I've chosen the name Akari for when I get to that point of my transition, however since it's a Japanese name I don't know if I can change my name to it in America since I'm basically a European mutt(scottish/irish/french/brittish/german/etc. heratage) I also chose Zoe when Fallout 4 came out(because Codsworth can't say Akari and it's also from Digimon). My plan is to hopefully get both names, one as my middle name and one as my first name, friends irl and online already know me as Akari, I'm just not sure if the "legal" stuff would let me get that name as a first name.
I'm 99% sure than you can get whatever name you name. People literally call their kids Le-a (ledasha)
I don't see why not? Your heritage isn't something that they would use against you when you decide to change your name.
now comes deciding which for my first name and which for my middle name... I'd probably ask friends to call me Akari either way.
You can absolutely call yourself that if you want. My chosen name is very stereotypically German, even though I'm mostly Bulgarian. I didn't let that stop me! ^^
In America, you can change your name to pretty much anything you want. There's an Amber Alert out right now against a man who legally changed his name to West Wild Hogs, lol.
Did research before on this for a friend. You aren't able to change your name to some copyrighted names/brands (ie, Burger King) or to words that sound like a title or honorific (ie, Lord or Dame or Doctor being a first name). There's also a fairly high letter limit. I don't think there are any further restrictions than that. Akari should be perfectly fine!
In America, you can change your name to anything as long as it isn't copyrighted or honorific. It doesn't matter what heritage the name comes from, not all people born in America have names like William, John, Mary, etc. Some people are named Zelda, Daenerys, and Elsa!