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Translate Chinese name into Japanese name 2020/1/5 01:59
I need to know what is my Japanese name, but too difficult to find it and i want somebody to help me. My Chinese name is ‘hϋR–―, but really hard to translate my Chinese name. I need some help, please.
by ‘hϋR–― (guest)  

Re: Translate Chinese name into Japanese name 2020/1/6 02:59
There are options, and it is ultimately up to you to decide how you want to be called.

(1) You can try to phonetically spell out your name in katakana (as close as possible, anyway). In this option, your name will be written ƒX[EƒVƒ…ƒFƒ“ƒ~ƒ“. ƒVƒ…ƒFƒ“ may be difficult for some to pronounce and it may come out sounding closer to ƒVƒFƒ“.

(2) More traditional option is to read each Chinese characters in on-yomi (‰Ή“Η‚έ).
‘h can be read as ƒX or ƒ\. However, for a last name, I recommend stretching it as ƒX[ or ƒ\[. Because Japanese traditionally call people by their last name and attach —l(-san) to make it more polite. ƒX—l and ƒ\—l don't sound very "fluid", ƒX[—l or ƒ\[—l sounds more natural. In my opinion, ƒX[ sounds more familiar to Japanese, because there is a popular manga character (and also some real person) with the nickname ƒX[‚³‚ρ.

ϋR can be read as ƒPƒ“ or ƒQƒ“. Some Japanese prefer to not include ‘χ“_ (ƒQ is ƒP with ‘χ“_) in names.

–― is ƒ~ƒ“.

So, combined, my recommendation is ƒX[EƒPƒ“ƒ~ƒ“. It has a nice flow, in my opinion.
by Mai Bumai (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Translate Chinese name into Japanese name 2020/1/6 12:15
Generally speaking, names aren't "translated" into Japanese. Translating a name would be taking a name in its base language and changing it into its associated version in a different language, like translating the Spanish names "Juan" or "Jose" into the English "John" or "Joseph."

Instead, people with non-Japanese name who are communicating in Japanese do one of two things:

1.
People with names that aren't originally written with kanji (Chinese characters) "transliterate" their names phonetically into Japanese text, specifically the phonetic Japanese text called katakana. For example, "John Smith" would become ƒWƒ‡[ƒ“EƒXƒ~ƒX, or ƒXƒ~ƒXEƒWƒ‡[ƒ“ if he wanted to observe the Japanese-society custom of putting his family name first.

2.
Non-Japanese people with names that are written in Chinese characters usually write them with the same characters they usually do, but they retain their original pronunciation. For example, in Japan you would write your name exactly as you already do in Chinese: ‘hϋR–―

Many forms in Japan will also ask you to write the pronunciation of your name in katakana (since even Japanese names written with the same characters can have multiple possible readings), and so you would write the pronunciation that's closest to how your name is pronounced in Chinese. As I don't know the Chinese pronunciation of your name, I can't give you any specific advice on this.

It is true that most Japanese people, when looking at your name (‘hϋR–―) won't immediately know how to pronounce it. However, they'll immediately be able to tell that it's a Chinese name, and will know they'll need to ask you for the correct pronunciation.

3.
uJapanese traditionally call people by their last name and attach —l(-san) v
—l is actually the character for "-sama," an extra-polite honorific that's not normally used in everyday conversation, and generally reserved for service industry workers speaking to customers.
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