Verification for name in Japanese (Katakana)

Hi all,

Long story short: I'm getting a memorial tattoo of a girl's name and would like to verify if the characters are correct. If I understand correctly, foreign names are usually written in Katakana. Is this source trustworthy: www.stockkanji.com ?
I don't know any Japanese whatsoever, but looking for a way to make sure I get it right.

Thank you!

I hope you have a VERY good reason to want to do this. In fact, nothing short of the person herself actually using the katakana version of her name would qualify as a good reason (and if she did, you wouldn't be asking how to write it). Most foreign names are completely butchered by the transliteration into katakana, very often to the point of ridiculousness. Ever heard a Japanese person pronounce a foreign name? That's how katakana "sounds", and it is not pretty. I am lucky enough that my own name transliterates into katakana without too much damage, but otherwise I would almost consider it offensive for anyone to use a katakana version unless absolutely necessary.

Let me get this straight. You want get a tattoo of your non-japanese friend's name but you want it to be in katakana, which you can't read. Basically then, you can have anything written and as long as you believe it means your friend's name, it will.

Since no one's answered your question yet, www.stockkanji.com looks to give fairly good transliterations and even gives background info if there are different pronunciations. It'd be better still if you could post the name and a brief description of how it's pronounced and someone will surely check it against their database for you.

BTW, I don't think you need to justify getting a tattoo in a foreign language. You don't have to be able to read it, and perhaps you even want to intentionally obscure the meaning, either way your intentions are your own and that's fine. However I do think that it is important to spend the effort to verify the meaning reflects what you intend it to be.

If you don't mind me asking, what's her name? People here would be able to give you a confirmation of the katakana.

For sure, a typical Japanese tattoo fan wouldn't want to get a tattoo design from www.stockkanji.com if that's what your question is. They're very laughable.

I'm sorry if I had misunderstood your question. Just a tip from a native Japanese resident who loves people with cool tattoos on.

Hi all,

Thanks for your answers and general concerns.
- I have very good reasons, and believe that I don't have to justify my choice to anyone else but myself, but thanks for the concern.
- Evidently, I'm not even considering the stockkanji 'designs' as a final design, but as a basis. The tattoo artist just needs a framework to start his design and apply his own style and creativity. I choose an artist for a tattoo (which is not my first), not a final design.

The only thing I wanted to make sure of, as yllwsmrf pointed out, is that I don't provide the artist with utter nonsense.
Her name was Sophie. Thanks a lot for your help.

if your(her) language is English, it is ソフィー
if your(her) language is German, it is ゾフィー

Make sure your tattoo artist recognises the difference between ソ and ン. Note the angle. The first one is the one you need.