My name in japan

Now I know foreign names are commonly written in katakana. however, personally I'm not exactly fond of how my name sounds / looks written that way. So my question is: Is it acceptable to simply choose a new / common Japanese name to call myself?

I remember in high school I had a Chinese friend that did just that, to avoid confusion and horrible mispronunciations she simply choose an english name for herself.

Is this common to do? or is it taboo?

Usually if it makes you happier, it's not seen as something so terrible for a first name, but last names are too important to change.

Your name would be difficult to pronounce and write, so you would be better, maybe. It's not that big a deal anywhere in the world, like I know a Japanese person living here in my home town who's real name is Michi, but she calls herself Michelle because she feels it sounds more British and at home.

Just don't bother coming up with some Kanji though, it's seen as childish by some.

I don't think it would be taboo or anything, but I expect that you may get some strange looks from some people if you introduce yourself with a Japanese name- unless you tell them your real name then ask to be called by a Japanese name and explain it's easier each time you meet someone new.... Do you have a nickname? Maybe it would sound better and be more fun if you used a nickname rather than replacing your name with a Japanese name. Since you asked, as far as i've seen hardly any foreigners actually try to use a Japanese name- but that's my own experience :P

You could adopt a new nick name. But I personally don't see any problem with your name, if it is your real name I mean.

Thanks for the reply's! yes, the name posted up there is my real name. I actually have had intentions of changing at least my last name for years now (not the happiest of family situations)

I guess ''Nate'' looks better in katakana rather then the whole name.

either way that's still a long way down the road, thanks for the feed back!

Nee-san, yeah, it sucks being called big sister all the time.

Oh, I accidentally rated the previous post as useful.
About the nickname, I know there's the "th" sound, anyway I'd change it to Natan ƒiƒ^ƒ“.

consider using your middle name

i started using mine when i came here as the other was giving me a headache with people trying to pronounce and spell it

So my name is Stu, and no one can ever pronounce it close to being right.

I tried ƒXƒgƒD�[, but people would say SuTo-
I tried ƒXƒeƒ…�[, but people would say SuTeYu-
I have finally stuck with ƒXƒ`ƒ…�[, but I get made fun of by being call ƒr�[ƒt�EƒXƒ`ƒ…�[, or ƒNƒŠ�[ƒ€�EƒXƒ`ƒ…�[.
Some people however can't even pronounce that correctly, so settle on calling me S.T.U.

As for your case, I have a friend who goes by Nate, and he uses ƒl�[ƒg, Ne-to. It's easy to pronounce and similar to the original.

I think Stu`s problem is a common one.
Katakana simply does not posess enough different sounds to replicate most foreign names. It is like being asked to write your name on a keyboard with half the number of keys. Many Japanese people do not really understand this problem and claim any word can be written with katakana.
So the spelling of your name in katakana is not an exact science and largely depends on the first few people you encounter when doing those fatal first documents for a visa, bank account or gaijin card etc.
There are some katakana arrangements that sound more accurate than others...for this you should probably get a few different Japanese to listen to you pronouncing your name rather than just entrusting it to a single person. You can check the internet if your name is common but even then there a often varous katakana interpretations of the same name so you will have to end up choosing which sounds closest in your opinion.
Changing your name entirely would be a drastic option...How about using the closest katakana interpretation for official documents and then using a nickname socially and or at work. Nicknames are quite common in Japan...people might even add a kun or a chan on the end of your nickname for that extra bit of Japanese affection.

Believe it or not I have a similar problem in North America!. Many people can't pronounce my (very common) European first name...so I go by the 2 initials of that name. Some people do make the effort do use my full first name (actually a hyphenated name in 2 parts)..bless them..

Nathaniel. As a Nathan with a fair bit of time living in Japan, I think I know what you are in for!

Firstly, Nathan is often pronounced nei-san which also means girl or elder sister. It DOES get annoying after the 1000th joke. Also, yobi-sute is inevitable (No-one will call you Neisan-san after a while) A nickname like Nate (neito - sounds like N.A.T.O) or even N (en) might make things easier. Consider handing people your business card and saying "please call me ...." "... to yonde kudasai).

As for changing your last name, that is a whole other problem. You will run into trouble with bank accounts, hanko, city hall stuff etc, if your passport and names don't match up. Think seriously about that one before proceeding. Banks are a pain!

Good luck. The good stuff in Japan always outweighs the bad.

Nathan

Sorry, to answer your original question! You could use the nickname kei or megumi. This is the Japanese character equivalent of the meaning of Nathan/Nathaniel etc. (Œb) Nathan is Hebrew for god giveth... Kei sounds a bit more masculine than Megumi. Your business card could read:

Nathaniel (Kei) Moses

It would work well.

Nathan

oh i meant i might change it before all that. I swing back and forth on deciding if i want to change it. inevitably i think i'll just never get around to deciding so it will just stay the same. lmao

As someone who has changed their surname I would encourage you to do it. I was indesisive at the time but I was glad I did it in the end

So, you were Seratone Indesisive, and changed your name to Seratone Glad-I-Did-It?

gdaynate:
So if my name is Alma (which in latin lenguages means soul)should I use the name Tamashiko?
Which comes from Tamashi = soul/spirit and ko as the femenine name suffix.

Note: If you know Japanese, I guess this is obvious to you, XD.