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Chinese names in Japanese

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Kevin Hsu

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Hello, I am new to this forum. My name is Kevin Hsu, I am a Taiwanese Canadian and I speak English, Mandarin and Taiwanese. I am very interested in learning Japanese, and was wondering if my Traditional Chinese name could be translated to Japanese through Kanji.
My Chinese name is 許博凱. I've tried Google Translate and came up with the results as "Kiyo Hiroshi" and they left 凱 untranslated, which I am assuming, is because 凱 does not exist in kanji. Thanks in advance. I also realize that the number of members here who understand both Chinese and Japanese well are probably rare, due to this being a predominantly English forum.
 
For fun, I checked around kanji readings used for names and I think the entire name could also be read as Kiyohiro Katsu, with the last kanji being read as the word for "win" or maybe "victory". Correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, the name sounds nice like that I think. However, maybe the order of the names should be reversed with Katsu as surname and Kiyohiro as forename. Both are real, existing japanese names I think, but I don't know how common they are. 勝海舟 was a famous person named Katsu.

I once asked a japanese friend to give me a japanese name and he chose 磁器蛍 which uses words for "porcelain" and "firefly", I asked if it wasn't a girls name but he said it fits me so I decided to go with it.
 
凱 exists also in Japanese, as in 凱旋門 "triumphal arch" for instance. It's just not a Jōyō kanji. Your name 許博凱 would be read in on'yomi "Kyo Hakugai" as many Chinese name is done.


Another famous 勝 would be an actor 勝新太郎. Although this is a screen name and his real surname is 奥村. According to this site, there are about 5900 勝 families in Japan. So, this surname would be not so common but also not so rare at the same time. "Kiyohiro" is a common male given name, but it also can be a surname. So, I can only say the two interpretations are both possible. (Katsu(surname) Kiyohiro(given name) seems more common to me, though.)

I've never heard the surname 磁器. There is no data for the name in 日本の苗字7000傑, either. 蛍 sounds like a femal name also to me.
 
Shouldn't 許 be "kyo" instead of "kiyo"?
 
Thank you for the reply (and everyone else who replied)! So is it common for Han people to adapt their Chinese name to Japanese using kanji? If that is common, then would the name usually be in on'yomi or kun'yomi? So Kyo would be 許, and 博 would be Haku, and 凱 would be gai? Also, if it not too much trouble, can you give me what my name would look like in Japanese then? Would it be キョハク ガイ? I'm using this page as reference: #kanji 許博凱 - Jisho.org
 
Last edited:
Mike Cash said:
Shouldn't 許 be "kyo" instead of "kiyo"?
Click to expand...

I thought so but when I checked for various name readings with this kanji there were a few Kiyo also alongside Kyo. I guess maybe name readings are a bit forgiving or something.

About chinese names in japanese, I am also interested in knowing about this. When I encounter chinese names in japanese newspapers I have no idea how to read them sometimes. The japanese readings usually don't sound very chinese either when read in combination. On some occassions with korean names I've seen furigana, which usually reads something very different from normal on-yomi readings for some reason. This is something I really haven't studied at all.
 
No, 許 should be "Kyo". I think "Kiyo" is just from a misread of yōon "ょ", i.e., きょ vs きよ.

As for Chinese names, it's usually read in on'yomi especially for historical persons, like 劉邦"Ryū Hō", 曹操 "Sō Sō", 毛沢東 "Mō Takutō". But recently, 習近平 is sometimes read "Shī Chinpin".

If I remember correctly, the reading of Korean names was changed in '80's. 全斗煥 had been called "Zen Tokan" but changed to "Chon Dufan" in the last half of his term as president. So, 金大中 is read both "Kin Daichū" and "Kimu Dejun", but 李明博 would be never called "Ri Meihaku".

Yes for キョ・ハクガイ.
 
So do Japanese people have a Jinmeiyō kanji version of their name, and then a katakana/hiragana version too? In terms of making 許博凱 into a kana name, would キョ・ハクガイ actually be a legitimate name? Also, if I wanted to change my Chinese name into Japanese, wouldn't I find 許博凱 as Jinmeiyō kanji and then read it that way? Which I think Macrobiotic listed as being "Kiyohiro Katsu" or something like that.
 
