
This might look complicated, but look at the table below that outlines the rules for transcribing English sounds. Japanese has fewer vowels than English, so the two different vowels in “fur” and “far” both get turned into Japanese ファー. Vowels are usually changed into the nearest equivalent Japanese vowel. Traditionally, some names have unusual pronunciations - at least in Japanese. You can use the above chart to create your own name! Or, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can also use a Japanese name generator. In reality, there are no set ways of writing English names in Katakana, but there are more popular ways of doing it.įor example, the name Samuel can be written as “サミュエル”or Samyu-e-ru, or can also be written as “サムエル”. The pronunciation sounds similar to bee in English when translated to katakana.įor example, if your name is David, it becomes “デービッド or De-biddo. For example, the “v” is not a sound that naturally occurs in Japanese. Some sounds in Japanese don’t directly transfer from English. If you’re a foreigner, you’ll mostly have to write your name in katakana. Below you can see a katakana chart. Japanese people have their names written in Kanji. We have a 30-day hiragana challenge to speed up the process and motivate you. If you’re new to learning Japanese, don’t worry.
SAY MY NAME HOW TO
This is entirely different if you’re in a more formal environment, like a business meetup, or if you’re meeting someone new who might be older than you.Īlso check out: Watashi, Boku or Ore: How to say me in Japanese The easiest and most common way to tell someone what your name is in Japanese is to simply state your name and attach です (desu). The same way you don’t include “you” in a lot of Japanese sentences (if it’s clearly indicated), Japanese people tend not to use first-person pronouns. However, although this is technically correct, it’s not the most natural expression.

It depends on who you’re speaking with, your social hierarchy and your relationship with the listener.įor example, the most basic way to say it is: There are several ways to introduce your name to someone in Japanese. If you’re curious about Japan’s second-person pronoun, check out our guide here.

If you’re not talking with anyone else, your conversation partner should know that you’re referring to them directly.Īn even easier way to ask someone “what is your name” in Japanese is to use: In this instance, if you are speaking directly to someone, you don’t need to use the word “your” or “you”. The reason is that the Japanese often omit words if they are clearly interpreted through context. Here’s a quick question: Why don’t we say “ あなたの名前は何ですか“? In Japanese to ask someone their name, you can say these: How to Say “What is your name?” in Japanese Japanese Name Generator: Make Your Name in Japanese.How the Japanese Language Recognizes English Vowels and Consonants.How to Say “What is your name?” in Japanese.

SAY MY NAME GENERATOR
In fact, you don’t need a name generator - just basic knowledge of hiragana and katakana. Luckily, building a Japanese name is easy. For example, if your Chinese surname is 林 (which is pronounced Lim or Lin), you can pronounce the character as “Hayashi” - which is the most common surname in Japan in the 19th century.

In fact, it has become more common in Japan (at least in newspapers and other media) to refer to people with Chinese and some Korean names that are kanji-based using the original pronunciation, instead of reading the kanji in the Japanese way.
