お名前を書いてください
onamae o kaite kudasai
To say "write your name" in Japanese, use お名前を書いてください (onamae o kaite kudasai).
The phrase お名前を書いてください is a standard, polite way for staff in service industries (like banks or clinics) to ask a customer to fill out a form.
Which one should you use?
In more formal or professional settings, such as signing a contract, 署名をお願いします (signature, please) is often used instead of kaite kudasai.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
お名前を書いてください is polite. Dropping 'kudasai' at the end makes the phrase 名前を書いて an informal command or request used with friends or subordinates. For more formal or professional settings, such as signing a contract, 署名をお願いします is often used.
How do you pronounce it?
onamae o kaite kudasai
Did you know?
- If you are asked to sign a document in a very formal setting, you might be asked to use 印 (in), which refers to a personal seal or stamp rather than a handwritten signature. In many official Japanese processes, the stamp is more legally significant than the written name.
- When writing a name, you may see a small space called furigana above the name line. This is where you write the phonetic reading of the name, as Japanese kanji characters can have multiple pronunciations.
- When writing your name in Japan, you will often see a specialized vertical column on forms. In this case, you write the characters from top to bottom rather than left to right.
Examples in context
- こちらにお名前を書いてください。Kochira ni onamae o kaite kudasai.Please write your name here.
- 書類にお名前を書いてください。Shorui ni onamae o kaite kudasai.Please write your name on the document.
- 受付で、お名前を書いてください。Uketsuke de, onamae o kaite kudasai.Please write your name at the reception.
Example conversation
At a clinic's reception desk.
- 健太 Kentaこんにちは。こちらに お名前を書いてください。Konnichiwa. Kochira ni onamae o kaite kudasai.Hello. Please write your name here.
- 美咲 Misakiはい、わかりました。Hai, wakari mashita.Yes, I understand.
- 美咲 Misaki書き終わりました。Kaki owari mashita.I have finished writing.
- 健太 Kentaありがとうございます。お待ちください。Arigatō gozaimasu. Omachi kudasai.Thank you. Please wait a moment.
