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Middle Name and Naming rules

deadhippo

先輩
9 Apr 2005
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Pretty soon I, an Irishman, am going to have child with my Japanese wife and I was wondering if there are any particular naming rules when it comes to registering our baby.
Of course I use alphabet but we are giving her kanji for her first name and a second name would look ridiculous in katakana.

Regarding second names: are there are any problems giving Japanese citizens second names?
 
Both my children have first names in katakana and middle names in kanji.
 
Did you have to change your name to katakana.
When I finally broke down and got a hanko this year I either had to change from romaji to katakana or just add katakana. I'm not too sure at this stage. By change I mean register the name at the ward office.
 
The rules as explained to my wife and me.
On the Japanese passport, only 2 names permitted. So, if you want a middle name, it will have to be combined with the first one.

Ex.
Johnphillip McGowan (written in katakana, of course)

Japanese people use hiragana or kanji for first names and kanji for last names.
 
Thanks for the info.

Don't think I'll be doing that combination thing. I think that it would cause complications for her in Japan. Also, Japanese passports don't use kanji or kana for the names although I guess you can do what you like with your signature.

I assume hiragana/katakana is also OK for first and last names for Japanese people. My wife has already taken my name and has registered her name in katakana. Passport hasn't been renewed yet but I guess she will use my name rather than the romaji version of the katakana version of my name. That would be quite funny though.
 
Luckily this never became an issue with my ex-wife and me, but I'm perfectly certain that I wouldn't have even considered giving our kids a middle name. My opinion is that if you and your family plan to live in Japan permanently, middle names are more trouble than they're worth.
 
I've been here a while and can't see myself going anywhere for a while but I don't plan to live here permanently. Plus there are other reasons to give kids a middle name.

I wonder if it's possible to give them a middle name only when registered in my own country? I'm going to call the embassy on Monday when they are all recovering from their Guinness and whiskey hangovers and see what they have to say.
 
Although Japan officially doesn't recognize dual citizenships, I am pretty sure they don't really check on this, either. I'm sure that it's entirely possible to register your child with your embassy using a middle name with no one being the wiser. Of course it's best to consult with your embassy first, but my guess is that it won't be a problem.
 
I thought dual citizenship was fine until age twenty and then kinda fine if you keep it on the down low.
 
Japanese people use hiragana or kanji for first names and kanji for last names.

Except those who have married foreigners and taken their foreign spouse's last name, such as Mrs. Cash. Or those who are the children of such a union. In my house there are three Japanese citizens with the legal last name of ニ鱈ニ槌槌鍛ニ歎ニ停?ヲ.

That's why I have always said in response to that bunk about "if you take Japanese citizenship you have to change to a Japanese name" that I will say "Fine, I'll take the same last name as the other three Japanese citizens in my home: ニ鱈ニ槌槌鍛ニ歎ニ停?ヲ".
 
Japanese children automatically take the family name of their mother - that's the law.

If the rules for Irish nationals are the same as UK nationals - and the two countries tend to duplicate most laws - then you can register your child at the Irish Embassy with any name you'd care to.

When I registered my son at the UK Embassy in Tokyo they needed his Japanese birth certificate and a letter signed by both me and my wife confirming we wanted his UK birth certificate to have a different name from his Japanese certificate. He's "Tomu" in Japan and "Thomas" in the UK plus he has my grandfather's first name as his middle name and my family name - for the UK certificate only.

My wife kept her family name when we married and we wanted to give our son a regular kanji first name. I have no problem with him having a different family name to me in Japan. For the time being he only has a Japanese passport. I keep meaning to get his UK passport organized - I'll certainly do it before he's nine then there'll be a standard renewal when he's 19 (and hopefully entering a UK university as an EU citizen - and therefore paying lower tuition fees).

I've never once heard of the Japanese Ministry of Justice chasing up any of my gaijin friends' children to make them choose a nationality. The oldest of them is 37 and he still has current JPN and USA passports.

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Hey, thanks. Fantastic informative reply.
I hope it's the same for us Irish.

Get on the phone to the Ireland Consular section - here's the link you need:
http://www.irishembassy.jp/home/index.aspx?id=33451

They'll tell you what you need and you'll be finally reaping some of the benefit of any Irish income taxes you've ever paid!

The letter with both parents confirming permission for the different name was very important.

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