Western Names In Japanese

My name is Kelly, and I'm trying to find a Japanese(kanji) translation of mine and my sisters names.

I've been told in Kanji my name would be Keri. Is this correct? Would this be how I'd have to introduce myself to a Japanese person?

My sister, Charlotte, has been told her name would be pronounced Sha-rotto. Is this also correct?

Thankyou for your help!

If you were to spell your names you would spell it based on japanese phonetics, not Kanji but rather in Katakana.

So is it Katakana those names are being translated into? Or has someone just blagged a load of rubbish to me?

Kelly,

When Japanese people pronounce your name (when speaking in Japanese), it will probably sound like "kerii" because there is no L sound in Japanese. And for your sister's name, it will sound like "shaarotto," because again there is no long "ar" with an "r" pronounced (so instead it will sound like a long "a"), and there can be no "t" standing alone in Japanese syllables, so "-o" will be added at the end.

And those will be written in katakana, not kanji, because they are non-Japanese names. It will be ケリー for your name (consisting of "ke" "ri" and a bar for long vowel) and シャーロット (consisting of "sha," bar for a long vowel, "ro," small "tsu" for jump in the sound, then "to") for your sister's. BTW, What you have there "Keri" and "Sha-rotto" (or "Shaarotto") are called *romaji* writing (romanized writing of Japanese syllables).

If you WANT to have your names written in kanji for fun or whatsoever, you COULD find some kanji, but since your names are not originally Japanese, the kanji will be selected *arbitrarily* that fit the sound of your names (people who want their name in kanji tattoo and things have some kanji selected that suit the sounds and have pleasant meanings that they like), and there can be many many possibilities. So there is no one correct way to represent your name in kanji.

Thankyou very much. That helps to clear a few things up.

So, when I go to Japan, would it be easier to just introduce myself as Keri?

Names are names, so I think it's OK to simply introduce yourself as your name is, just say you are Kelly :) It's not that "L" is a non-sound for us, I mean, we *know* that it is a sound used in English, it's just that for some of us, because this sound does not exist in our native language, find it difficult to make that sound - so as long as you are aware that you COULD be called by what sounds like "Keri" to your ears, that would be fine.

Kelly,

Just to confuse things more, while your name would be written as "Keri", the pronunciation is closer to "Kelly" than "Kerry".
As AK says, just introduce yourself as you are.

Britney Spears made a similar mistake when she introduced herself to the press in Japan. Someone had presumably told her that her name was written as "Buri" in Japanese. Fine so far, but she gleefully introduced herself to the Japanese media as "Buri dess!" rhyming "buri" with "curry" rather than using the Japanese pronunciation, which would be closer to "Brie" (cheese) or even "Blee".

Thanks guys! At least now if I go over and think people are calling me Kerry, I won't be shocked, or upset because I think people have forgotten my name!

Thanks for all the help and advice ^_^

I agree with saying your name as is, Kelly. The pronounciation etc really matters if you want to write your name down,then you would go by japanese phonetics. My friend Alex went by Alex and people said it just fine, however when written down then it would go by japanese phonetics, since there is no L it went with a r sound when written.

So is it Katakana those names are being translated into? Or has someone just blagged a load of rubbish to me?

No I wasn't. Please research Japanese writing systems to understand why:
Kanji
Hirgana and Katakana

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e621.html

I recently learned what my name would be in Japanese, thanks to a pendant I was wearing. It has my "name" spelled in Hiragana, which apparently was unusual according to the linguist reading it. I believe she told me it would be pronounced "Jonshi".

Jonci,
It then must have looked like: じょんし (in hiragana), right? :)
Normally for writing non-Japanese names, we would have used katakana, which would have looked: ジョンシ.

John,
I don't think Kelly was referring to you when she was wondering if someone had blagged... :)

No, John, I wasn't referring to you at all! I was referring to the person who told me my name translation in the first place!

Almost, AK. It is じょんしぃ.
It has that fifth symbol at the end. Took me forever to find it on the character map.

Jonci,

It is じょんしぃ.

That's a "cute" way of writing it. It is certainly not incorrect, and would look fine on a T-shirt or pendant, but is not really how you would want to write it on official documents.

So, say I was writing a informal letter to a friend, I could write my name in the version that has the small dash on the end?

That's interesting to know!

Sorry, or does that little dash only apply to how Jonci's name is spelt in the 'cute' way and 'formal' way?

If so, can that dash be added to the end of any name?

Kelly,

I think the person who wrote the hiragana name for Jonci intentionally made it in hiragana in the first place to make it look somewhat exotic/different and cute for writing on a pendant (while officially non-Japanese names are written with katakana), and used the "ぃ" (a small vowel "i") at the end to show the extended vowel sound instead of the "long dash" that stands for the long vowel.

Your name properly in katakana appears as ケリー ("ke" "ri" and a "dash" for long vowel), as in my earlier post.

Some people MIGHT write it (also in katakana) as ケリィ ("ke" "ri" and a small vowel "i" - another way to represent an extended sound ending in "i" vowel). This one is perfectly OK as well.

By the "dash", are you referring to the last character of the hiragana form of Jonci's name? If so, that is the small version of the character い ("i"). Since there is no lengthening horizontal dash like this ー　in hiragana, someone has used that small "i" to lengthen the final vowel somewhat.

I wouldn't use hiragana to write "Kelly" if I were you, most Japanese people would laugh if they saw Jonci's name written that way. Probably best to stick to ケリー.