how do you write foreign names in Mandarin?

[Sakura Latte]

With Japanese, it's easy because all you have to do is write in katakana, but I have absolutely no idea how to write foreign names in Mandarin at all.

(also for names in Japanese, how do you write them in Chinese while still keeping the original pronunciation intact?)  

[Okier - chan]

Mine is Ya li shan de la. Can't remember the accents but I do believe it is
converted into Mandarin. Mine has something to do with mountains.. ;;
亚历山德拉 is the characters - my friend was learning mandarin and well we
had the same name so it was easy enough to figure mine out ;;; (My names
alexandra)  

[Eretlen]

I've always wondered how you spell foreign words with Chinese as well.  

[Lenore Andris]

You pretty much just take the syllables and find words that sound the same- like 'Vinita' would be converted into 'wei-ni-ta'. There are a lot of words that sound the same and have different meanings, so the actual Mandarin words would be up to you, I guess.  

[Sakura Latte]

Lenore Andris

You pretty much just take the syllables and find words that sound the same- like 'Vinita' would be converted into 'wei-ni-ta'. There are a lot of words that sound the same and have different meanings, so the actual Mandarin words would be up to you, I guess.

do tones matter?  

[Lenore Andris]

Sakura Parfait

do tones matter?

No, not really. As long as the name 'flows' properly.
wéi nǐ tā/ wéi nì tǎ
ā lì shān dé là/ á lǐ shàn dé là

will both work, but not

wéi nī tǎ (sounds like a horse whinnying)
ǎ lī shán dě lā (just sounds stupid. It's like a phonetical rollercoaster.)  

[Eretlen]

Lenore Andris

Sakura Parfait

do tones matter?

No, not really. As long as the name 'flows' properly.
wéi nǐ tā/ wéi nì tǎ
ā lì shān dé là/ á lǐ shàn dé là

will both work, but not

wéi nī tǎ (sounds like a horse whinnying)
ǎ lī shán dě lā (just sounds stupid. It's like a phonetical rollercoaster.)

I tried using this: http://www.chinesetools.eu/tools/pinyin-to-chinese/index.php
with my name "Kensie (kenshi)" and I got this: 啃尸

1. kěn : to gnaw ; to nibble ; to bite
2. shī : corpse

I would probably need to change the tones if I were to do mine for real xD  

[Eretlen]

Using MandarinTools.com, I have found my name to be...

懇士 (Trad.)
恳士 (Simp.)

kěn - earnest
shì - scholar; warrior; knight

xDD This probably doesn't work: I don't know if it flows and it may be sort of "reserved" for males because of the scholar;warrior;knight part. And I'm not sure how earnest this name is, calling itself earnest.  

[Lenore Andris]

Eretlen

Using MandarinTools.com, I have found my name to be...

懇士 (Trad.)
恳士 (Simp.)

kěn - earnest
shì - scholar; warrior; knight

xDD This probably doesn't work: I don't know if it flows and it may be sort of "reserved" for males because of the scholar;warrior;knight part. And I'm not sure how earnest this name is, calling itself earnest.

Sorry for the late reply!

The translation of 士 is accurate, according to my dictionary it's pretty much a soldier or scholar in Ancient Chinese times, and is also a surname/ last name.
I think for you 思 (sī, 'think/ consider', 'hope/wish', 'miss') would work better, I've been in a girls' school for 10 years and this word seems to pop up in my classmates' names fairly often.

A more accurate translation of 恳 would be 'willing', but either way, it works fine. Names in Mandarin usually utilise words with positive connotations- kindness, wisdom, sincerity, etc. (but no one really pays attention to the meaning of your name unless it's a negative one. Then you get to be the butt of jokes.)

Your name in Mandarin doesn't have to match your English name if you don't want it to- in fact, more often than not, matching your official, printed- on- your- birth- certificate English and Mandarin names soumds silly (e.g. Sally Mok Sah Li).
Most parents come up with the names separately- like Charmaine Tan Hui Qi （慧琪 'wise' and 'jade). Some other names would be Alexandra Jane Tan Yen Ling and Donna Lu Sze Ting.
But if you simply want to be able to introduce yourself in Mandarin, it's perfectly fine.

Generally when it comes to name picking for girls, a 女 ('female') on the left adds a feminine touch to the name (my grandfather once told me it's seen as prettier), so maybe you could use 媤.
Don't take my word for it, though, I can't find the word in my dictionary and have no idea what it means. I'm merely assuming it's a 思 in dress-up.

I hope this has helped you (you're free to ask again if it hasn't >w>"). It's not really as though we're taught how to come up with names in school, you're just expected to know a few to chuck into essays.  

[Eretlen]

Lenore Andris

Eretlen

Using MandarinTools.com, I have found my name to be...

懇士 (Trad.)
恳士 (Simp.)

kěn - earnest
shì - scholar; warrior; knight

xDD This probably doesn't work: I don't know if it flows and it may be sort of "reserved" for males because of the scholar;warrior;knight part. And I'm not sure how earnest this name is, calling itself earnest.

Sorry for the late reply!

The translation of 士 is accurate, according to my dictionary it's pretty much a soldier or scholar in Ancient Chinese times, and is also a surname/ last name.
I think for you 思 (sī, 'think/ consider', 'hope/wish', 'miss') would work better, I've been in a girls' school for 10 years and this word seems to pop up in my classmates' names fairly often.

A more accurate translation of 恳 would be 'willing', but either way, it works fine. Names in Mandarin usually utilise words with positive connotations- kindness, wisdom, sincerity, etc. (but no one really pays attention to the meaning of your name unless it's a negative one. Then you get to be the butt of jokes.)

