Tattoo ?
 

Hello,

I have a question about a tattoo that I want to put on my arm. It's the name of my son. This is the tattoo.



And this is another one. Its almost the same. But the middle one is different. Why is that ?? because it is the same name.



It is made by someone from a site don't know the name anymore.
What I want to know is what it says the tattoo because I do not know if it is true that's the name of my son.

I hope someone can help ???
Thanks in advance for the effort :)

Sorry for my english.

Regards Angelique

I'm sorry, but don't do this.

It's really dishonorable to certain cultures when you tattoo their language onto you without even knowing the concept.

If you really must know why, it is because when デ (de) is pronounced for a longer period of time, instead of adding イ (i), it is also possible to use ー to prolong the sound from デ (de) to デイ (dei). It's essentially the same pronounciation, but デー (dee [dei]) would be preferred.

I'll just say this again to be exact. PLEASE do not tattoo this on your arm. I've already met someone who's done this before and it was really degrading and disappointing. (besides the fact that I ownd him in DDR >_>)

P.S. Is your son's name Jayden, Jaden, or Jaydon? That's what the katakana says.

normally I don't have issues with this sort of thing. But... this time I do. I think you should get his name in English. since it's not a Japanese name.

I'll have to agree with former replies. Getting your son's name tattooed in Katakana is just weird if you guys aren't of Japanese heritage what so ever. Of course it's all up to you, but to me it's just strange.

I guess it's slightly better then using random chinese characters, but i don't see why you're doing it in japanese. if you don't understand the language, then what is the significance? the answer is that asian languages carry an air of mystique for most westerners, and it makes people feel more refined and educated than getting a tatoo in a language they actually know.

i recommend this sight to anyone who is thinking about getting tatted in chinese or japanese, it might change your mind
Hanzi Smatter 一知半解

I feel like I have died and gone to heaven with all these "DON'T DO IT, IT'S DISRESPECTFUL" replies. :) Thank you, everyone!

OP, don't do it.

Well! Let me bring you back to earth, Kyle. Someone's gotta do it! :D

Why would this be "dishonorable"? That sounds like something out of some medieval movie. Btw, you do know how often the Japanese "dishonor" the English language they are supposedly taught in schools right? It makes no difference whether it's English put on 50% of merchandise in Japan, or some few people putting Japanese on their body elsewhere. Whenever we see those weird English phrases or words from the Japanese, we just laugh and think the Japanese are weird, vice-versa is true also.

There's no more meaning other than it's how you'd pronounce his name with the extremely limited sounds of Japanese.

And the concept? There's nothing fancy here. There's the best pronunciation and then there's the Japanese symbols (HA!) to do it. That's all there is to that concept.

What you get out of these tattoos are curiosity and questions. Most tattoos are not paid any attention to. With the exception of Japan, few people around the world know any Japanese. Really, this tattoo could be in anything as long as most people do not initially know what it means. As of right now, Japan happens to be pretty popular in modern culture, so it's no surprise that people often look to Japanese symbols (HA!) first. It may be strange, but that's the point!

I'll have to agree with one thing for sure... Make sure you are getting what you mean to get. Research it yourself and don't rely on some tattoo artist to make it up for you. That site is hilarious though!

"his initials, requesting the tattooist to "write them in Chinese symbols / characters / ideographs / hieroglyphs / pictographs / whatever.""

ROFL! Initials? Seriously?

In any case, it's true, unknown languages, especially the complex and pictographic Chinese writing, are "mystical" or whatever to those who don't understand them. But face it, if you've seen enough of them and understand so many of them like you want the tattooed to do, that "air of mystique" disappears! They become just words.

Knowing only the meaning, which no one else around you would know, is the significance. However, you may get weird(er) stares while in Japan or China, but whatever, you're just some crazy foreigner anyways. :D

Now I'm going back to that hilarious site to read more tattoos gone wrong. Then I'll head on over to the equally hilarious Engrish.com.

if you like it Veggie get it. Don't listen to most of these post discouraging you from doing so.

This is akin to encouraging a smoker to up it to two packs a day if they like smoking.

I have Kanji as part of one of my tattoos, so it is not that I disapprove of using a foreign language when you get a tattoo. But I do think there are a few guidelines that should be considered.

1) are you sure that if a person reads it, it will convey the meaning you intend? And that goes for those who can read it and those to whom it is merely artwork.

2) Because of #1 you need to have a substantial correlation between the writing (kanji, katana, hiragana, hangul, or whatever script) and the total meaning of the image being tattooed.

Mine is the name of my spirit totem and is not only a nickname I have had for decades, but the name of one of the images that is part of the art work. If it were written incorrectly, the total meaning of the image would be distorted at best - more likely a source of ridicule.