I was wondering if I could just “re-use” my Chinese name I got from my Chinese course. It consists of 2 kanji, and then I found out that while the first kanji is a valid Japanese name kanji, the second one, meaning ‘gentle/lithe’ in Chinese, means ‘ridicule’ in Japanese 
maybe not.
Such is the pitfalls of using kanji names 
Apparently, Chinese people use Katakana names, too. And sometimes they also have an English nickname.
I’d imagine katakana-ing Chinese names will be quite difficult 
Some of the English names can be quite…creative, too. (Rain, Chapman (as a first name), …etc.) I’d imagine finding a random kanji name to use will sound just as funny to Japanese people, if not funnier.
Tell them that the Japanese bastardization of your name a homophone for something vulgar in your native tongue. 
But seriously, having people call you a name that you feel comfortable hearing and responding to is kind of a basic human respect thing that people owe to each other essentially. And there’s more to names than pronunciation as well, for instance the nuances with “Mohammad” or “MD” as used in Bengali names or whatever. (I once encountered a guy whose full, entire name was just that, but never spelled out in type—always abbreviated as Md.) Anyway, my point is, I don’t believe that one is culturally obliged to take some standard katakanization of their name; again, there’s kind of a basic human rights override thing that happens there. Names as gifts are great, don’t get me wrong. My own parents have named me twice in my lifetime, and both names have served me well during their respective chapters in my life. But when given names don’t seem to be working out, one ought to have sufficient agency and wiggle room to assert their name in any target language, should they dislike any local transliterations, pronunciations, or nicknames.
I don’t find foreign names difficult in general, but I also live and work in an American college town so I’m not shy to ask people about their names and to practice a couple times to get it right or whatever. It’s just something I’m used to. Moreover, I can appreciate why foreigners here will use American names, whether their purpose be to integrate on any level, to seem more approachable, to grease their daily social interactions, or to simply not have to hear their native name butchered constantly. And let’s be honest: Japanese really butchers foreign words that don’t just happen to naturally shape themselves to its obtuse syllabary.
My name is Rose and I really really hate every possible way my name could sound in Japanese. The バラ thing is really cute, but for more personal reasons I don’t think I would use that for myself. I think 花子 is a cute name too, and kind of the same flavor as my real name. I wonder if it sounds childish, though; and besides that, I don’t think I would really want to assume a fully Japanese name. I’m stuck. Hmm…
I mean, literally nobody is stopping anyone from changing their name in Japan. By all means, go full kanji, both first and last name. Live it up.
However, if OP’s reason for wanting to do so is to make things “less alien” for Japanese people, that’s just… not how to do it. It doesn’t make a foreigner stick out any less, it doesn’t magically make things easier for Japanese people, and it doesn’t make a person “more Japanese”. The good thing about katakana is that you are free to decide EXACTLY how you want your name pronounced. I genuinely do not understand this fixation on needing kanji in your name when katakana solves every single problem mentioned in this thread.
Also, has anyone thought about how strange it would be to have a Japanese name and literally not be able to speak Japanese? Does that not give anyone else some mild cultural appropriation vibes, or is that just me? Not to mention Japanese people would certainly find that a bit unusual.
So like… it’s actually pretty hard, I think, to get an official kanji surname for sure. Like, marriage or naturalization I think?
If you pick a nick name, they’ll write it in Katakana.
I agree with many of the replies above, that having a more Japanese name is okay but that it won’t help you integrate into Japanese society completely. That said… How about taking your name(like its meaning) and finding the Japanese word or name for that meaning. I don’t know if that would actually help, but it might be a fun project to see how different or how similar the words/name is.
In another thread recently someone posted a video with 井上エイド, a guy who became a naturalized Japanese citizen and now runs a website helping people with the process. In that interview, he also talks about his name and why he chose it.
https://community.wanikani.com/t/Becoming-Japanese-Interview/17648
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