Hi there,

I hope this isn't a terribly dumb question. My name is Seth and in Japanese I write that as セス. Today, however, I stumbled across a guide for writing your name in Japanese and it discussed how many people like to translate their names into kanji. They can do this phonetically (linking characters that have appropriate readings to form their names) or symbolically (if your name is hope: 期待).

So, I decided I'd like to try this. First I went for symbolic because phonetic seemed like a lot of work. It didn't work out because Seth stems from the Hebrew for appointed and there's no kanji or kanji compound that really means appointed (usually only 'elected').

Then I broke down to do it phonetically. This, in the end, is what I came up with: 世素.

So, you kanji maniacs, what do you think? Is this incredibly stupid? I haven't had the chance to ask any of my Japanese friends yet to see if this is cool or not. But I like the idea of an uncovered world/generation. I googled it and came up with some results in Chinese, but couldn't figure out what they meant.

Any help or suggestions would be great. Thanks!

-Seth

P.S. Here's the guide I read: http://www.takase.com/Names/HowToWritePart2.htm

It's, like, so totally stupid...

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=1955

[Katsuo]

Somebody wrote a whole book on the subject with suggestions for 300 different names.

Nobuo Sato: Write your name in Kanji

A Japanese lady suggested kanji for my name about 30 years ago. So it's not a new thing by any means.

Anyway, I think it's fun if you have the time. I don't know how practical it is though.

To be honest, I think spelling a foreign name in kanji doesn't really "work". People generally aren't going to be able to read your name unless you spell it in katakana anyway, and the results are seldom native-like. It just kinda obfuscates the whole thing.

There are exceptions, though, but no really good ones come to mind.

Also, keep in mind that the Japanese prefer to use katakana for the names of all people foreign to Japan, even those with Japanese names. Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi's last name is written ヤマグチ, not the expected 山口.

- Kef

furrykef Wrote:To be honest, I think spelling a foreign name in kanji doesn't really "work". People generally aren't going to be able to read your name unless you spell it in katakana anyway, and the results are seldom native-like. It just kinda obfuscates the whole thing.

If you go the route of just translation the phonetic characters into kanji then this is true. However, if you go based on the meaning of the name itself, things tend to make more sense.

Quick question based on the above. Yamaguchi (山口) struck me as one of those words that when you see it, you realize you kinda know it. I like to add those words in kanji form to my vocab SRS--they stick almost immediately. Looking at the words/kanji, I assumed this meant something like "mountain pass" or something. So I looked it up and only see it appearing as a reference to Yamaguchi prefecture. Does anyone know if the word yamaguchi has a usage otherwise?

Katsuo Wrote:Somebody wrote a whole book on the subject with suggestions for 300 different names.

Nobuo Sato: Write your name in Kanji

Seth isn't in that book. I looked it up. I actually picked it up on a whim a few years back out of curiosity. It's an interesting read.

There are a lot of really nice and cool and wonderful people in Japan, and a few real jerks. Just like anywhere else.

Now it is true that if you screw it up and come up with something weird/annoying/oddball, you'll piss a lot of people off, but you'd do the same thing in any country if you butcher the hell out of your name. They won't hate you for "dirtying our beautiful kanji with your disgusting foreign name," they'll be annoyed with you for wasting their time trying to figure out how to pronounce your name, when you could have just used katakana. So if you're going to do it, make it easy for them to figure it out, and don't try to be cute.

I'd say if you really want to do it, go do it. But it would really help if you could find a friend who can help you do it. Don't just rely on a book or a website, because you'll wind up with something... weird.

You might find a "セ" reading for a kanji, but it might turn out to be the oldest, most obscurest kanji or reading of a kanji ever, and nobody will ever get it until you tell them.

It's sort of like if your name was Fish and you decided to spell it Ghoti. Yeah, you *can*, do it, but expect to be called "goat-ee" a lot, and don't get mad when nobody calls you "fish" anymore. (Or gets your subtle literary references.)

If you work with another person (or people), you'll have a story to tell with your interesting name, and "the man" can't deny that. Your friends will also be able to help you come up with kanji that people will be able to look at and see "セス" in without getting a brain cramp, and that's the thing that irritates people more than anything.

Good luck with it.

AFAIK, Westerners writing their name in Kanji is not done in Japan; but it's done all the time in China. So I would say, if you want your name in Kanji for an 印鑑 or something, is actually to ask a Chinese person for suggestions. Japanese people won't be able to figure it out, but for the most part figuring out names in Japanese is a tough problem anyway.

I got lucky and have a nice name for that in Chinese: John is almost exactly 強 (qiang) or 将 (jiang), so I have two good choices. But the Japanese readings aren't anything like "John"...

I went the Chinese route and came up with this: 塞思. This, however, doesn't really have the kind of connotation I'd like. I mean, who likes to block thought?

So, I'm still leaning towards my previous selection. I'm going to have lunch with a friend of mine from Japan today. I'll have to ask him for his advice. Thanks for all the input! I'm quite determined to get a cool kanji name.

-Seth

If your name is Seth, you could go the easy way and transliterate it as setsu and use real Japanese name kanji for it. It will confuse people, but you'll be sure to have a properlooking name.

雑節 for setsu? Is that usually a surname? Any sources I could find as a prenom were listed as female.

-Seth

My real name is Temperance but I was called Tempi in Japan for ease of use. A Japanese girlfriend started to write my name 天日

有利

Aww yeah

So, I got to talk to my friend Nawoki today about my name and he said the best compromise he could think of between easy-to-figure-out pronunciation and coolness was 世澄. With a literal translation of Lucid World, I'm pretty content with that. When it came to my last name (Graves), however, he didn't like the idea of using 墓 and said I should just use my first name.

Alas, the mystery is solved. Thanks guys. This is pretty fun...

My first name I just ateji 茶亜留主　(チャアルソ). Obviously nothing to denote the meaning of "manly, strong". My last name, oddly enough, is ateji but has a bit of connection to the origin of the name - Abel Kin with Abel meaning "puff of wind" 亜風林 (アプリン).

Never bothered to get a stamp made. I'm a SOFA member, so virtually no dealing with local government unless you get married. Maybe I'll get one made before I leave for Africa next year. Then I can find out if what they say about the "attitude" you get with using kanji name is true.

@nukemarine
Actually, you might want to check out the book mentioned above by Katsuo in reply #3. For the name Charles, there are a ton of options. None of them are very elegant (4-5 kanji each), but they have some good meanings. The guy who wrote the book is Japanese, so he can give you the native POV on ease of pronunciation.