Translate my friend’s surname to Kanji

Hello, I'd like to translate my friends surname into kanji to personalise a gift.

The surname to be translated is "RENZ". My friend is male. The name is of German origin. The name is pronounced like Benz in Mercedes Benz but with an R.

I understand that translating to kanji can make a meaningless mess of words so I am also interested in the meaning.

I hope someone is able to help. Thanks :)

I would just stick to "katakana" writing - the phonetic letters that are used to represent non-Japanese names usually. Then it would be:
レンツ　(re-n-tsu)

Thanks AK!

I got the same transaction from http://www.keiichianimeforever.com. See below.

English name: Renz
Japanese name, in rōmaji: Renzu
but the Katakana characters you posted are the same so that's really good.

What's the difference between re-n-tsu and Renzu? Are there no Z's in Japanese?

When I tried http://www.yournameinjapanese.com it suggests two Kanji characters ''Love'' and ''Head''. Does that not make any sense?

Thanks again :)

I used "re-n-tsu" assuming that the last "z" is pronounced as in "Benz," as in the last sound of the English word "hits."
If it is pronounced as in the last part of the English word "snooze," then it should be "zu."

As for using kanji, if you think "love" "head" looks cool, that's fine. But the kanji for "head" corresponds to the sound "zu" as in "snooze," so please be sure about the pronunciation.

Thanks AK. The name is pronounced like Benz but with an R. You're quite the clever cookie!

Thanks for your help :)

I guess it isn't correct to use kanji to represent my friend's name. Though I think i maybe shouldn't customise anything with the letters you provided because they just don't look as pretty.

:)

If you want to use kanji for decorative purpose, that's fine, but please be sure that you pick the right kanji with the right "sound" for your friend's name.

(a) If it is pronounced like (referring to English words) "ren" as in the word "rent" and "ts" sound as in "its," then it is written in Japanese as "re-n-tsu."

(b) If it if pronounced like "ren" as in the word "rent" AND "z" sound as in "snooze," (or "zoo" with a shorter "oo" sound), ONLY THEN it will be (in Japanese phonetic system) "re-n-ZU," which in terms of sound can be replaced by the kanji "love" 恋 and "head." 頭 The kanji for "head" is pronounced like short "zoo," not with the hard "ts" sound as in "its."

So if your friend's name is pronounced like (a), then you need to pick another kanji with the hard sound "ts" as in "its" instead of "zu." That's all I wanted to say :)