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Japanese Translation & Typesetting

Your Name in Japanese

In Japanese, foreign names are normally written using the phonetic katakana alphabet. To see what your name looks like in Japanese, just type it in below and click the "Translate" button. If you like, you can also choose from a few different character styles. Note: This dictionary does not contain family names or Japanese names.

Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the results produced by this tool, but you should be aware of the following:

• The Japanese write foreign words phonetically, so it is not always possible to say how a name should be written in Japanese without further information. For example, the last two letters of Andrea can be pronounced like ier in the word barrier, or like ayer in the word layer. If you get results that don't match the way you pronounce your name, you may be able to find an alternative spelling that does (e.g., Andria).
• Traditionally, some names have unusual pronunciations in Japanese. For example, the name Phoenix is often pronounced "fen-ix" instead of the more accurate "fee-nix". In this dictionary I have opted for the spelling closest to the actual pronunciation.
• The use of an accented U to represent the sound of the letter "V" seems to be a recent innovation in Japanese writing. Earlier sources tend to use a B sound instead, so for example Kevin is often pronounced kebin rather than kevin. For the sake of consistency, I have used the more accurate notation throughout this dictionary.
• (Legal stuff) Unlike many of the other "name translators" on the web, this tool is a real dictionary containing about 3,700 names. Each one has been individually checked, and errors are extremely uncommon. However, since this is a free service, I can't accept liability for any problems that might occur. If you're planning on getting a Japanese tattoo, I would strongly recommend you at least study katakana first. There are plenty of resources available online (e.g., at japanese.about.com), and I can also recommend the book Remembering the Kana by James Heisig.

Using the Images

The images produced by this dictionary are free for personal use. To save a picture to your hard disk, move your cursor over the picture, click the right-hand mouse button, and choose "Download Image to Disk" from the pop-up menu that appears. (Mac users: drag the image to your desktop). A link back to this page would be appreciated, but is by no means mandatory. Please don't link directly to images in this page. They are stored in a temporary folder and are deleted after 24 hours.

Problems?

If you're seeing an error message where your name should be, then your browser isn't working properly. This problem — among others — is discussed in the FAQ page.

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