Long vowels get a bar
A stretched vowel is marked with ー, the long vowel mark.
- Lucyルーシー
- Lucasルーカス
- Emilyエミリー
Name in Japanese名前
Your name in Japanese
Japanese writes names from other languages in katakana, the script it keeps for foreign words. Type your name and see it written the way a Japanese speaker would, stroke by stroke.
Name to katakana converter
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How Japanese writes foreign names
Japanese uses three scripts side by side. Kanji and hiragana write Japanese words; katakana writes words that come from other languages, and that includes names. So your name is written by how it sounds, not how it's spelled: it's split into Japanese syllables and each one gets its katakana.
Japanese has fewer sounds than English or Spanish, so a few rules turn up in almost every name.
A dot between names
Japanese puts no spaces between words, so a middle dot, ・, separates the first name from the last. A foreign name keeps its own order; a Japanese one puts the family name first, as in Tanaka Hana.
- Emma Watsonエマ・ワトソン
- María Joséマリア・ホセ
L becomes R
Japanese has one sound between l and r, written with the ラ row: ra, ri, ru, re, ro.
- Oliviaオリビア
- Lucíaルシア
- Danielダニエル
V is バ or ヴ
There is no v in Japanese either. It's usually written with the バ row, and sometimes with ヴ, a ウ with two marks made for it.
- Victoriaビクトリア
- Victoriaヴィクトリア
- Oliverオリバー
New sounds, small kana
Sounds Japanese lacks are built from a kana and a small one: ti is ティ, di is ディ, fa is ファ, fi is フィ.
- Martinaマルティナ
- Diegoディエゴ
- Rafaelラファエル
- Sophiaソフィア
Every consonant gets a vowel
Japanese syllables end in a vowel or n, so a consonant at the end takes a vowel, and a double consonant becomes a small ッ.
- Carlosカルロス
- Markマーク
- Jackジャック
It follows the name's own language
José is ホセ because the Spanish j sounds like an h. James is ジェームズ in English and ハメス in Spanish, which is how Japan writes James Rodríguez. That's why the tool asks how you say your name.
- Joséホセ
- Jamesジェームズ
- James Rodríguezハメス・ロドリゲス
Common names in katakana
How Japanese writes some of the most common names in English and in Spanish. The readings come from our name table, built from how Japanese writes the names of real people. Tap a name to see it written.
| Name | Katakana | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| マイケル | maikeru | |
| エマ | ema | |
| オリビア | oribia | |
| ジェームズ | jeemuzu | |
| ソフィア | sofia | |
| ダニエル | danieru | |
| ウィリアム | wiriamu | |
| シャーロット | shaarotto | |
| エミリー | emirii | |
| クリストファー | kurisutofaa |
| Name | Katakana | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| マリア | maria | |
| ホセ | hose | |
| フアン | fuan | |
| ソフィア | sofia | |
| バレンティナ | barentina | |
| カルロス | karurosu | |
| ルシア | rushia | |
| ディエゴ | diego | |
| カミラ | kamira | |
| ハビエル | habieru |
Japanese names
Japanese names are written in kanji, chosen for their sound and their meaning, so one name can have many spellings. A few you'll meet, each with one common way to write it. Type one into the tool and it tells you it's a Japanese name.
- 桜
SakuraReadingさくら
The kanji means: cherry blossom
Usually for girls
- 花
HanaReadingはな
The kanji means: flower
Usually for girls
- 愛
AiReadingあい
The kanji means: love
Usually for girls
- 舞
MaiReadingまい
The kanji means: dance
Usually for girls
- 遥
HarukaReadingはるか
The kanji means: far away
Usually for girls
- 雪
YukiReadingゆき
The kanji means: snow
Usually for girls and boys
- 葵
AoiReadingあおい
The kanji means: hollyhock
Usually for girls and boys
- 翼
TsubasaReadingつばさ
The kanji means: wing
Usually for girls and boys
- 陸
RikuReadingりく
The kanji means: land
Usually for boys
- 蓮
RenReadingれん
The kanji means: lotus
Usually for boys
Why your name isn't written in kanji
Coffee
Kanji carry a meaning as well as a sound, and Japanese keeps them for its own words and names, and for names that already have them, like Chinese ones. Any other name is written in katakana: on a form, a name tag, a booking or in a manga, John is ジョン.
Kanji picked only for their sound are called ateji (当て字). Japanese once wrote foreign words that way, and a café sign may still say 珈琲 for coffee, but everyone writes コーヒー. You'll see ateji names on tattoos and souvenir scrolls, yet a Japanese reader sees the meanings first, sometimes odd ones, and few would read them as your name.
Questions
In katakana, the script Japanese uses for names and words from other languages. Your name is written by its sound: split into Japanese syllables, with ー for a long vowel and ・ between the first and last name. Type it in the box at the top of this page to see it written stroke by stroke.
Only if it already has kanji, as Chinese names do. Kanji chosen for their sound, called ateji, exist, but they read as their meanings first, and in Japan a foreign name is written in katakana on forms, name tags and bookings.
No, on purpose. It writes your own name the way Japanese would, which is what people in Japan will call you. If you want a Japanese name for a character or a nickname, the Japanese names on this page are a start: each is written with kanji chosen for their meaning.
Katakana follows sound, and a name sounds different from one language to another: Michael is マイケル in English and ミヒャエル in German. Writers also differ on details, like ヴ or バ for a v. The tool gives the spelling most used for people with your name, and a second one when the name also has a Japanese reading.
You can, for fun or as a nickname, but katakana is how a foreign name is written; in hiragana it looks like a Japanese word. Type your name in hiragana and the tool turns it into katakana.
The katakana chart
All 46 characters, the voiced sounds and the combinations, each with its stroke order and a board to draw it.
Your name is the first word. Keep going.
Naraio teaches Japanese from zero: the kana, kanji, grammar, listening and speaking, all the way to N1. Join the waitlist and we'll write the day it opens.
Stroke order from KanjiVG © Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0. Readings, meanings and words from KANJIDIC2 and JMdict, names from JMnedict, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata, CC0; the Spanish meanings they lack, translated by Naraio from their English, are shared under the same licence. Example sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR. JLPT lists after Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk), CC BY. Sentences split into words with IPADIC © NAIST and IPA, through Lindera.