[tzakiel]

Hi... I am traveling to Japan in September and want to get my last name engraved on something, so there is no room for error... once it's done, it's done.

My last name is a bit tricky and I am having trouble with the katakana that would be most "correct"

It's "Van Dalen" - Van is pronounced just like the motor vehicle in american english. Dalen is pronounced just like the rock star Van Halen. In fact, my whole name is pronounced just like Van Halen, except it's Van Dalen.

What would the proper katakana spelling of this name be?

Ba N (blank space) De (the horizontal "dash" katakana) Re N

or:

Ba N (blank space) Da (the dash) Re N?

Or something else? I just can't picture what it would probably be if a Japanese person wrote it/read it.

Also, would the space be represented in Japanese with a blank space or would it all run together?