Name Help
 

I was wondering if there are certain rules for translating non japanese names into japanese. I know that you use katakana for forgien names but does that apply for all names or just european names. Would also be greatful if anyone would show how it is done with the names below

Wayne
Cathal
Charlie
Gemma
Jayne
Ming
Ben
Robert
Sonny
Joe
Martin

Thanks ^_^

All foreign names are generally transliterated by using katakana. Chinese and Korean names with kanji can also be written as is in Japanese, 'though they are often accompanied with furigana written in katakana in order to clarify pronunciation. Personal and family names are usually separated by a space or an interpunct (middle dot) since they may not be immediately clear to Japanese speakers when placed together. The use of obscure or hard-to-typeset kanji is also discouraged, and hence may be selectively substituted by katakana.

One example is Romi Park, a seiyuu of Korean descent. Her name can be written as 「朴 璐美」 (Paku Romi) in Japanese, with the furigana written as (パク・ロミ). It can also be written as 「朴 ロ美」, as 「璐」 is an obscure kanji. (or perhaps technically not a kanji at all.)

Names of 'historical' Chinese people are a minor exception-- they are almost always written in kanji, but are usually pronounced in Japanese and accompanied with furigana written in hiragana. Examples include 「司馬 遷」 (しば せん) "Sima Qian" and 「張飛」 (ちょう ひ) "Zhang Fei".

The names of foreign-born Japanese (Nisei and so on) are also usually transliterated into katakana, especially if their personal names are non-Japanese. Examples include 「ミノル・ヤマサキ」 (Minoru Yamasaki), the architect who designed the former Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (despite having a kanji name, 山崎實), and 「エリック・ケン・シンセキ」 (Eric Ken Shinseki), a retired United States Army 4-star general.

Find a Wikipedia-English article about a famous someone with that name. Then click on 日本語 on the left, and you'll see how to write his name in Japanese.

The important factor that so many Japanese learners seem unaware of is that we go from the pronunciation, not the spelling, when transliterating non-Chinese foreign names. Here is a prime example of what I'm talking about.

Charles as an English name is written チャールズ .

Charles as a French name is written シャルル .

thanks very much for all the info, its greatly appreciated

I am aware that its about the pronoucation of the name, but for names such as Wayne which is ウェイン I was unaware that the katakana for u and the small e made it sound as "we". Never came across it before until today but I'm only a beginner and everyday is a learning experience ^_^ thanks again