My name is Kai (in English), & I’m wondering which Kanji I would use to write it. From what I can tell by some research is that Kai can have a bunch of different meanings & Kanji to spell it, so how do you know ?
That got me thinking too, I know it’s a similar situation with many other names, (Japanese has so many meanings for each word haha,) so how do parents choose which kanji to spell their child’s name with ? Are people named more based on the meaning, & given Kanji to line up with that ?
Anyways, sorry if this is posted in the wrong place. Thank you for any insight !
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Most of the time parents either have a kanji(s) they want to use for their child’s name and choose a name that uses that kanji, or have a certain name and try to find a good kanji combination that can be read as that name.
For example for the former case, if I grew up near the ocean and want to use the kanji 海 meaning ocean (read as “umi” or “kai”), I might simply name my kid 海 [Kai] or add another kanji and name them 広海 [Hiro (spacious, vast) + umi = Hiromi].
For the latter case, lets say I like the sound of the name “Kai”. I would then list up kanji (combinations) that can be read as “kai”, like 海、魁、凱、櫂、快、可偉、etc. and choose one that has a meaning that I like.
I have two hanko, one phonetic “vasos panagiotopoulos” and one kanji “Bashiko Hanyotaku” which matches both meaning and sound. Likewise, in Chinese, i become “baoshi pangu” and Hindi “bashir paxihur”
We decided on a name we liked and then chose the kanji from there. Then we checked what meaning the kanji could have and how they looked as an actual name. There are other factors of course but I think a lot of parents do it this way.
I checked for lucky kanji count and then picked one I liked!
You should use this kanji for your name: 貝
You are lucky. Kai has a ton of options. I did not. I wound up with 舞蹴 chosen by my boss.
Parents can and will agonize over the kanji of the kid’s name. Sometimes they’ll pick the name before the kanji, and choose the kanji to the name. Other times they’ll have the kanji in mind, and work out the name later.
Everything from meaning to stroke count is taken into consideration.
When you’re an adult choosing your name, you get to do this by yourself. It’s a lot of fun.
I guess you know, but non-Japanese names aren’t usually written in kanji, katakana is usually preferred, and if you are Japanese, don’t you already have kanji selected for you?