Basically, the title. Common names like Lucas, Sophia, whatever. Do you simply write it katakana the closest to the way you pronounce it in your native language or is there a rule or ‘right’ way to write relatively common names?
Do you simply write it katakana the closest to the way you pronounce it in your native language -> yes, Lucas for example, could be ルーカス (like George Lucas) but if you’re French, リュカ is more closer to the native pronunciation.
Michael could be マイケル, ミカエル, ミヒャエル, ミハエル (like Michael Schumacher), etc.
More common names are standardized to some extent, rarer ones just katakanaize yourself based on how you pronounce it.
In Japanese i see Lucas translated to ryuka, so I don’t think there is a proper way.
Q: Is there ever a situation where you MUST write your name in Katakana? Or is this just a fun to do thing?
I work in a Jap company. We ‘sign’ things using katakana of our names closest to what it sounds like. My email signature uses the katakana closest sounding to my name.
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best way I know of is you go to a dictionary and type in your name and see what has been done before so it sets a precedent
here is a dictionary: https://jisho.org
try typing in some names and see what happens
Do you simply write it katakana the closest to the way you pronounce it in your native language -> yes, Lucas for example, could be ルーカス (like George Lucas) but if you’re French, リュカ is more closer to the native pronunciation.
Michael could be マイケル, ミカエル, ミヒャエル, ミハエル (like Michael Schumacher), etc.
More common names are standardized to some extent, rarer ones just katakanaize yourself based on how you pronounce it.
In Japanese i see Lucas translated to ryuka, so I don’t think there is a proper way.
Q: Is there ever a situation where you MUST write your name in Katakana? Or is this just a fun to do thing?
I work in a Jap company. We ‘sign’ things using katakana of our names closest to what it sounds like. My email signature uses the katakana closest sounding to my name.