Reading the Kanji of Japanese names

[Nakagawa Izumi]

Hi, I wanted to ask you guys about Japanese names. First of all, I assume that you're familiar with "Death Note" right? So, I've been wondering about the protagonist's name, which is 夜神　月。Now, the correct reading for it would be やがみ　つき　right? But, in this case, the kanji for tsuki 月, is pronounced as ライト, which makes his name やがみ　ライト。　But, can 月 really be read as "raito"?

Also on another note, I noticed that the names of Japanese people use different characters. Some use kanji in both their family names and first names. Some use kanji for their family names only, and use either hiragana or katakana as their first names. So, what's the deal with that? And lastly, it possible for someone to have their family name written in hiragana or katakana and their first names in kanji?

Thank you in advance.

[chikara]

Hi, I wanted to ask you guys about Japanese names. First of all, I assume that you're familiar with "Death Note" right? So, I've been wondering about the protagonist's name, which is 夜神　月。Now, the correct reading for it would be やがみ　つき　right? But, in this case, the kanji for tsuki 月, is pronounced as ライト, which makes his name やがみ　ライト。　But, can 月 really be read as "raito"? ......

ライト = Light, so it is not an "offical" reading of 月.

Kanji have nanori (name readings) as well as onyomi and kunyomi.

[becki_kanou]

This same question came up a few weeks ago here. You might want to check it out!

[chikara]

This same question came up a few weeks ago[url]here[/url]. You might want to check it out!

Not to mention 5 years ago

[becki_kanou]

Wow! Deathnote's been around for more than 5 years now? That makes me feel old, somehow. Old and senile enough to mess up my url tags...(Fixed now, though.)

[writebook]

Some use kanji for their family names only, and use either hiragana or katakana as their first names. So, what's the deal with that? And lastly, it possible for someone to have their family name written in hiragana or katakana and their first names in kanji?

Some people just think it's "cooler" to have their first name written in katakana (kind of reminiscent of a foreign name) or "softer" or more down to earth if it is written in hiragana. It's kind of hard to explain how it feels different.

In those cases, they have chosen the way of writing for their name at birth. However, sometimes, when politicians run for election, they may strategically choose to write their last name or first name in Hiragana on all their campaign posters to make it more recognizable and approachable. Some celebrities may choose another way to spell their name (like katakana, hiragana, or with the English alphabet) when they debut to make it more impressionable, although it's just as common to make up a stage name.

As for last names in katakana, some people with a foreign last name naturally have a katakana last name. For example, this guy. Outside of international marriages, I don't know of anyone who has a hiragana or katakana last name. Maybe some people of Ainu ethnicity might have a katakana name, but I'm just speculating.

[coco]

Writebook さん、はじめまして。

正しくマークしているのに、なんでリンクがうまくいかないんだろうと私も不思議に思いました。
どうやら「ダルビッシュ」というカタカナが原因なのかもしれません。

このポストをQuoteの形で見ていただけますか？

[url=http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ダルビッシュ]this guy[/url].
this guy．

WikipediaのダルビッシュのページのURLをコピーすると、不思議と勝手に変換される長い方を使う必要があるみたいです。　
（少なくとも私がURLをコピーして貼り付けようとすると勝手に変換されますが、いかがでしょうか）

[writebook]

coco さん、ありがとうございます。リンクできました。
最初に投稿したときもペーストを使ったはずなので（URLは手打ちするには長すぎるので）、はじめにどうやって間違えたのか不思議なのですが…。
やり方がはっきりしてよかったです。