Hi I need some help quickly. I have a friend called Aya. I remember she wrote me her name like this 綺 (maybe she mistyped? she typed it very quickly for me once)
but when I google, I find this kanji for her name 綾
Do you think the first one is right? 綺 ? Or did she maybe mistype?
I’m writing her name on a card I don’t want to write it wrong
7 comments
If it’s her own name, chances are she spelt it right. I would exactly trust Google to decide on how a name is written, as even in english there are plenty of creative alternative spellings.
Just casually ask her what the kanji for her name is,
No need to make a big deal out of it. If she asks, just say that you were curious, that’s all.
https://jisho.org/search/%E7%B6%BA%23names
I hope you don’t think so lowly of your friend that she would mistype her own name.
Unless you can track down accurate information on your friend like some kind of stalker to confirm, I would think she knows her own name.
On a serious note, names are tricky because just about any random Japanese name has a ton of different ways to write it. The way someone’s name is written is dependent on what specific kanji are used in the specific person’s name. 綺 and 綾 are both valid for Aya, but if your specific friend does not use the specific kanji 綾 in her name, but she **does** use 綺, then it’s 綺 and not 綾.
Whatever your friend wrote is correct, because it’s her own name.
There are dozens of ways to write the given name あや. (Some common ones are 文, 彩, 綾, or even kana only.)
>but when I google, I find this kanji for her name 綾
And she could be 彩、絢 、 紋、亜弥、亜矢、杏耶 or any other Aya.
Most people don’t mistype their own name, and even if she actually did, you should still use the name she gave you until she corrects you.
Aya is written commonly at least three differently, and less commonly, but still regularly, another ten.
Japanese people are not as charmed about people attempting to write their name in kanji as people seem to think. It’s just letters to them.
In fact, in a slighty unrelated note, I work with Japanese people at places where we have to label our gear, and not one of them uses kanji for it.
The simplest explanation of why, is that having your name written in Kanji on your stuff is a reminder of Mom writing your name in your underwear and gym wear.
there are lots of characters with such reading, so you can never be sure by default… unless the person provides the ‘spelling’ themselves (綺 in your case)