Do names change in Japanese?

[Lysander]

I was wondering how I should pronounce my name in Japanese so I ran it through a translator but apparantaly, my name turns into Raisanda (or something like that) when translated to Japanese. Is that even possible?

[mmmason8967]

When your name is rendered into Japanese, it is kept as close to the original pronunciation as is possible using the sounds that exist in Japanese. Japanese doesn't have an L sound or an R sound; however, it has a sound that's roughly half-way between L and R, so that sound is used for words that include L or R. The upshot is that your name becomes ライサンダ in Japanese.

Of course, if you can't read Japanese you won't know how to pronounce ライサンダ. In order for you to know how it's pronounced, it can be transliterated using the roman alphabet; however, since we don't have a letter for the L/R sound of ラ we have to approximate the sound with either L or R and, as it happens, the convention is to use R, so ライサンダ becomes "raisanda". But in reality ライサンダ does sound pretty close to "Lysander".

マイケル

[community.japanese]

Lysander san,
Konnichiwa.
As マイケルさん　ライサンダ is good.

マイケルさん、
どうもありがとうございます。

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[IGregI]

Does this mean that when introducing yourself or saying english names you use the japanese pronunciation? My name is Gregory, so would i say that or, im guessing here, Guregorii? Are there situations where one or the other considered rude or not?

[Varsh]

My name is pronounced exactly the same in Japanese as it is in English however it is spelt ever so slightly differently. It is spelt:
エーロン (e-ron) instead of Aaron

For Gregory I would imagine it would be spelt グレゴリ or グレゴリー (guregori / guregori-). It's easier for someone from Japan to pronounce your name in Japanese than English but I wouldn't consider it rude. I'm sure as you speak more and more Japanese you'll find that you'll be pronouncing your name in Japanese without you even realising it.

[community.japanese]

Varsh san,
Konnichiwa.
Thank you for helping altmagr28253 san.

altmagr28253 san,
konnichiwa.
As Varsh san said your name should be written グレゴリor グレゴリー in Japanese.
It is sometimes hard for native Japanese speakers to pronounce words from other countries because they tend to put vowels.
Therefore, if you pronounce your name like Japanese (emphasizing woels), it is easy for Japanese people to catch and memorize it.
It means you are kind to Japanese people.
However, if you have a policy and want to pronounce your name keeping the original sound, that is also fine.

Yuki 由紀
JapanesePod101.com

[jezreelbullock253_509739]

My name is hard for people to say in English. How would I say my name in Japanese when introducing myself? First name Jezreel (pronounced jez-reel) Last Name Proo' (pronounced pro).

[Varsh]

I would spell/pronounce your name as:
Jezuri-ru Puro
ジェズリールプロ

It sounds almost the same I think.

[community.japanese]

　さん、
konnichiwa.
I agree with Varsh san.

Varsh san,
Doumoarigatougozaimasu.

Yuki 　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com