How To Correctly Write Your Name In Japanese

In Japanese, foreign names are normally written in the phonetic katakana alphabet. So, you might want to remember katakana alphabet first of all to write your name. However, once you have remembered the katakana alphabet, you could easily write your name down to the documents. Did you know telling and writing your name in Japanese is totally opposite in English? Let me introduce how to correctly write and tell your name in Japanese today!

氏名しめい / フルネーム

Full name

氏名しめい can also be called フルネーム as well and both are the same meaning. And we, Japanese do not have our middle name, however, if you have the middle name such as “Mark Elliot Zuckerberg” (マーク・エリオット・ザッカーバーグ), it would be written and said ザッカーバーグ・マーク・エリオット by Japanese.

Example

氏名しめいを教おしえていただけますか？
(May I know your full name?) (能请你告诉我你的名字吗？) (성함을 알려주시겠어요?) (Bạn có thể cho tôi biết tên của bạn không?)

鈴木すずきたつやです。 (My name is Tatsuya Suzuki.) (我是铃木达也。) (스즈키 타츠야입니다.) (Tôi là Suzuki Tatsuya.)

このお笑わらい芸人げいにんのフルネームを教おしえてくれない？ (Can you tell me this comedian’s full name?) (你能告诉我这个搞笑艺人的全名吗？) (이 개그맨 풀 네임 좀 알려줄래?) (Nói tớ biết tên đầy đủ của diễn viên hài này này đi.)

フルネーム？えーっと、名字みょうじしかわかんない。 (Full name? Well… I know only his family name.) (全名？那个，我只知道姓氏。) (풀 네임이요? 음, 성밖에 모르는데.) (Họ tên đầy đủ hả? Hmn, Tớ chỉ biết họ thôi.)

名字みょうじ / 苗字みょうじ

Last name / Family name

名字みょうじ and 苗字みょうじ are the same meaning which depends on who people write. However, the Japanese official day on February 13th is designated as 名字みょうじの日ひ by the Japanese government. So 名字みょうじ is common and casual than 苗字みょうじ. By the way, maiden name is 旧姓きゅうせい and is used only for married women because after getting married, their last name would be changed to their partner’s one.

Example

ゆかの名字みょうじって何なんだっけ? (What is Yuka’s family name again?) (Yuka的姓是什么？) (유카 성이 뭐더라?) (Họ của Yuka là gì ấy nhỉ?)

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香川かがわだよー。 (My family name is 香川かがわ.) (是香川呢。) (카가와야.) (Là Kagawa đó.)

たつやのお母かあさんの旧姓きゅうせいって何なに？ (What is your mom’s maiden name?) (Tatsuya母亲的娘家姓是什么？) (타츠야 너희 어머니 결혼 전 성은 뭐야?) (Họ thời con gái của mẹ Tatsuya là gì vậy?)

多分たぶん、佐藤さとうだったと思おもう。 (I guess, it was Satou.) (大概，是叫佐藤。) (아마 사토일걸?) (Hình như là Sato.)

名前なまえ

First name

名前なまえ means “first name”, however, some natives speakers sometimes use 名前なまえ as the meaning of 氏名しめい(full name) and they call “下したの名前なまえ“(first name) and “上うえの名前なまえ“(last name). Although these are not official, they sometimes use them. An honorific word of 名前なまえ is お名前なまえ which has been used as the business and public situations.