Choosing a Kanji reading for a name

Hello again. Once again I'm trying to decide on some readings for kanji.

I told a friend that I'd attempt to translate her name into Japanese, and I've done so but I want to run it past you all here.

Her names, first and last respectively, mean:

melody
bright promise

After looking though a lot of words that mean "melody", I believe the best is probably 主調, mainly because the kanji have readings short enough to be names. I personally kind of like the reading かずつき, but I'm wondering if the かず makes it sound too masculine. Honestly, I'm going to give her all the readings and let her choose for herself, but I'd like to have a suggestion when I give them to her.

As for "bright promise", I think kanji-wise I like 明約. I dropped the 束 from 約束 because it was just too long given the length of the readings, and since 約 itself means promise. Mainly I'm curious if this is an acceptable translation and/or if I've changed the meaning too much by dropping the 束 part.

I would appreciate your thoughts on this, especially helping me get some ideas as to feminine sounding readings and helping me avoid readings that sound too much like other words which may have meanings one wouldn't want to have in their name.

どうぞよろしくおねがいします。

It doesn't work like that.

orochi said:

It doesn't work like that.

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I appreciate getting a response, however, your response gives neither an explanation nor an alternative.

In addition, given some of your responses in other threads (one thread in particular), you can understand my apprehension at taking your word.

I have discussed using kanji for my own name with a couple of my professors (both of whom are native Japanese), and both were helpful and approved of my translation. This was also when I was informed that with names, choosing a reading for the kanji is a personal choice.

Thanks though, for the response. I think I'll wait for another from someone else.

Although I understand your intention, my answer is the same with orochi's - it just does not really work.
Sometimes you can find kanji which has the same/similar meaning and sounds like people's name, but it is not always the case.

Japanese word for melody is primarily メロディ which is written in katakana.
When you're talking about the melody not in metaphorical/poetic context but more in music/academic context, it is 旋律 (senritsu), which sounds anything but person's name let alone female one.
The sound senritsu is also used for another word 戦慄 which means horror, chill, bloodcurdlingness - not very nice connotation.
If you want to fine a name which imply of something related to music, you can use the kanaji 音 which can be pronounced "ne" in person's name.

明 means clear or bright (related light) and 約 means rules.
The word 明約 does not exist, but one can guess it could mean clear(ly written) rule.
Again, this does not look/sound like a person's name at all. Especially not female's.
You might take 明 which is sometimes used in given names - 明子 Akiko or 明美 Akemi, for example.

If I were to make up a name for a female which has implication of something about music and something clear or bright at the same time, I might choose 明音 (Aka-ne)
The sound Akane reminds people of the word 茜 (akane) which is a plant and in old days people take dye for red/scarlet from it. Akane is also used as a female name.

Thank you very much for the clear and thoughtful response.

undrentide said:

Although I understand your intention, my answer is the same with orochi's - it just does not really work.
Sometimes you can find kanji which has the same/similar meaning and sounds like people's name, but it is not always the case.

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I don't doubt your knowledge and opinion, though I suppose I didn't intend to mean that it had to sound like an actual Japanese name, just that if you met someone with an unusual name, what reading might sound more fitting for a female.

For example, for my given name, 神恵, I've chosen the reading かんけい. I have no evidence to support that this kanji compound or reading is ever used as a name, but I'm happy with it, and my professors seem to like it as well. My surname actually translates to an actual Japanese surname, 黒川.

undrentide said:

Japanese word for melody is primarily メロディ which is written in katakana.
When you're talking about the melody not in metaphorical/poetic context but more in music/academic context, it is 旋律 (senritsu), which sounds anything but person's name let alone female one.
The sound senritsu is also used for another word 戦慄 which means horror, chill, bloodcurdlingness - not very nice connotation.

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Yes, I saw the word 旋律, but even before knowing that the primary reading could be mistaken for 戦慄, I couldn't find any readings for those kanji that could even pretend to sound like a name.

That was why I was looking at 主調 which has the following entry on WWWJDIC:

主調【しゅちょう】 keynote; main melody

undrentide said:

明 means clear or bright (related light) and 約 means rules.
The word 明約 does not exist, but one can guess it could mean clear(ly written) rule.

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Both my Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary and WWWJDIC list a primary meaning of "promise" for 約, that was why I thought it might be acceptable to drop 束 from the compound.

Anyway, thank you very much for your reply. I'll try to think of some alternative, though it bothers me that a direct translation isn't forthcoming.

Angel Valis said:

Yes, I saw the word 旋律, but even before knowing that the primary reading could be mistaken for 戦慄, I couldn't find any readings for those kanji that could even pretend to sound like a name.

That was why I was looking at 主調 which has the following entry on WWWJDIC:

主調【しゅちょう】 keynote; main melody

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主調 is mainly means key(note), most native speakers would not imagine you mean melody when they hear/see the word.
And again, 主調 does not have any female sounds or connotation.
Again, it just looks/sounds like a technical term.

It is different from 神恵 which somehow looks/sounds like a name if one is told so.
It sounds (kankei?) like a name of a priest, actually.

Angel Valis said:

Both my Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary and WWWJDIC list a primary meaning of "promise" for 約, that was why I thought it might be acceptable to drop 束 from the compound.

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When looking up a word/kanji in dictionaries, you must be very careful because sometimes they lacks in the context.
Indeed 約 can be translated as promise, but this promise is more like the rules which was decided between two parties. You'll understand what I mean if you look up kanji compound such as 契約 or 規約.
Only the compound 約束 makes the same meaning as promise, it has similar connotation.
In kanji compound, often individual kanji works like prefix/suffix originated from Latin or Greek and does not express/imply the same meaning when standing alone.

Thank you again for your thoughtful response.

I've been trying my best thinking about this, and I think I may have come up with something.

I decided to try to find something involving 音 as you suggested. I once again looked up melody on WWWJDIC, because I remembered there were some words related to melody (such as adjectives).

One stood out for its meaning of "exquisite (e.g. melody); melodious; delicate; enchanting", and that was 妙なる. I looked up the kanji itself and discovered that I can mean "marvelous", but after my troubles yesterday, I didn't want to simply try pairing it with 音.

However, I used the ENAMDIC on WWWJDIC and discovered to my surprise that 妙音 is a name, with readings such as たえね and みお said to be feminine names.

Afterwards, I decided to take a chance that 約束 itself might be a name, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is a Japanese surname (read exactly like the word promise やくそく).

Please share any thoughts on this you may have, such as what you might think the meaning of these names were (especially 妙音) if you saw them.

妙音 would work as a female name, but you also need to pay attention to the double meaning of the kanji 妙, 妙[たえ]なる vs. 妙[みょう]な or "strange".

As for 約束, I haven't ever heard the word as a person's name, both as a surname and a given name. If I came across 約束さん, I would think 'What an eccentric name s/he has.

Toritoribe said:

妙音 would work as a female name, but you also need to pay attention to the double meaning of the kanji 妙, 妙[たえ]なる vs. 妙[みょう]な or "strange".

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lol Yes, I was thinking about that as well, but it's her name and I'll let her make the final decision; I'll let her know the other meaning.

Toritoribe said:

As for 約束, I haven't ever heard the word as a person's name, both as a surname and a given name. If I came across 約束さん, I would think 'What an eccentric name s/he has.

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Well eccentric isn't bad; once again, I'll let her make the final choice.

Thank you so much for your response.

どうもありがとうございます。