How to read Japanese names?

7 comments

1. Names are hard because they often take funny readings. When I encounter a name I can’t read, I usually paste it into google amd usually there is a Wikipedia page for someone with the same name that has the reading or furigana for it. This solution is not 100%, because kanji names can sometimes have multiple possible readings, but I never got in any trouble over it yet.

2. If they are famous you can look up name dictionaries, if these are fictional characters or people that are not famous, you might be luckier with family names but really out at sea with the given names.

   But even with family names there is variation. Fun fact: two former prime minister bear the family name 菅, but the first one pronounces his name Kan, while the second one does Suga.

   There is a dictionary called ENAMDICT that has the most common ones but there can always be exceptions.

3. Might be able to do some guessing though:

   北原秀次-Kitahara Yuuji? 福泽冬美-Fukusomething 福泽雪里 福泽春菜 夏织 夏沙 小野阳子-Ono Somethingko 铃木奶昔-Suzuki Something 内田雄马-Uchida Something 式岛律

   I’m really hopeless with names, haha.

   Edit: Some of the kanji looks like you got the Chinese versions instead of the Japanese version, is that correct?

4. Surnames are easy, they are common Japanese surnames:北原秀次 Kitahara, 福泽 Fukuzawa, 小野 Ono, 铃木 Suzuki, 内田 Uchida, 式岛 Shikishima.

   Name are more problematic, some have multiple possible readings.

   秀次 Hidetsugu or Shuujim冬美 Fuyumi for sure雪里 Yukisato (?), frankly doesn’t look like Japanese name春菜 Haruna/Wakana夏织 Kaori夏沙 Natsusa/Kasa, but both don’t look like Japanese names, at least not common ones. I guess those two characters are siblings? Looks like typical way for Chinese to invent new names by sharing single character.阳子 Ono Akiko/Youko/Kiyoko/Haruko lots of possibilites奶昔 Most certainly invented by Chinese person, it means “milkshake” in Chinese and isn’t a word used in Japanese. 奶 character itself isn’t even Joyo. I guess it could be read Naseki, but that’s invented name.

   律 Osamu/Takashi/Tadashi again lots of possibilities.

5. First of all many of the kanji posted are not Japanese kanji but Chinese characters. I can guess what they are in kanji, but that might make it difficult to search their readings.

   There is no definite readings of kanji names since there are many readings of the same kanji. The first name has kanji and I would read it as きたはら　ひでつぐ, but the readings of names are highly complex and the answer is that you need to ask the author or the person who has the name. For example 山崎　is a family name and some families read their name as やまさき　while other families read theirs as やまざき. There is no single correct answer. 大輝　is a male first name but can be read as ひろき だいき　ひろき.

   Written names can have likely readings, but many names do not have the definitely correct reading that is accurate 100% of the time.

6. I have no problem with reading most kanji in text, but names are different.

7. there are name dictionaries for this, like

   [https://www.kanshudo.com/searchn?q=%E5%8C%97%E5%8E%9F%E7%A7%80%E6%AC%A1](https://www.kanshudo.com/searchn?q=%E5%8C%97%E5%8E%9F%E7%A7%80%E6%AC%A1)

   i also like tangorin but it seems it’s down at the moment