Translate western names into japanese?

Question

I know this sound kind of stupid... Given Joseph would be the english name for the spanish "José"... is there any way of having equivalent names for western names on japanese?

Answer 1

I don't know what that "amaru" stuff is. The basic answer is NO, there is NO equivalent Japanese name for any Western names. The reason is that the languages and cultures were far apart when they evolved thousands of years ago. Except for coincidences that just happen to sound alike or spelled alike, such as Naomi = Naomi, Mary = Mari, Reina = Lena, etc.

P.S. My son's Japanese name is Kurisu!

Answer 2

We usually change the name into Katakana, syllable by syllable. So Joseph would be Jo-Se-Fu as there is no proper 'Ph' sound in the katakana alphabet and 'Fu' is the closest sounding. Like Alvin would be A-Ru-Bi-Nu' (soft sounding 'Nu') as there is no 'L sound' or 'V' sound.
The addition of 'san' behind the name is partly out of respect for the person being called. If the person is a child, 'chan' is used instead.

Answer 3

Not at all. For the most part you just transcribe the name into katakana. Sometimes it is exactly the same. Sometimes it is a little different given differences in the phonetics.

Jose would be - Hose (hoh-seh), hoze (hoh-zeh), Hosei (hoh-seh-ee), or Hozei (hoh-zeh-ee)
Joseph would be Josefu (joh-seh-fu) or Jozefu (joh-zeh-fu)

Take your pick.

Answer 4

Yes, some simpler ways are to just add a 'u' or 'amaru', which means of 'Western decent' to the end of the name:

Rik become Riku or Rikamaru

Steven - Stevenu or Stevenamaru

Tracy - Tracyu or Tracyamaru

If you want to do it with respect you can add 'san':

Bobamaru san!

Josephamaru san!

Answer 5

go to http://japanesetranslator.co.uk/your-name-in-japanese/