Out of curiousity, would it be possible to transform my name, Robert, into a real Japanese name? By transform, I do not mean in a phonetic sense that would be written in katakana, but actual 'japanification' with the meanings that compose my name and using appropriate kanjis and their kun-yomi.

An inverse example of what I mean is turning Kaneda (金田) into Goldfield as a last name. Apparently, this anglicization has been done before.

My name is the combination of the Germanic words hrod and beraht which mean 'fame' and 'bright' respectively. I would use 明 as the last kanji, but I'm uncertain which kanji and its nanori to use for fame. Any ideas?

露部ー徒
ロベート

(This is just random though. I remember asking my japanese friend if she could transform my name into full kanji. She did. But she said it's just random. Just sounding out your name but in japanese. She said your name isn't offical unless you live in japan where they put a permanent kanji name of your name. No katakana but real kanji.
Since your name isn't originally japanese. It seriously can be anything you like(I think). Because there are various combinations for names/readings. So you can pick one that is close to your real name.)

I can convert it based on the meaning alone, and it can sound whatever right? How about,

誉輝 - よしてる, よしき, etc.
誉明 - たかあき,よしあき, etc.
栄明 - はるあき, etc.
栄輝 - えいき, etc.

These are simply the combination of fame + brilliance/brightness. All of them are not very common Kanji usages and hard to read, but they are pretty legit names.

or

光輝 - こうき　
This is a word that means both brilliance and fame, and it's an easy to read, fairly common name.

Do be aware, though, that taking a name like this is only something you should do for fun, and you shouldn't try to seriously use it when introducing yourself to Japanese people. Just imagine if an asian man introduced himself as "Bright Goldfield".

masaman Wrote:I can convert it based on the meaning alone, and it can sound whatever right?

Correct. I wonder how many non-native Japanese citizens have converted their names this way.

masaman Wrote:How about,

誉輝 - よしてる, よしき, etc.
誉明 - たかあき,よしあき, etc.
栄明 - はるあき, etc.
栄輝 - えいき, etc.

These are simply the combination of fame + brilliance/brightness. All of them are not very common Kanji usages and hard to read, but they are pretty legit names.

誉明 - たかあき seems insteresting, but how on Earth would people know how to pronounce it correctly without furigana?

masaman Wrote:or

光輝 - こうき　
This is a word that means both brilliance and fame, and it's an easy to read, fairly common name.

Hmm... I don't think that one would work. How many Japanese names and surnames actually use on-yomi? Come to think of it, how do the Japanese cope with surnames and names that use archaic kanjis or readings?

yudantaiteki Wrote:Do be aware, though, that taking a name like this is only something you should do for fun, and you shouldn't try to seriously use it when introducing yourself to Japanese people. Just imagine if an asian man introduced himself as "Bright Goldfield".

Well then, I would suggest the man to change his first name to Bert since it has the same meaning and is a valid name that's already used in the english language. Bert Goldfield would work well as an anglicized name for 金田 明. Actually, come to think of it very few english names actually use english words; a lot them are from Germanic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek. I suppose using obscure nanori could have the same effect.

Quote:Correct. I wonder how many non-native Japanese citizens have converted their names this way.

I've met none...

Quote:誉明 - たかあき seems insteresting, but how on Earth would people know how to pronounce it correctly without furigana?

They don't. Acually 1/3 of the Japanese people have names that are very hard to read without furigana.

Quote:Hmm... I don't think that one would work. How many Japanese names and surnames actually use on-yomi? Come to think of it, how do the Japanese cope with surnames and names that use archaic kanjis or readings?

I had a friend in high school who has this name. It's not very common, but there are people who are crazy enough to name their kid 光宙 - ぴかちゅう, after that Pokimon character, so I think this one isn't bad at all.

masaman Wrote:I had a friend in high school who has this name. It's not very common, but there are people who are crazy enough to name their kid 光宙 - ぴかちゅう, after that Pokimon
character, so I think this one isn't bad at all.

Your friend was named 光輝 or 光宙? If it's the latter, then that is sad.

Elysium Wrote:

masaman Wrote:I had a friend in high school who has this name. It's not very common, but there are people who are crazy enough to name their kid 光宙 - ぴかちゅう, after that Pokimon
character, so I think this one isn't bad at all.

Your friend was named 光輝 or 光宙? If it's the latter, then that is sad.

Oh, no no my friend is 光輝. Luckily, I haven't met a guy named 光宙 in person. I don't think I can keep a straight face if I am introduced to ぴかちゅうさん.

My favorite so far was a student named Sarah who used 皿 on all her homework and tests

Would it be strange for a foreigner to adopt a typical Japanese name when in Japan? Plenty of Asian people (especially Chinese) that immigrate to the US take on English names. In fact, I think American people welcome and encourage this practice. Does the same hold true in Japan?

If you become a Japanese citizen, you have to choose a name that has Kanji in it. Many times, it's just a simply done for the pronunciation.
For example: David Ardwinkle -> あるどう　でびと　ー＞　有道出人
I wouldn't say it's the most common readings of those kanji, but it works, apparently.

If your name was Caesar, which they pronounce "カエサル" in Japan, you could theoretically be 変猿, I guess


Bonus point:
I've got a friend by the last name "Smallwood." (yep, he got jokes about it in high school)
It translated wonderfully as 小林, which he uses both in Japanese and English these days, as a nickname

yudantaiteki Wrote:Just imagine if an asian man introduced himself as "Bright Goldfield".