No, I mean キョ・ハクガイ is correct as a Japanese reading of 許博凱. Western names are written in katakana, but Eastern Kanji names are usually written in kanji, as in my previous post (except some HongKong, or maybe Taiwanese people, like ジャッキー･チェン).

Do you mean "to obtain Japanese citizenship" by "if I wanted to change my Chinese name into Japanese"?
 
I have no intent of obtaining Japanese citizenship,but if that were the case and I were to somehow miraculously be eligible for Japanese citizenship, what would my name be on the passport? Wouldn't I keep 許博凱, because it's also in Jinmeiyō kanji? If that were the case, then what would 許博凱 be in its Jinmeiyō kanji form? Does Jinmeiyō kanji have alternate pronunciations different from both on'yomi and kun'yomi?
 
I based Kiyohiro and Katsu on possible readings for those kanji which result in real japanese names. Although japanese might not use those exact kanji for those names, the readings are still theoretically possible I think. There may be many other readings and possible japanese names constructed, I just suggested one of them. Kind of like Giuseppe becomes "Joe" in the US sometimes to make it english sounding and culturally adapted, just that instead of sound I based it on the kanji themselves. Just a suggestion because I thought it was the most "cool sounding" name with Katsu sounding very dignified and powerful, hahaha.
 
I see what you mean now, you are basing Kiyo off of 許 and Hiro off of 博, but I'm not sure where you got the Katsu from? Wouldn't 凱 in Jinmeiyou be more like かつじ (Katsuji)?
 
The largest and fatal problem is that 許博 is not his surname.

凱 is read たのし・とき・よし as a 人名用漢字, so きょ・ひろとき/ひろよし would be the most common Chinese-Japanese name.

It's acceptable to give ANY readings to the kanji name, if you want. In fact, there is a real male given name 拳 "Nakkuru", probably from an English word "knuckle".
 
It was a longshot really but in some names it seems it's read as Katsu when together with another kanji, such as 凱生 or 凱子. Besides sounding good, since Katsu written as 勝 is a real surname and I had no idea if any of the other readings would be a surname I suggested Katsu. Also, because the meaning of that kanji is related to victory or triumph I think, it was close at hand since "Katsu" also means "to win" in japanese.
 
So I can go: Kiyo Hirotoki/Hiroyoshi and maybe Hirotanoshi? Or does Hirotanoshi just sound bad?

---------- Post added at 23:09 ---------- Previous post was at 23:07 ----------

Smart deduction, but you are basing Katsu off of 凱 which is not my surname.
 
Not Kiyo but Kyo.

"Tanoshi" is a reading for the name 凱 alone.
 
Toritoribe said:
It's acceptable to give ANY readings to the kanji name, if you want. In fact, there is a real male given name 拳 "Nakkuru", probably from an English word "knuckle".
Click to expand...

Thanks for explaining things.
I hope I don't insult anyone named Nakkuru but this name was so funny.
 
Ah, so Tanoshi cannot be added onto other words and form a name like Yoshi or Toki? Also, is Kyo an actual Japanese surname? is there such a surname?
 
Yes, but as a Chinese-Japanese or Korean-Japanese name.
 
Macrobiotic said:
Thanks for explaining things.
I hope I don't insult anyone named Nakkuru but this name was so funny.
Click to expand...

Can't be any worse than the time I was reading letters to Santa printed in my hometown paper and found a couple of letters from "Katana" and "Toshiba". (I wish I were making this up.....)
 
Macrobiotic said:
Thanks for explaining things.
I hope I don't insult anyone named Nakkuru but this name was so funny.
Click to expand...
Yeah, most Japanese people would agree with you(including me, of course;-)).
 
Mike Cash said:
This was from back in the mid 80s, so nobody had heard of anime or manga yet.
Click to expand...
I see.

---------- Post added at 23:31 ---------- Previous post was at 23:23 ----------

Would Kyo be キョ or きょ?
 
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