Alternative form of a Western name in Japanese

Question

This is quite a specific question, and may make no sense out of context, but the context may be hard to explain.

If you have a name such as Tertius, which is Latin for "third son", what is an alternative to translating that name to Japanese rather than simply converting the syllables?

To put it another way, what is the Japanese equivalent of a name which means "third son"?

The closest I have got so far is "San-nan", but I'm not practiced enough to know whether this is usable as a name or merely a description.

Answer 1

Japanese already has a naming convention for the order you mention:

一郎｛いちろう｝ - first son

次郎｛じろう｝ - second son

三郎｛さぶろう｝ - third son

四郎｛しろう｝- fourth son

...etc.

I would avoid using this as your 'Japanese name' and just use katakana テルシアス or テルシュス, then add that it means the same as 三郎.

Answer 2

I think the ～[郎]{ろう}・～[朗]{ろう} names are typical for this.

• [一郎]{いちろう}
• [二郎・次郎]{じろう}
• [三郎]{さぶろう}
• [四郎]{しろう}
• [五郎・吾郎]{ごろう}