Hanko for Western last name

Hi all,

For signing my photographs i want to create a hanko stamp. I read some about it online. E.g. That it is usually your last name which is in my case 'Braun' like the electric shavers and kitchen equipment manufacturer. I read that if it's not possible to direct translate the word into kanji, you might want to translate the meaning, which is 'Brown' in english, but i'm not sure if thats smart to do. Any help would be appreciated.

Marcus

Basically you can make any type of Hanko unless you make a "JITSUIN" - official one to register the local government and use when you buy a car or house.

Like my husband's hanko, when I made a hanko in Kanji sounds like his name as a present (he was in Canada), I never thought that he would use it. But we now live in Japan and he uses that hanko to open his bank account.
(When we bought a house, he made his Jitsuin with the full name in Katakana. That was what he was asked by the bank.)

At my work, many foreign people make hankos, some make in Katakana, some in Kanji sounds like their names.
It doesn't have to be your last name. It can be your First name, too.

Here is some example
http://www.hantarou.com/point003.html

Enjoy and make a nice one!

Hi and thanks for your answer. I understand i am free to do what i want to do. Some even use romanji for their hanko, but i would like to know if i can use kanji that represents my last name and does not sound or look silly to a japanese person. I have read some stories with japanese or chinese people laughing because of the silly hanko someone chose. I would like to have chinese and japanese people see my hanko signed photographs and think, oh, that's this persons last name (seriously), and not either think that it's a joke or think that i had no clue what i was doing when signing with my hanko signature.

My husband with his European family name has a carved wood "hanko" with his family name in katakana (phonetic writing). I think that his looks decent and everyone can tell it is his name.

If you want it in kanji, two ways to go about it:
(1) To use a kanji that carries the meaning of the original name, which you say is "color brown." In that case the kanji will be 茶色, pronounced "cha-iro," or 茶 pronounced "cha," which has nothing to do with your name's sound any more, and since it is simply a name of a color, it does not *really* sound or look like a signature.

(2) To use a kanji (or a string of kanji) that carries the same or similar sounds as "bu-ra-u-n," and have pleasant meanings. For that, you would need some help from those who know kanji well, but every Japanese person you ask would come up with different kanji combination :)
For example, you can use some online tool like this:
http://www.kanjizone.com/kanjiname.aspx?name=Brown

Thanks so much AK. So you say by using 奉良云 in Kanji which means "Dedicate Good Say" is closest pronounced as "Braun" (Brown phonetic).
I might be able to tell that "my photography is dedicated to tell good stories". Or would that always need an explanation to japanese people you think?

And if i would use ブラウン in Katakana it's spelled out nearly correct. I see the character "B" has to be "Bu".

Marcus,

奉良云 is a "string" of three separate kanji with those 3 separate meanings. They do not form a Japanese word, but it represents the sounds "bu ra un." Whether one considers that a good-looking name or not is in the eye of the beholder. And though those are the phonetic sounds of the kanji, it is not guaranteed that all Japanese who look at this recognizes it as "brown" immediately :)

The link I gave is not the only one - there are other "kanji name" sites that give you those options. If you definitely want kanji, you might want to look around a bit, AND have it verified by a Japanese you can trust. (I am Japanese, but just a online passerby, if you think about it :))

In katakana, yes, your name will be ブラウン. It is "bu-ra-u-n." Japanese sound system HAS to insert a vowel (except for "n"), so this is inevitable.

You don't make it any easier on me hehe! So i ask you this, if you were me.. what would you do? (Keeping in mind that i take my photography seriously and really like the artistic value of a red hanko stamped signature on my photos.)

Ummmmm.

Since the selection of the kanji is (though phonetically correct) arbitrary, the result can give a somewhat playful impression :)

Another thing to note: you said earlier that you wanted Japanese and Chinese people see your hanko and recognize it as your name. But kanji "pronunciation" can be completely different between Japanese and Chinese, so it might not quite work out the way you want.

If I were in your shoes, I would go for katakana, and as in artists' signature stamps often used in Japanese and Chinese paintings and scrolls, select a squarish frame (not a circle), and get the stamp carver to select a somewhat stylized/design font, rather than the "regular" font that is used in everyday office-use hanko :)

Thanks, i went with Katakana before to create a stamp for my first name. See: http://www.therealthings.com/

That is my website. Here i made a digital stamp myself with just my first name. I might incorporate my last name into it or maybe even together with my middle name.

マークス (phonetically english "mar-cus")

アントニウス (phonetically english "an-toh-ne-us")

ブラウヌ (phonetically english "br-aun" au like in "fault")

Please correct me when wrong.

It's commonly ブラウン as AK suggested, not ブラウヌ.

And in vertical lines, as マークス,
マ
｜
ク
ス
is correct.

Sorry, double post.
Strictly speaking, "｜" is a substitute not correct because this is not font for vertical lines.
I wanted to say just only "The long sound mark is drawn as a line perpendicular in vertical lines".

Marcus is マーカス so Marcus, you are right. It is not マークス, ajapaneseboy.

But it is true that you need to place the line vertically when you are writing it vertically.

Braun is ブラウン

How about this?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sk925oo0rrcyfhc/name.jpg

Fine! You found a nice font too :)
Just one thing, you have your first name, middle name, then family name, all vertically, from left to right. If you are using one at a time, individually each is fine. IF you are going to use them together, vertically, then you start from the right :)

Thank you for the tip! :)
So now it is correct?:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sk925oo0rrcyfhc/name.jpg

I will make it even more artistic looking and will show the final one together with a photo here.

Marcus,

Now they look fine :)

As signature, I (personally) think that just using one "hanko" would look cool, but maybe that's just me :) I look forward to seeing a photo with your signature on it!

Hi AK,

How is this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n3a1ygz3d640kw6/hanko-01.jpg

And with example on photo:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dxrd6cp04bq4wxc/example_image.jpg

I think it looks great, and enhances the artistic value of the image :)

Marcus

Awesome!

It's too late to mention this, but I carelessly mistook about マークス as AK pointed.(x_x;)sorry.

I think it looks great. It goes well with your beautiful photo too :)