How do you write someone's name if you don't know what kanji to use?


Since kanji can have multiple pronunciations, how would you know how to write
someone's name if you've only heard it spoken? What's the convention? Would
you just guess, or maybe write it out in hiragana instead?




It depends on what you're writing, I would think. If you're writing a note to
yourself, like "Call Suzuki-san later", of course you could guess or just
write it with kana.

If you're writing something to the person themselves, I tend to write it in
katakana. I don't know why, but this seems to be politer, in a sort of neutral
way. But this is just my inclination and there may be no truth to it.

If you need to write it in some kind of official document or paperwork, you
should probably just ask the person how to write it. If you can't ask the
person directly (like a historical figure, etc.), chances are _someone_ knows
how it is written. If not, hiragana would probably be an OK fallback if
there's really no way to figure it out.

Also, there are some people who have no kanji for their first name, so in this
case you'd use the hiragana.




It depends on what you're writing, I would think. If you're writing a note to
yourself, like "Call Suzuki-san later", of course you could guess or just
write it with kana.

If you're writing something to the person themselves, I tend to write it in
katakana. I don't know why, but this seems to be politer, in a sort of neutral
way. But this is just my inclination and there may be no truth to it.

If you need to write it in some kind of official document or paperwork, you
should probably just ask the person how to write it. If you can't ask the
person directly (like a historical figure, etc.), chances are _someone_ knows
how it is written. If not, hiragana would probably be an OK fallback if
there's really no way to figure it out.

Also, there are some people who have no kanji for their first name, so in this
case you'd use the hiragana.

