Since kanji can have multiple pronunciations, how would you know how to write someone's name if you've only heard it spoken? What's the convention? Would you just guess, or maybe write it out in hiragana instead?
Answer
It depends on what you're writing, I would think. If you're writing a note to yourself, like "Call Suzuki-san later", of course you could guess or just write it with kana.
If you're writing something to the person themselves, I tend to write it in katakana. I don't know why, but this seems to be politer, in a sort of neutral way. But this is just my inclination and there may be no truth to it.
If you need to write it in some kind of official document or paperwork, you should probably just ask the person how to write it. If you can't ask the person directly (like a historical figure, etc.), chances are someone knows how it is written. If not, hiragana would probably be an OK fallback if there's really no way to figure it out.
Also, there are some people who have no kanji for their first name, so in this case you'd use the hiragana.
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