Frequently Asked Questions

No, and we are upfront about that. The kanji we suggest are ateji (当て字) — phonetic approximations that map the sound of your name onto Japanese characters. A real Japanese name is chosen by parents from family tradition, classical literature, or specific personal meaning. Treat our result as a respectful cultural gesture, not an official identity.

The traditional Seimei Handan framework was built for two-part Japanese names (surname + given name), so middle names need adapting. Our default reading treats your first name as the given name and last name as the family name. When you also enter 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.

Yes. Enter your single name in the First Name field and leave Last Name blank. We follow the traditional "spirit number" (霊数 = 1) convention for single-part names, adding a phantom 1-stroke where needed to complete the five-grid calculation.

All welcome. We handle hyphenated names (Mary-Jane), apostrophes (O'Brien), accented characters (José, Renée), and multiple middle names separated by spaces. Diacritics are normalized internally so they don't break the phonetic conversion.

Within the limits of automated phonetic matching, we apply five layers of filtering: legally prohibited characters (糞, 屍, etc.), socially inappropriate characters (死, 殺, 呪, etc.), combination traps (七輪, 便所, etc.), Chinese-meaning reversals (娘 means "mother" in Mandarin), and English-input vulgar checks. That said: no automated tool can capture every nuance. Always have any permanent use (tattoo, business name, etc.) verified by a qualified Japanese language professional.

Not without expert verification. Even with our quality filters, we recommend taking your result to a qualified bilingual Japanese language professional or experienced shodō (calligraphy) practitioner who can confirm it reads as intended.

That's the exact count of characters legally permitted in Japanese personal names: 2,136 Joyo (regular-use) kanji + 863 Jinmeiyo (name-use) kanji, per the戸籍法施行規則別表第二 (Family Registration Act enforcement regulation). Restricting our pool to this list guarantees every suggested character is one a real Japanese parent could legally name their child today.

We catch this at input. Names whose katakana rendering would land on problematic Japanese (e.g., "Mara" → マラ, which conflicts with Buddhist demon name and a vulgar slang) are flagged before we attempt any kanji selection. We show you a warning rather than silently producing an offensive result.

Seimei Handan (姓名判断, "name judgment") is a Japanese name-divination tradition formalized by Kenou Kumasaki (熊崎健翁) in 1918. It analyzes five grids derived from kanji stroke counts:

• 天格 Ten — heaven, ancestry, inherited fortune
• 人格 Jin — person, core personality, ages 20–40
• 地格 Chi — earth, youth, romance, constitution
• 外格 Gai — outer, social relations, friendships
• 総格 Sou — total, life trajectory, later years

In Kumasaki-style Seimei Handan, the numbers 1–81 each carry a traditional reading. Numbers like 3, 8, 11, 15, 16, 24, 31, and 32 are considered strongly auspicious (大吉 daikichi). Numbers like 4, 9, 14, 19, 20, 22, 34, and 44 are inauspicious (凶 kyō). Beyond 81, the count wraps back around. Remember: this is a traditional cultural framework, not a prediction of future events.

Yes. There are several stroke-counting schools and several interpretation lineages. We use the Kumasaki five-grid system because it is the most widely-referenced modern framework. A trained practitioner may give you a different reading based on a different school's stroke conventions — that variation is part of how traditional divination works.

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 separate layer and do not see your name input. Read our full Privacy Policy for details.

Browser support for the Web Share API varies, and PNG download works everywhere. Save the PNG and post it manually to Instagram, X, TikTok, or wherever you prefer — that gives you full control over caption and audience.

Kanji Name Oracle is operated by Kappy, a small individual operator maintaining a collection of free web tools focused on culture, language, and design. Revenue comes from Google AdSense and Amazon Associates. See our About page for the full operator and editorial standards.

We particularly welcome corrections from native Japanese speakers and members of the broader CJK community. Please use our contact form. Tell us what kanji you saw, what your name was, and what the issue is.