What does this mean (Kanji)?

After much investigation I came to the conclusion that this is my name in kanji, however I dont know if it's right. Can you tell me what this says?
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7338/kanjif.jpg

first character means study
second character means time
but what name does that make?
thanks

Ben ji
ベンジ

Your name in Kanji is usually chosen by your family or if you later become a Japanese national you can choose your own name and kanji combination.

How did you come to choose those Kanji?

Usually speaking foreign names will be written in Katakana. Though my Chinese friend managed to get his Chinese Kanji spelling on his foreign registration, though it might of been a mistake because his bank stuff has it in katakana.

That is not a name that is used in Japan, i.e. there is no Japanese person with that as a name. You have created a name for yourself that does mean "study time"- you can see why that isn't used as a name here, usually, right?

As above, non-Japanese people's names are usually written in katakana, which is just phonetic.

You can pick any combination of kanji you like for yourself if you want to, but it won't sound like a Japanese name I'm afraid.

so you're saying it's wrong to do that? because there are many different ways to write ''ben'' in kanji and many ways to write ''ji''. so if that's my name I can't just put them together? none of them?

You are free to choose whatever kanji you want for your new Japanese version of your name.

If someone tells you that the kanji in the link is his name, you would typically assume he is a Japanese person named Masatoki or a Western person named Benji. You would think that the person who chose the kanji wanted the name-holder to study a lot, or was simply choosing it out of phonetics. You would think, "Another kanji-freak Western, ey?"

Btw, a person who is familiar with Japanese culture would typically hope this is not for a tattoo or a T-shirt, because they would simply look dumb. But it's up to the person to tattoo or print whatever he likes.

soo what you're saying is that there is no way to write "Benji" in kanji because i would be made fun of or whatever? no it's not for a tattoo.. I just started studying japanese and was really interested in kanji..

No, what they are saying is that there are many ways to phonetically write Benji in kanji, so if that's the combination you choose than that's your name.

HOWEVER, foreign names aren't typically written in kanji (unless coming from a country that already uses kanji) so it would be unusual to use kanji for your name.

On another note:

Express Train,

my Chinese friend managed to get his Chinese Kanji spelling on his foreign registration, though it might of been a mistake because his bank stuff has it in katakana.

The foreigner registration allows you to register kanji "nicknames" for yourself although your legal name will always be in katakana. The bank, on the other hand, only accepts legal names.

You can do whatever you like as far as putting a combination of kanji together to make your own "Japanese name". What it looks like though, is just that- a name that a non-Japanese has created by putting together kanji.

When people with non-Japanese names want to make Japanized names, there are two things you could try:

(1) Convert the *sounds* into syllables that exist in Japanese, and write it in Katakana. (And you *could* arbitrarily select and assign kanji that has the similar/same sound and pleasant meaning, as has been discussed. But this does not mean that the combined kanji has "true" meaning as a name in Japanese.)

(2) Find out the *original meaning* of your name in your own language, and find the equivalent word in Japanese and use that as your "Japanese nickname." Note that in this case, the sounds would be completely different.

Apparently what you are trying to do is (1), to convert the *sounds* of your name into similar sounds that exist in Japanese, and then find kanji for those sounds, "be-n-ji." I think that you can probably go with 勉児, just as a suggestion, kanji meaning "study/make efforts" and "child," the second one a common ending for boys' names, if you want to have your name in kanji. Or maybe: 勉二 (study + two, often used for the second son)，勉次 (study + next, also a common ending for second son)，勉治 (study + govern). All say "Benji."

But note that whichever you "adopt," since it was not given to you by your parents, all it matters is whether you like it or not, not if "it is right or wrong." :)