Best Romaji Translation for Name 上野俊一?

smallt1984 · 30 Mar 2009

Hello,

I wanna translate a (Kanji?) name, 上野俊一, into a Romaji name so I can use it as an English name.

I don't know speaking or writing in Japanese, but I have already put my best effort to find out possible Romaji of this name, they were:

Ueno Toshikazu
Ueno Shunichi

Well, that was confusing me because the first name was differently translated (俊一?) And I don't know why.

I know to read Chinese so I'm guessing, from the meaning of the first name, means handsome or pretty for 俊, and one for 一?

Anyway, I hope you talent in this forum can help me on that, I wanna go for the best translation of this name.

Thanks very much,

Maya

Toritoribe · 30 Mar 2009

If you want to transcribe kanji name into romaji, no one can answer which one is correct. Both "Toshikazu" and "Shun'ichi" are possible and common, also 上野 could be "Kamino/Ageno." (not so common, though)

smallt1984 · 30 Mar 2009

Thanks, Toritoribe.
So I guess possibly they have something different, maybe, in terms of meaning or other considerations?
For Shun'ichi, in terms of pronunciation, sounds more 'consistent' with Kanji Kanji 'shun' 俊 and 'ichi' 一. And in terms of meaning, that appears to be 'pretty and one'. (correct me if I'm not correct) So in both aspects, this name is more 'plain' to me.
However, I'm not sure about Toshikazu. Honestly, I have no idea what it is referred to (toshi? kazu?). But, the sound seems to be more easily to be pronounced in English (as compared with 'shun').
I'm really happy that you guys can kindly help me to choose which one is 'better' for picking up.
By the way, I'm looking for you guys opinions. Thank you very much.

becki_kanou · 30 Mar 2009

As Toritoribe said, they are both valid readings for the name, and the meanings are same as well. Unless you actually know the person and can ask them there is no way to tell which reading is correct.

If it's just a name you've made up and you want to know which reading sounds better, that's entirely a matter of personal preference. I think Toshikazu sounds "nicer", but again that's a personal opinion and nothing more.

Toritoribe · 30 Mar 2009

The meanings are basically carried by kanji, not the pronunciation. Though 寿和, for instance, would be also common for "Toshikazu," it has quite different impression/meaning to 俊一. Thus, if you write it only in romaji (or kana), neither "Toshikazu" nor "Shun'ich" can have a valid meaning.

smallt1984 · 2 Apr 2009

Oh, I intend to change his name to another...

Thanks for all you folks kind replies, becki_kanou and Toritoribe!

I did a bit more research, and actually, what I wanna do is to give a name for a story character (sorry I decide to change the aforementioned name as mention below).

Here is my intention, I hope you guys can shine me some inspirations (just correct me if the following thing is silly, I'm not a Japanese so I don't know if the following idea is appropriate):

My task is to name a male character (a mixed male), who meets many females thinking he is too handsome. From what I told, he will be born many years later (let say year 2100, 2300).

My thought is that to name him Ueno(うえの) Yoiotoko (よいおとこ), in Kanji, I'll use 上野美男 .

As I'm not a Japanese, so I hope that you folks could inspire me if this one is (seem to be) an appropriate name, based on his background (that I know) that I've written here.

Thank you very much!

Toritoribe · 2 Apr 2009

...Most of all (or all of) native Japanese speakers can't understand よいおとこ as a male/person's name...

If I were you, I would name him 光源氏[ひかるげんじ].

smallt1984 · 5 Apr 2009

Thanks for your kindly suggestion, Toritoribe. The character was a handsome prince in traditional Japanese literature and he was too famous for that, so I would find a new name to avoid potential contradiction with other's works. Thanks for that link and let me know the character, by the way.

I would like to give a 'Japanese name' translation for 美男. However, as Toritoribe pointed out Yoiotoko (よいおとこ) wasn't like a name, so I'm seeking for another translation. I guess there maybe 'similar meaning' for that kanji word (I think you guys know the meaning) and I don't know if there are Japanese names holding similar meaning for this.

Thank you very much, anyway. You guys help me a lot.

Toritoribe · 6 Apr 2009

The most common reading for 美男 as a given name is よしお. It's another matter whether the name 美男[よしお] looks/sounds "cool," though.

Best Romaji Translation for Name 上野俊一?

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