I’m writing a story where the mixed-race (half-Black, half-Japanese) protagonist’s middle name is Hana/Hanna. Which is the correct spelling?
I am half-Japanese myself, but I wasn’t really raised in the culture (which is something I regret, but hope to amend as an adult). Is there a significance to middle names? Is ‘Hanna’/’Hana’ a general or common middle name, or maybe rarer?
Thank you so much for any insight.
8 comments
Yes, Hana is a pretty common name. Names in Japanese don’t include middle names, but they’re common for Japanese kids born and raised overseas and particularly mixed-race kids who have a Japanese name and a name in the local language.
Hana and Hanna would be pronounced differently. Hana is a common Japanese name; never seen Hanna and it’s not in WWWJDIC’s name dictionary — would probably be a transliteration of a Western name into katakana.
Both “Hana” and “Hanna” exist, but if you’re looking for something rare, the double n entry is it.
There are no middle names in Japanese culture.
Hana is also a Western / Hebrew name. Variations include Hanna, Chana or Hannah like the Woody Allen movie Hannah and Her Sisters.
I’d go with “Hana” personally as it means “Flower”
花
“Hana” would be はな in hiragana, two quick syllables and it would be said fast. You could also use the kanji 花, which has the same pronunciation and means “flower.”
Hanna with two N’s would be written as はんな in hiragana. The extra N would mean a third syllable, and you would kinda hang on that N sound a little bit. It would be more similar in pronunciation to the name Hannah in English and probably written in katakana, ハンナ, rather than anything else.
Japanese people don’t usually have middle names. People do get creative with the kanji they use for names though.
花, 華, 巴奈, 花南, etc are all valid ways to write Hana.
Hana