name request

[dianehc]

Hi,

My name is Diane Holmescurtice (Holmes-Curtice).

I've looked up my name a couple of times and come up with a couple of variations.

Hiragana - Dai (uncommon, but not unknown for a woman),
Katakana ( da-i-a-n), and
Kanji - Dai and ane from a calligraphy site using kanji readings to come up with a meaning something like gracious or beautiful...
But, given that they are attempting to sell a banner for the name at a rather sizable cost- I'm not entirely certain that it's a legitimate name.

Does any one have an idea which is the closest to correct?

Also, I've used my maiden and hyphenated (divorcee) surname (without the hyphen) for business purposes well over ten years, now. What is the custom regarding a joint last name?

Thank you.
Diane

[louis89]

Non-Japanese names are usually written in katakana. Based on how I'd pronounce your name in English, your name would be written as:

ダイアン・ホールムズカーティス

daian hōrumuzukātisu

This can equivalently be written in hiragana, as:

だいあん・ほーるむずかーてぃす

(To write a foreign name like this is unusual, and looks a bit weird)

If you'd like your name written with Chinese characters, I suggest looking into how it would be rendered in Chinese, not Japanese, as Japanese doesn't transliterate foreign words with kanji (any more).

[Belton]

It is usual for non-Japanese to use katakana to give a Japanised rendition for their names, they usually keep the order of first name / surname. It is by far the easiest for official documents that need to be in Japanese.

However you can also use kanji for your name if you like. I think you'd have to register it if you were to start using it on legal documents.

The problem with kanji is the mix of meaning and reading.
The fact is you can chose whatever kanji you like that give the sounds and meaning you want. You can also ignore the sounds and just choose kanji to represent the original meaning of Diane. (The Huntress? moon goddess/princess 月姫 which has several readings, none of which is close to Diane. usagi is a good one though)
You may well have to explain it or give a katakana reading for it whatever you use.
大安　だいあん　great peace or lucky day would be a simple choice (name of a temple in Nara)
大杏 also だいあん　big apricot, is another.

In the past foreigners have adopted completely Japanese names. Lafcadio Hearne famously became 小泉八雲 Koizumi Yakumo.

The problem I found with more complex kanji is I couldn't get a hanko made with them. (I probably could but my Japanese wasn't sufficient to talk the shop owner into it, and he said the characters were a bit complex for a good imprint at a small size.) Hanko are used instead of signatures especially for important official documents. Often I think foreigners are allowed to sign (in romaji script) instead of having to register an official hanko.

Double barrelled names aren't used by Japanese (nor do they have middle names). I don't think it's legal. A woman takes her husbands family name on marriage, and I believe would retain it after a divorce. Sometimes the husband can adopt the wife's family name in order to continue it to the next generation. (When Japanese change their name a line is drawn through it on their registry entry (koseki) and the new name written beside it. )
A Japanese woman marrying a foreigner gets a choice in which name to use, but I'm not sure double barrelled names are allowed.
This may all be changed by the current government however to allow double barrelled Japanese names.
All that said you would just use Holmescurtice as it's the name you're known by and use. Presumably your drivers license and passport etc are in this name. I'd guess you wouldn't use a hyphen as it looks too much like a long vowel mark in katakana.

So long story short, you'd normally use katakana and would be
ダイアン・ホムズカーティス

edit--
louis89 beat me to the post. Maybe I should write shorter posts! 笑