お名前は vs. お名前は何ですか (politeness)
こんにちは皆さん,

This might be a pretty basic question, but I was wondering if there's a difference in politeness/formality when using お名前は as opposed to its longer form お名前は何ですか? If not, what version would a native japanese speaker prefer, i.e. what would sound more natural?

Thanks!

Question

お名前は vs. お名前は何ですか (politeness)
こんにちは皆さん,

This might be a pretty basic question, but I was wondering if there's a difference in politeness/formality when using お名前は as opposed to its longer form お名前は何ですか? If not, what version would a native japanese speaker prefer, i.e. what would sound more natural?

Thanks!

Answer

お名前は何ですか？ is mainly used from adults to children.

When I ask a person's name which I probably heard before I will say
すみません、お名前は？

When I ask a person whom I met for the first time I will say
お名前を おしえてもらえますか？

Maybe young Japanese will say
名前、おしえてくれる？
名前、何？

Answer

Exactly.
In any language, polite words are longer and friendly words are shorter.
The way the native speakers prefer relatively,

Very polite　　　　失礼ですが、お名前を伺ってもよろしいでしょうか・・・・？
A little polite　　　すみません、お名前をお聞きしてもいいでしょうか・・・・？
Normally polite　　すいません、お名前は・・・・？
usually　　　　　　お名前は何て言いますか？
Slightly casual　　（お）名前は何て言いますか？
Very casual　　　　名前、何て言うの？

In the case of polite speech, it can become one consideration not to finish saying words clearly till the last.

Answer

名前は何ですか？」って普通に使ってるかなと思います。Its very safe to use, formal and classy i guess?頑張ってください!!(^^)

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