Story of Japanese Names

#1  Three kinds of letter; Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana

Most of Japanese names are composed with Kanji,some are done with Hiragana, Katakana and their mixed.

#2  About Kanji

A Kanji have a meaning or a few meanings. And A Kanji have one or a few readings. For exmple, "米" means "rice", "America" and "meter". Also it is read "kome", "mai" and "bei".

#3  Some Kanji combinations have special meanings

For example, "春" means "spring" and "画" does "paintings" in each itself.
But the combination;"春画" means pornography in the old times of Japan.

#4  About Hiragana

A Hiragana have a reading in each and no meanings. In other words, Hiragana is like alphabets. For example, the name "Akira" is shown "あきら" in Hiragana.  *Hiragana chart

#5  About Katakana

A Katakana have a reading in each and no meanings. In other words, Katakana is like alphabets. Katakana is used for words coming from abroad. For example, the name "Kamala Harris" is shown "カマラ ハリス" in Katakana.  
*Katakana chart

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