I might be moving to Japan from the USA in the future with my boyfriend, who is half Japanese and has a Japanese name. We likely will be married by the time we move so I will be taking his family name. However, my given name is a bit odd to translate into the Japanese writing systems since it has the “L” sound. This adds a lot of extra sounds and makes the name super long. My middle name also has the same sound but because its “Lynn” it has an actual name translation to the girls name “Rin”. I know that middle names aren’t used in Japan so my question is, how hard is it to drop my given name and use my middle name as my official name for documents while living there? Would it be easier to officially change my name before the move or since it is part of my name already, could i just use it without applying for a name change in the states? Or would it be better to bite the bullet and just use the strange translation of my full name?
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**Question about name changes.**
I might be moving to Japan from the USA in the future with my boyfriend, who is half Japanese and has a Japanese name. We likely will be married by the time we move so I will be taking his family name. However, my given name is a bit odd to translate into the Japanese writing systems since it has the “L” sound. This adds a lot of extra sounds and makes the name super long. My middle name also has the same sound but because its “Lynn” it has an actual name translation to the girls name “Rin”. I know that middle names aren’t used in Japan so my question is, how hard is it to drop my given name and use my middle name as my official name for documents while living there? Would it be easier to officially change my name before the move or since it is part of my name already, could i just use it without applying for a name change in the states? Or would it be better to bite the bullet and just use the strange translation of my full name?
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>Would it be easier to officially change my name before the move
Your official name in Japan is whatever name appears in your passport, in the way that it is written in your passport. So if you’re thinking about changing your name you should absolutely do it before coming.
There is also the option to register a legal alias when you’re here, but you’ll not be able to use it for everything.
You’ll also want to decide on a specific transliteration of your name and use it consistently. If you’re inconsistent with it it can cause you issues down the road
You can just ask people to call you that.It really is not that complicated having a long foreign name (my name is long enough that when I make bank accounts or order things,my full name never fits.So in my bankbook the lady just got a pen and wrote the rest of my name.
People will call you whatever you tell them your name is.
I had to change my given name(making it even longer) and it’s very complicated,very expensive ,very everything.Unless you’re transgender or deeply hate your first name and wouldn’t want it even if you stayed in your home country DO NOT DO IT.
If you have a degree or something you will have to ask for a new diploma.Banks?Change everything.Every single account you ever made in your life?You have to change.And the list is way longer than you can ever picture.I changed my name in early March and I’m having problems with health insurance because of it.
Also,if you are still changing your name by the time you want to go to Japan, proving that your bank account is yours is going to be very chaotic.