For example, if someone had a last name based of of an occupation should the katakana be used or the Japanese word for that type of occupation?
Like if someone’s last name was Weaver, should they use “ウィーバー” pronounced roughly as weaver, or “織工” (shokkō)?
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If foreigners were *allowed* to do that (legally, they are not), then you’d be seeing more foreigners with kanji names.
Katakana is the right choice
Think about it, you don’t call Mr. Suzuki Mr. Belltree
Katakana. A lot of foreign last names don’t translate very well into other languages. Like my last name would be incredibly hard to have a natural sounding Japanese name that doesn’t sound like a bad anime character.