Your name in Mandarin doesn't have to match your English name if you don't want it to- in fact, more often than not, matching your official, printed- on- your- birth- certificate English and Mandarin names soumds silly (e.g. Sally Mok Sah Li).
Most parents come up with the names separately- like Charmaine Tan Hui Qi （慧琪 'wise' and 'jade). Some other names would be Alexandra Jane Tan Yen Ling and Donna Lu Sze Ting.
But if you simply want to be able to introduce yourself in Mandarin, it's perfectly fine.

Generally when it comes to name picking for girls, a 女 ('female') on the left adds a feminine touch to the name (my grandfather once told me it's seen as prettier), so maybe you could use 媤.
Don't take my word for it, though, I can't find the word in my dictionary and have no idea what it means. I'm merely assuming it's a 思 in dress-up.

I hope this has helped you (you're free to ask again if it hasn't >w>"). It's not really as though we're taught how to come up with names in school, you're just expected to know a few to chuck into essays.

That's cool. I'm not in any Chinese class but I may take Mandarin next year. I do think I would like to try to go with my name, though (as similar as possible).
Any idea if they try to put the character for male in male names to make them more manly?
Also, I hate to say this, but I usually find it weird when people have Englishname Chinesename... although I guess it depends on the combination.
Anyway, thanks for your reply ^_^ !  

[Sakura Latte]

Eretlen

Lenore Andris

Eretlen

Using MandarinTools.com, I have found my name to be...

懇士 (Trad.)
恳士 (Simp.)

kěn - earnest
shì - scholar; warrior; knight

xDD This probably doesn't work: I don't know if it flows and it may be sort of "reserved" for males because of the scholar;warrior;knight part. And I'm not sure how earnest this name is, calling itself earnest.

Sorry for the late reply!

The translation of 士 is accurate, according to my dictionary it's pretty much a soldier or scholar in Ancient Chinese times, and is also a surname/ last name.
I think for you 思 (sī, 'think/ consider', 'hope/wish', 'miss') would work better, I've been in a girls' school for 10 years and this word seems to pop up in my classmates' names fairly often.

A more accurate translation of 恳 would be 'willing', but either way, it works fine. Names in Mandarin usually utilise words with positive connotations- kindness, wisdom, sincerity, etc. (but no one really pays attention to the meaning of your name unless it's a negative one. Then you get to be the butt of jokes.)

Your name in Mandarin doesn't have to match your English name if you don't want it to- in fact, more often than not, matching your official, printed- on- your- birth- certificate English and Mandarin names soumds silly (e.g. Sally Mok Sah Li).
Most parents come up with the names separately- like Charmaine Tan Hui Qi （慧琪 'wise' and 'jade). Some other names would be Alexandra Jane Tan Yen Ling and Donna Lu Sze Ting.
But if you simply want to be able to introduce yourself in Mandarin, it's perfectly fine.

Generally when it comes to name picking for girls, a 女 ('female') on the left adds a feminine touch to the name (my grandfather once told me it's seen as prettier), so maybe you could use 媤.
Don't take my word for it, though, I can't find the word in my dictionary and have no idea what it means. I'm merely assuming it's a 思 in dress-up.

I hope this has helped you (you're free to ask again if it hasn't >w>"). It's not really as though we're taught how to come up with names in school, you're just expected to know a few to chuck into essays.

That's cool. I'm not in any Chinese class but I may take Mandarin next year. I do think I would like to try to go with my name, though (as similar as possible).
Any idea if they try to put the character for male in male names to make them more manly?
Also, I hate to say this, but I usually find it weird when people have Englishname Chinesename... although I guess it depends on the combination.
Anyway, thanks for your reply ^_^ !

Oftentimes, the English name is just what they go by in public to make it easier for non-Chinese speaking people, whereas they go by their real Chinese name at home and around their fellow Chinese-speaking people. I have a cousin who goes by her real Viet name at home, but around non-speaking Viets, she goes by the name "Sarah".  

[Lenore Andris]

Eretlen

That's cool. I'm not in any Chinese class but I may take Mandarin next year. I do think I would like to try to go with my name, though (as similar as possible).
Any idea if they try to put the character for male in male names to make them more manly?
Also, I hate to say this, but I usually find it weird when people have Englishname Chinesename... although I guess it depends on the combination.
Anyway, thanks for your reply ^_^ !

As far as I know, no. Just make sure never to use any words with feminine connotations, and try to use those that you can link to fighting- bravery, strength, independence, etc.

In my country bilingualism is compulsory unless you have a medical condition that makes learning a second language difficult. Mandarin is unlike Malay, Tamil and almost any other second language we can take here in that we can't use our English names direct, so most Chinese have two names (although pretty much everyone but the elderly prefers to speak English, so English names are used much more often).

To us, it's weird when you have an English name and no name in Mandarin if you're Chinese. And at one point in time the country was really focused on English as it's the international language of commerce, so many adopted English names along to their original birth names, which carried on, I guess.  

[Hikaridranz]

Lenore Andris

In my country bilingualism is compulsory unless you have a medical condition that makes learning a second language difficult. Mandarin is unlike Malay, Tamil and almost any other second language we can take here in that we can't use our English names direct, so most Chinese have two names (although pretty much everyone but the elderly prefers to speak English, so English names are used much more often).

To us, it's weird when you have an English name and no name in Mandarin if you're Chinese. And at one point in time the country was really focused on English as it's the international language of commerce, so many adopted English names along to their original birth names, which carried on, I guess.

after reading this part of your post, I presume you're either a Singaporean or a Malaysian lol