Chinese name in Japanese kanji
How does a Chinese name change in Japanese kanji?
Chinese and Japanese share many Han characters, but Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese character forms are not always identical. This is a character-form conversion—not a new Japanese name.
Convert my nameSome characters look unchanged until you put them side by side. That’s what we’ll do here; this page is about the writing rather than the sound.
Which characters change in Japanese?
Japanese character forms can differ from both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. 张 becomes 張; Traditional 吳 and 歐 correspond to 呉 and 欧. Characters such as 王 and 明 usually keep their shape.
Chinese-to-Japanese kanji examples
These examples use NameFerry’s current conversion rules; the reading column shows a Japanese on-reading reference.
| Chinese input | Japanese form | Japanese reading | Main change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 张伟 | 張偉 | チョウ イ | 张 → 張 |
| 刘洋 | 劉洋 | リュウ ヨウ | 刘 → 劉 |
| 陈杰 | 陳杰 | チン ケツ | 陈 → 陳 |
| 吴昊 | 呉昊 | ゴ コウ | 吴 → 呉 |
| 黄丽 | 黄麗 | コウ レイ | 丽 → 麗 |
| 欧阳娜娜 | 欧陽娜娜 | オウヨウ ダダ | 欧阳 → 欧陽 |
Three common conversion cases
The character stays the same
Characters such as 王, 小, and 明 usually remain unchanged, although their Japanese and Mandarin readings still differ.
Simplified Chinese changes
Characters such as 张, 刘, 陈, and 吴 map to 張, 劉, 陳, and 呉 for the Japanese display.
Traditional and Japanese forms differ
Traditional 黃, 吳, and 歐 may map to Japanese 黄, 呉, and 欧, so Traditional input is not always preserved verbatim.
Names with older or variant characters
A business card, book or personal profile may retain an older or variant character. Use this chart to compare common forms; keep the source spelling when quoting an actual name.
Conversion reference
More ways to write a Chinese name in Japanese
How do you read a Chinese name in Japanese?
Start with the full guide to kanji, on-readings, katakana, and romaji.
How are common Chinese given-name characters read in Japanese?
Compare Japanese glyphs, on-readings and Mandarin Katakana for common given-name characters.
Why Japanese names cannot be read by on’yomi alone
Compare Chinese-name on-readings and learn how Katakana, Hiragana and Romaji differ.
How are common Chinese surnames read in Japanese?
Look up common Chinese surnames in Japanese glyphs, on-readings and Mandarin Katakana.
See how your name appears in Japanese kanji
Compare Japanese character forms, on-readings, Mandarin katakana, and Hanyu Pinyin in one result.