Do you know what ur western name is in Japanese?

i sort of doubt my name has any actual meaning in japanese, or with my luck it's something they'd consider rude or unlucky or something like that haha but whatever as long as i can spell and say it

hmm so is it better to have a Japanese name that sounds close to your actual name or to have one with a similar meaning? personally i think it's better to have a similar sound, it's not like people call me by the meaning of my name, and even in Japanese names, though the Kanji have different meanings seperately, the name isn't said that way necessarily.
then again i think Japanese put more value into the meanings of their names than we do in North America so it's good to know what your name means if you go to Japan cause i think you'll probably be asked

I think you can do whatever you want to do, hehe. You can change your name whenever you want even in your native country. Your name is an aspect of your identity and can often be used as a form of expression/speech. However, I think it's important to take the reaction of society to the chosen name into consideration. That does not mean that you shouldn't pick a name simply because most people would take issue with it, but I am a strong believer that people should make deliberate decisions when being counterculture.

In this situation, based upon what I understand of Japanese culture, it would be more socially acceptable for a person to choose a completely different name in katakana then choose a kanji name. Using kanji is considered very Japanese. You may have noticed that even Chinese actors and actresses may adopt a katakana name for their work in Japanese markets even though their given names are Chinese characters.

In addition, if you choose a kanji name with the same meaning as your given name, it is likely you will have to become accustomed to a different pronunciation of your name anyway. If the meaning of a name is important, then you may want to consider using katakana to spell out the reading of the kanji you like. Of course everyone has the right to (re)invent themselves, and I take no issue with anyone doing it in whatever way they see fit as long as they are not causing harm to anyone :)

P.S.: In regards to your last paragraph, the name origin thing was more about finding a different way to get a 'Japanese name' since the poster before me had mentioned their name does not render well in kana. Depending on the person the meaning could be more important than the sound or visa versa. If you cannot find the sound, why not go for the meaning? Since this is a hypothetical thread, it really does not matter how you end up rendering your name.

mohead14 wrote: fair enough =P

something else to consider, though it's almost unheard of to change your name here, not including nicknames, it seems very common for Asians to change to western names when they move here especially if their name might be difficult for us to pronounce (though i haven't personally seen this with Japanese specifically, mostly Chinese and Filipino immigrants)

Just to check, you're in Canada, right? I think changing your name in the US is very common. It could also just be the people I've been around in my life because america is HUGE. I even knew a few people who legally changed their names when we were in middle school because they didn't identify with the name their parents gave them.

Also, as an immigrant, i think it should kinda be expected that your name will not be the same as when you are in your country. As discussed in the "How did you learn English" thread, spanish is basically the unofficial second language here and even spanish names change pronunciation in the US.

BTW, I like the name Ben. "Ben" sounds like he'll be a good guy, lol.

mine is still the same..^_^

I tried translating my name using the translator website, but it's not in the database -__- haha.