Very basic question about introducing myself...apologies

[zipzo]

I will be staying in Japan for a full term of intensive language/culture study by the end of the year. I'm quite excited, and I'm doing my best to learn as much as I can with my own resources so I don't fly in blind. I'm very excited and I can go on and on and on about my interests and why I'm doing it but I'll save you the time and get right to my question...

So I have a long name...my name is Maximillian David Rockwell. Japanese names tend to better fit with their consonant structure and flow properly with their sentences...but my name is long and sort of arduous to pronounce. I was wondering...do I introduce myself as Rockwell Maximillian, without attempting to make it a Japanese pronunciation?

Attempting to directly translate my name in to katakana nets me something like makishimirian roku-eru (rough romaji attempt there)...should I be introducing myself using a japanese pronunciation for my admittedly long and non-japanese sounding name? It's almost like I'd feel bad making people address me because it would do anything but roll off the tongue. Do I introduce myself last name first even though I'm clearly a foreigner?

I'm sorry for the seemingly "fresh off the boat" type inquiries...but I'm excited and I have all sorts of odd questions. Thank you for your help.

 

[Mike Cash]

In Japan there is a long tradition of foreigners being like rock stars; we all only have one name. (Cher, Bono, Sting, Madonna, etc).

Just pick whichever name you go by among your friends and use that to introduce yourself. "Maximillian, Max, David, Dave, Rock, Rocky, whatever. Save the whole Maximillian David Rockwell thing for putting on documents.

 

[zipzo]

In Japan there is a long tradition of foreigners being like rock stars; we all only have one name. (Cher, Bono, Sting, Madonna, etc).

Just pick whichever name you go by among your friends and use that to introduce yourself. "Maximillian, Max, David, Dave, Rock, Rocky, whatever. Save the whole Maximillian David Rockwell thing for putting on documents.

Haha, like a rock star, huh?

Admittedly, I don't think I intended to realistically introduce myself with my full name (I generally don't do that even in the USA so why would I do it there). I guess I was sort of using my full name as an example of how my name is just not very Japanese overall, and I was wondering if my name is going to see some "butchering" (for lack of a better term) and if that butchering is just because my name *should* be pronounced that way based on how the language is. Sort of like how what many native english speakers may do to a rare or unusual non-typical name of a person not from the USA. I hope this better phrases my general inquiry, heh.

Or here's another way to ask...is there a "translated" pronunciation for my name or...am I just over thinking it? I'm simply Max (pronounced as I hear it every day in the states) and there will be no issue with that? Haha.

 

[Mike Cash]

Yes, your name will get "butchered" to fit Japanese pronunciation. You're the only one it will strike as odd, though, and after a while you'll get used to it yourself.

"Max" will end up as マックス (Makkusu), which isn't too horrible.