Name in Japanese

[hamykia]

I was thinking about the different ways one can write their name in Japanese, and I decided to try, so I used WaKaN to search some characters and this is what I liked best.
Well, I show you the three ways to write my name in Japanese: in Katakana (because it's a foreign name) in Kanji according to the meaning, and according to reading.

1) Katakana:

Comments

[fencer_x]

999 times out of 1000, people will look at you VERY VERY strangely and think you are cute (and not in a good way XD;) if you spell your name with kanji and you aren't Chinese or Korean. So I highly recommend against using any kanji at all (especially since the 3rd option there says "saran", not "sara" XD;;; So Japanese people will probably laugh that your name is a plastic covering XD;;;)

The second option sounds nice in theory, but it would be very confusing to Japanese people to see a common kanji like hime and have you say it's pronounced another way :/

The first option is definitely the best ^^; It's fun to play around with kanji readings for it, but I definitely suggest leaving it as something to let Japanese friends have fun doing for YOU rather than saying, "I write my name like THIS in kanji!" :D They'll have a blast XD

[hamykia]

Thank you for the advice! I will always write it in katakana xDD
I'm sad they want the kanji all for themselves... they are prettier than katakana, I think xD
Actually, I had to write "sunaran" for the third option xD
Because the readings are so old and maybe obsolete, my WP didn't have a clue xDD

I was curious because a Japanese friend was asking me how I wrote my name in kanji. And then we were talking about saying I had a Japanese name. She said "you should tell them your name is Hime, it's soooo cute".
I was like :S "It means something porn-ish in Spanish..."
Then she said "Well, then just choose a name you like"
And I said "Can I be called Sora, or is it only for boys?" (cause it sounds similar to my name).
And she was very excited saying "Oh, you can, you should, you know, there's a very popular porn actress who is called Aoi Sora, and everybody thinks she is so nice-and-kind-and-cute, you should totally..."
And I was like D: "maybe not... I will think about the kanji..."

[amyused]

I go for katakana, since I figure it's for writing foreign words originally anyway. XD And I do think the kanji-phonetic way is a little odd, though I have seen plenty a person have an odd pronunciation for a normal kanji (like hime, to be pronounced サラ).

Katakana is the usual way for foreigners to write their names, though. ^^b

[hamykia]

Yeah, I know, but I don't really like katakana, you know. Kanji are so beautiful characters.
But well, at least I'm used to writing it in katakana and I can do it really fast :D

[tokie_chan]

hmm I don't really like Kanji...
so I choose Katakana XDD

[hamykia]

what? really?
I think it's some Chinese aftershock or something xDD
I totally prefer kanji!

[faded_lace]

I agree with you that kanji are more aesthetically pleasing, but as far as my experience goes, it doesn't seem like "the right thing to do" in terms of representing yourself in Japan... ^^;; Having kanji that you like to say is yours unofficially is fun, but I know the Japanese government doesn't accept kanji in terms of legal name in Japan when filling out forms or getting hanko (and I actually have kanji that's mine, since I'm Chinese.) :/ So... I guess I'd say, if you like kanji, keep them around for fun, but when you're actually writing your name in Japan, use the kana? ^^;; As fencer_x said, my experience is that if you give kanji as your name to most Japanese people, you'll get thought of as "cute" in a patronizing way...

[hamykia]

Katakana then
But I don't get that "cute in a patronizing way" thing.
Can it be bad if someone thinks you are cute?
In Spain it's not something bad, so I wonder, is it something bad in Japan, or can it be something bad?

[faded_lace]

I don't think it's necessarily a cultural thing, because I've experienced it in every country I've been to, but maybe it's the sort of thing that gets lost in translation? The way we mean it is that it's not thinking of someone as cute in a complementary way, but looking down on that person as childish or naive or silly. Does that make sense?

[hamykia]

Ahh, I think so?
Maybe?
As I reading it I thought about Ami-chan from the anime Toradora!
At the beginning she acts like she is stupid, clumsy and slow, in order to get people to like her better, because she is afraid that her real personality will make people hate her.
Something like that?