like oo in hook, but with less rounding of the lips. "E" sounds like e in met. "O" sounds like o in old.)

The URL is http://www.japanesetranslator.co.uk/your-name-in-japanese/

[Roses Ablaze]

This one website said my name (Kimberly) would be Oushiro (royal fortress) in Japanese. Somehow, I'm not sure that's an actual name...

My middle name means lily, so I think Yuri would work.

Not sure about my last name (is there a Japanese surname that means "Island of Roses"?)

[Argy]

I am not too sure about the translations of my name.

ホリー turns into 犬黄楊 (いぬつげ）, which is not exactly desirable as a given name. As holly, the plant, is known for shelter for faeries and woodland animals, I could take ひな hina from 避難所, "place of shelter." As holly is green, the name 緑 (みどり) Midori is acceptable, and I do admire that name. My surname （ボーエン） has no meaning, as it is simply a corruption of Ap Owen, or "Son of Owen." Not sure what to do about that. It is the 333rd most common surname in the United States.

[Kasumi]

I forgot about my surname. Well, literally Salas means "living rooms". Not something that would sound good in English. In Japanese... I don't know. o.O;

[Shiksa ♥]

Argy, I think your name would better be katakana-ized as ハリー, unless you pronounce Holly like "wholly." 玻璃 is crystal glass and 梁 is a beam, so you can always add 乃 or 子 (most likely the latter) to make a nice given name. However, I do like your reasoning with your names.

As for my Japanese names, I just pick names that I think sound pretty and write them with kanji that has a cool/unique/pretty meaning. XD; (For example, 癒矢子) They have nothing to do with my actual names. XD

Alex, I have an odd idea. The sala could be considered the main room of the house, like the origin or foundation, which could be "moto." If the house the sala is in is palace-like, then it could be miya, forming the fairly common Japanese surname, Miyamoto. 宮本

[☆欠番☆]

Hmm. Translating my last name, Tallman, into Japanese would get me 高男 Koudan, which sounds like it could be a name but I don't know if it actually is.

My first name, Amanda, I've heard can mean two things: "Gift from god" or "worthy of love". The first definition is similar to 恵 Megumi (literally "blessing"), and the closest I can think of to the second is 愛 Ai (literally "love"). I like the name Megumi better so I'll go with that. ^^;;

[Argy]

Argy, I think your name would better be katakana-ized as ハリー, unless you pronounce Holly like "wholly."

No, it is ホリー. Both Internet sites and my Japanese friend write it as such.

[Kasumi]

Alex, I have an odd idea. The sala could be considered the main room of the house, like the origin or foundation, which could be "moto." If the house the sala is in is palace-like, then it could be miya, forming the fairly common Japanese surname, Miyamoto. 宮本

Cool! I like that for a surname, Hitchi-chan! ^_^


Any chance somebody can decipher the 人の保護装置 and 人の擁護者 I got on Babelfish? Or just plain translate Protector of Men to romanji. ^^; I'll love forever the person who does that. ;P

[Blackjack Palazzo]

OK, my surname is unpronouncable, but it means "Son of the wolf". My first name...well..."Amber". It just kinda means what it says. So...how would that come out? I'm unsure which method to use.

[Roses Ablaze]

Cool! I like that for a surname, Hitchi-chan! ^_^


Any chance somebody can decipher the 人の保護装置 and 人の擁護者 I got on Babelfish? Or just plain translate Protector of Men to romanji. ^^; I'll love forever the person who does that. ;PWell...Mamoru means protector.

[Archaic]

Mine (Not sure of the Kanji sorry) means resolute protector, and is a girls name. That might be what you're looking for.

[☆欠番☆]

The Japanese word for Amber is 琥珀 Kohaku, which I'm pretty sure is a name (at least, it is in Wish).

[Kasumi]

And in Inuyasha too, Ket.

So my name would be Miyamoto Mamoru? Sounds cool! ^_^

[Barb]

My first name (Barbara) translates into foreigner. No idea what my surname translates into; I believe it would be 'master' or 'owner.'

[Evil Figment]

I suppose something like Eishu Mamoru would be about the name for me (Gah, ANOTHER Mamoru?). Since I to have to all extents and purpose the same first name as Arcy (ie, his is Liam, shortened form of William, and mine is Guillaume, french form of William), Mamoru is obvious.

As for Eishu, it is a personal name, true, but my last name (well, the one I have that WOULD translate vaguely to japanese) is derived from a first name (Herbert) , and one of the two possible meanings of that last name fits Eishu pretty well (Hébert/Herbert = Excellent Army or Excellent Ruler ; Eishu = Great ruler).

So Eishu Mamoru it is for me :-D.

[Shiksa ♥]

人の保護装置 = hito no hogo souchi (I believe....)
人の擁護者 = hito no yougo mono
The second one makes more sense, to me...

[Kasumi]

Thanks Hitchi-chan! ^^ I'll stick with Miyamoto Mamoru. ^^;

[Roses Ablaze]

So...is Oushiro a name? And does anyone have any suggestions about my surname (which can also be translated to "rose garden")

[Shiksa ♥]

Ooshiro is more commonly a surname, with the exception of Oshirou (not exactly the same), which is a male given name. You can right your given name as 薔薇 and prounounce is Bara, Rouzu (Rose), or Soubi. Bara, the normal word for rose, is usually written in katakana. That's the best I can do for you, Zhen or Murg could probably help you more.

[Blackjack Palazzo]

The Japanese word for Amber is 琥珀 Kohaku, which I'm pretty sure is a name (at least, it is in Wish).

