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 [in a 1990 survey], I could pick 渡辺 Watanabe, which is 5 most common in Japan [in a 1994 survey].)

My preferred Japanese pseudonym is 雨宮龍一 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:

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. ;

 

[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

 

[Transfinite]

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 Gabbiani]

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. ;P

Well...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.

 

[Transfinite]

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.'

 

[Fig]

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.