This shit happens a lot here in Florida. Asians with European/Middle Eastern names is no big deal. Of course, they all have other names that are used within the family.

Of the top of my head, a student of mine is named Bryce. I've known a few Michelles (very popular).

I've translated my name, but the only part of it a Japanese friend of mine was able to read was 神贈. Apparently, 双生 doesn't ring a bell.

vileru Wrote:Would it be strange for a foreigner to adopt a typical Japanese name when in Japan?

Yes. I've never met a foreigner who changed their name in Japan.

vileru Wrote:Would it be strange for a foreigner to adopt a typical Japanese name when in Japan? Plenty of Asian people (especially Chinese) that immigrate to the US take on English names. In fact, I think American people welcome and encourage this practice. Does the same hold true in Japan?

No, it doesn't. As you said, in China it's standard for foreigners to take Chinese names (typically just ones that are based on sounds of their real name), and Chinese people often take Western names when going to Western countries. But this practice does not happen in Japan with any regularity.

Our 書道先生 encourages every member of the class to 漢字-fie their name; guess it's meant to make us feel more special and in touch with the Japanese language / culture.

Anyway they're great and will write out many variations for you to choose based on on-yomi readings- my 日本語 name is 長夢, incase you were wondering

aphasiac Wrote:Our 書道先生 encourages every member of the class to 漢字-fie their name; guess it's meant to make us feel more special and in touch with the Japanese language / culture.

I would say you're right. You would never write your name in kanji in Japan whether phonetically or based on meaning.

Hmm not sure what my "real" name is in japanese but all I did was match it based on sound. Not meaning. I guess I gotta find what my real name means and then match it closely with the sound/reading/meaning.

yudantaiteki Wrote:

vileru Wrote:Would it be strange for a foreigner to adopt a typical Japanese name when in Japan? Plenty of Asian people (especially Chinese) that immigrate to the US take on English names. In fact, I think American people welcome and encourage this practice. Does the same hold true in Japan?

No, it doesn't. As you said, in China it's standard for foreigners to take Chinese names (typically just ones that are based on sounds of their real name), and Chinese people often take Western names when going to Western countries. But this practice does not happen in Japan with any regularity.

Thanks for the reply. Does this apply to all foreigners in Japan or only Western foreigners? For example, would an Asian foreigner in Japan typically continue to use their birth-name?

[Katsuo]

There's a book on this subject by Nobuo Sato Write your name in Kanji. "Robert" is one of the featured names (but not in the sample pages, unfortunately).

Elysium Wrote:Hmm... I don't think that one would work. How many Japanese names and surnames actually use on-yomi?

A lot of them. I think it's a lot less common in surnames than in given names, though.

vileru Wrote:Would it be strange for a foreigner to adopt a typical Japanese name when in Japan? Plenty of Asian people (especially Chinese) that immigrate to the US take on English names. In fact, I think American people welcome and encourage this practice. Does the same hold true in Japan?

If you are a non-East Asian person and use a Japanese name in Japan, it will confuse the heck out of people. They will likely not bat an eyelash if you are of Chinese or Korean heritage, though.

yudantaiteki Wrote:

vileru Wrote:Would it be strange for a foreigner to adopt a typical Japanese name when in Japan? Plenty of Asian people (especially Chinese) that immigrate to the US take on English names. In fact, I think American people welcome and encourage this practice. Does the same hold true in Japan?

No, it doesn't. As you said, in China it's standard for foreigners to take Chinese names (typically just ones that are based on sounds of their real name), and Chinese people often take Western names when going to Western countries. But this practice does not happen in Japan with any regularity.

I agree. However, 500 years ago, there were several foreigners who established themselves in Japan around Nagasaki and other areas, and they would often adopt a second Japanese name. But recently it is very rare. I can tell you the case of a Spanish priest, who was the director of the 26 Martyrs museum in Nagasaki, called Diego Pacheco.
Since around 30 years ago, he had changed his name to Diego Yuuki (I do not remember which kanji he used, but he did use Kanji). He died last year, at the age of nineties or so.

EDIT: once my Japanese friends wrote some kanji for my name, as a joke:

Bebio Amaro (ベビオ・アマロ) becomes 倍美男・甘露
I quite like it (it is flattering to read "2x pretty boy + sweet raindrops"), but it is a rare reading, and most Japanese would not read it correctly.

Aijin Wrote:My favorite so far was a student named Sarah who used 皿 on all her homework and tests

This is fantastic.

It used to be required to adopt a Japanese name to take citizenship, which is why it used to be more common.

The modern reaction would be someone thinking you're creepy for being obsessed enough to change your name. You couldn't use it as your legal name anyways unless you naturalized, since you have no identification from your home country proving that those are your name kanji.

There is an area called ”八重洲” around Tokyo Station and it was named after the Japanese name for a Dutch guy called Jan Joosten who served a Shogun around 1600. And there is this guy from the same era called William Adams - 三浦按針; English Samurai who pretty much every Japanese guy know. Though these names are based somewhat on the sound of their western names, and not the meanings of them, they sound pretty Japanified to me.

In today's boring real life though, yea, it's not very common to have a Japanese name if you are not an East Asian (A lot of East Asians in Japan don't really have "Japanese" names but they spell their names in Kanji anyways so people often "read" them Japanese way).

I personally find it pretty cool that a non East Asian guy has a Japanese name especially when you have a story behind it, like "my name in my language means xxx like the Japanese name xxx", but some people don't like "cool" things so I don't know how it will work out. I'm pretty sure most younger people will love it, but with older crowd in business situations, it could be a hit-or-miss.