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!

[Archaic]

Thanks Hitchi-chan! ^^ I'll stick with Miyamoto Mamoru. ^^;

I don't think that's a valid women's name though. ^^;;; Mamoru is for men. Like I said, "Mine" would be what you're looking for.

[Zhen Lin]

Hmm. Translating my last name, Tallman, into Japanese would get me 高男 Koudan, which sounds like it could be a name but I don't know if it actually is.

高人 Takahito is a given name, I think for males.

Thanks Hitchi-chan! ^^ I'll stick with Miyamoto Mamoru. ^^;

Mamoru doesn't strike me as a particularly female name - but certain spellings are. An interesting thing to consider is that 香 kaoru is commonly a male name, but 香 kaori is commonly a female name. Mamori also exists in ENAMDICT.

The Japanese word for Amber is 琥珀 Kohaku, which I'm pretty sure is a name (at least, it is in Wish).

ENAMDICT lists it as a female name. 珀 haku by itself means amber, though.

So...is Oushiro a name? And does anyone have any suggestions about my surname (which can also be translated to "rose garden")

王城 Ōshiro is a family name. Kimberly, though, is "leader of the warriors". Curiously, 英, hero, is more common in spellings of female names in Japanese - probably more to do with the pronunciation than meaning though. 長英 Osahide has the leader and hero elements, but is probably more common as a male name.

On the other hand, the elements rose and garden are probably more common as female given names... So it may be more convenient to swap the given and family names in your case.

[Archaic]

Mamoru doesn't strike me as a particularly female name - but certain spellings are. An interesting thing to consider is that 香 kaoru is commonly a male name, but 香 kaori is commonly a female name. Mamori also exists in ENAMDICT.

A Mamori is a protective/good luck charm. Not exactly the same thing.

[Zhen Lin]

It's the same root - one is a verb, the other is a noun - of course it won't exactly be the same thing. 香る kaoru is to smell sweet, to be fragrant; 香り kaori is fragrance, aroma. Likewise, 守る mamoru is to protect, to guard; 守り mamori is protection, defence.

[Crimson Flames]

Heh, the given name was easy. My name means "strong one", so Tsuyoshi worked since it means "strong". My surname, Terry, is apparently formed from the give name Terence, which comes from the name Theodorc. Theodorc means "he who derives his power from the people". With my very, very, very limited knowledge (a.k.a. "I know nothing" :p) of Japanese, I'm having difficulties finding a surname. Can someone help?

[Archaic]

Perhaps Seiji, meaning "Lawful", or "Manages affairs of state"?

[Crimson Flames]

Thanks Archaic, that's a very similar meaning and I like the name, too.

[Zhen Lin]

政治 【せいじ】 (n) politics; government; (P)

Definitely sounds like "he who derives his power from the people" - except it's not quite singular. Not quite a surname either - but amazingly, it is a given name, with other readings such as Masaharu and Masaji.

The thing is, "king" or other royal elements wouldn't quite fit - because the emperor derives his power from above, not below; democracy wasn't quite invented yet when most people picked up surnames. However - there's something not quite right here: Theo means God - what happened to that? Terence does not look like a word that would be related to Theodorc - indeed, it is a Latin name in its own right.

This (http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/miscellany/names.html) is an interesting read about Japanese names, if a bit dated. (Well, a lot - it's about pre-Edo names - but should still prove insightful.)

[Crimson Flames]

About my English surname: I doubt I described the history right, though it was what most sites said. :p Thanks for pointing that out, not sure where the "theo" went. And that site was very informative.

[Roses Ablaze]

So my name might be Oushiro Soubi?

[Juputoru]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Juputoru/cherushii.png
According to the site that Kasumi-san posted. It'd romanise it Cherushii.

At one point I was lucky enough to have a Japanese person be a guest at my global studies class, and as part of it we got name stands with our names in Japanese on them(in kanji, with furigana above them), and it was slightly different from what the site gave me(it romanizes to Chi (some kana I can't read and couldn't find in a kana chart) ru shii). Oh well, it's not like it matters. Although if I went for a name that was actually a Japanese translation of the meaning of my name(river landing or something like that), Babelfish gives me:
川の着陸

Not sure if that's right or how you'd say it, though...

[Kasumi]

Mine (Not sure of the Kanji sorry) means resolute protector, and is a girls name. That might be what you're looking for.

XD; Oh dear... I thought you were talking about YOURS... ^^;;; Silly Alex *bangs head on desktop*

Now I don't know if I should use Mamori or Mine ^^; Perhaps the latter.

[Evil Figment]

No worry Alex. I understood it the same way you did.

[Misty]

Since my name is James, I'm sure somebody more competent can do my name about 5000x as fast as I can.

[☆欠番☆]

高人 Takahito is a given name, I think for males.

Yeah, it sounds male (having four syllables). =\ That wouldn't help me out, though, unless it could double as a surname.

[The Incarnation ポケモン]

潘予 is my Chinese name in its entirety, which is obviously too short to make a full Japanese name. And I think it only has a kun-yomi, "hanyo", which means it doesn't sound all that Japanese. Help? XD

[Zhen Lin]

潘 pān is your surname, I guess. It means "water in which rice has been washed". This is a rather difficult idea to translate, as you can imagine, but building on the idea of rice or farming will give you an adequate list of surnames.

予 is commonly used to spell the yo element in girls' names, so it shouldn't be a problem finding a name which incorporates it. Finding a name which means 予 might be.