"What would my name look like in Japanese kanji?"
Enter your name below. We will reveal up to three respectful kanji renderings drawn from the 2,999 Jinmeiyo characters approved by the Japanese Ministry of Justice, then read your fortune with traditional Seimei Handan.
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名
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Character meanings
Seimei Handan · Five-Grid Fortune
Your fortune narrative will appear here.
Share your kanji name
Before using for a tattoo or any permanent purpose:
Always consult a qualified Japanese language professional. Even the most carefully designed converter cannot account for every cultural or contextual nuance. The Ariana Grande "shichirin" (BBQ grill) tattoo incident is a famous reminder of why expert review matters.
Our commitment to quality
- i.Uses only the 2,999 Jinmeiyo kanji approved by the Japanese Ministry of Justice for personal names
- ii.Excludes legally prohibited characters (糞, 屍, 癌, 姦, 痔, 妾, 屎) as well as socially inappropriate ones (死, 殺, 呪, etc.)
- iii.Blocks combinations like 七輪, 便所, 変態, 痴漢, 馬鹿, 鬼畜 that single-character checks would miss
- iv.Cross-checks against Chinese-language meaning reversals (娘 = "mother" in Chinese, 手紙 = "toilet paper", etc.)
- v.Filters English names whose phonetic transcription would land on vulgar Japanese (Mara → 摩羅 is prevented)
- vi.All processing happens locally in your browser — your name never reaches our servers
Frequently asked questions
Is this a real Japanese name?
The suggested characters are phonetic approximations (ateji 当て字) of your name, not authentic Japanese names. Real Japanese names follow established naming conventions and family traditions. Treat results as a respectful, culturally-aware approximation rather than a real name.
Can I use the result for a tattoo?
We strongly recommend against using any auto-generated kanji for a permanent tattoo without first consulting a qualified Japanese language professional. Even with our multi-layer quality filters, kanji carry cultural, historical, and contextual nuances that no automated system can fully capture. A bilingual native consultant can verify and refine your choice before you commit.
How does the fortune reading work?
We apply the Japanese Seimei Handan (姓名判断) five-grid system, developed by Kenou Kumasaki (熊崎健翁) in 1918. The five grids analyze ancestry (天格), personality (人格), youth and romance (地格), social relations (外格), and overall life fortune (総格), each derived from kanji stroke counts. Auspicious numbers (吉数) and inauspicious numbers (凶数) on the 1–81 scale guide the interpretation. For entertainment only.
What about middle names?
Middle names are fully supported. The traditional Seimei Handan system was designed for a two-part Japanese name (surname + given name), so by default we treat your first name as the given name and your last name as the family name. When you also provide a middle name, we additionally show a "detailed version" that includes the middle name in the given-name calculation, so you can compare both readings.
Do you store my name?
No. All conversion, fortune calculation, and rendering happens locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your name is never transmitted to our servers, logged, or stored. Google AdSense and Cloudflare Web Analytics operate on a different layer and do not see your name input.
Why only 2,999 kanji?
The Japanese Ministry of Justice defines exactly which characters can be used in personal names: 2,136 Joyo (regular-use) kanji plus 863 Jinmeiyo (name-use) kanji, for a total of 2,999. Restricting our pool to this official list ensures every suggested character is one that a real Japanese parent could legally name their child today.
I have a mononym (one-part name) like "Madonna" or "Cher". Will it work?
Yes. Simply enter your single name in the First Name field and leave the Last Name blank. Seimei Handan traditionally adds a "spirit number" (霊数 = 1) for single-character grids, and we follow that convention.