How to write my name in Japanese?

On this page, you will be able to write your name in Japanese, pronounce it, and many other details about writing Japanese names.

Do you want to learn how to write your name in Japanese? Do you want to get a tattoo but don’t know how to write your name? Do you want to learn to write your name using ideograms? Do you want to learn how to pronounce your name in Japanese?

Write your name in Japanese

The translations are done automatically, without interference from human translators. We cannot guarantee that the translated names are 100% correct, so we recommend paying attention to the rules below:

• If your name ends with a consonant, do not write the consonant.
• If your name has a letter with a long vowel, write the vowel 2 times. Example: If your name is “Sarah”, write “Saraa”.
• If your name has syllables with “C”, consider replacing it with “K”.
• Do not use H and other isolated silent consonants;

Japanese has 3 different scripts: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. The script used to write foreign names is “katakana”. If you have an original Japanese name, you can also write your name using hiragana or kanji (ideograms).

It is worth remembering that in Japan and in some Asian countries, the family name comes first, and your personal name (first name) comes last.

Various ways to write your name

The Japanese write foreign words phonetically. Thus, depending on your name, it can have several ways to be written. When writing your name, you can decide whether or not to include a long vowel; the absence of a syllable or letter in Japanese may give you choices.

For example, my name is Kevin; it can be written as ケビン or ケヴィン, pronounced Kebin, all due to the absence of letters and syllables with “V” in the Japanese language. Other changes when converting foreign words to Japanese writing are:

• Syllables and phonemes that start with “L” become “R” in Japanese;
• The silent letters “L(R) or S” end up gaining a vowel “U”;
• Words that end with a consonant end up gaining a vowel “U” or “O”;
• Syllables of 3 letters like BRA are written BURA;
• “TI” transforms into “CHI”;

There is a pattern of names that some claim is the correct way to write, but in my opinion, the name belongs to the person; they write and pronounce it however they want. Just like we have Kevin, Keven, and Kelvin. If my name were Keven, I could write ケべン.

See a small table with some names that can be written in various ways:

Thiago	チアゴ / チアグ / ティアゴ	Chiago / Chiagu / Tiago
Adriana / Adriane	アドリアンナ / アドリアンネ / アドリアンニィ	Adorianna / Adorianne, Adorianyi
Ikaro	イーカロ / イーカル	Īkaro / Īkaru
Yago	イアーゴ / ヤーグ	Iāgo / Yāgu
Marcos / Marcus	マルコス / マルクス	Mārukosu / Mārukusu
Felipe	フェリッペ / フィリッペ	Ferippe / Firippi
Caio	カイオ / カユ	Kaio / Kayu

Names written with Kanji — Ideograms

If you have a Japanese name, it can be written using Kanji — Chinese ideograms. There are thousands of ideograms with different meanings and pronunciations that you can use to write your name. If you have already been given a Japanese family name, your parents probably chose the ideograms to write it. To learn more about Japanese names, click here.

Some people with foreign names tend to create a Japanese version of their own name to use ideograms and give a meaning to their name. I once met a Noemi who changed her name to Naomi. Choosing ideograms to put in a name is quite complicated; we do not recommend doing this without knowledge.

Access now: See how to write your name in Kanji – Ideograms!

Most Japanese, as they find ideograms complicated to write, tend to write their names using hiragana or even katakana. But if you are a foreigner with a foreign name, do not use hiragana.

The video below talks a little about this:

Embedded video (YouTube)

How to say my name in Japanese?

It is not wrong to pronounce your name in the original way, but for the Japanese, it can be difficult to pronounce due to the lack of syllables in Japanese. Japanese syllables are very easy and similar to Portuguese syllables, and they do not have stress.

We recommend pasting it into Google Translate and seeing how the name is pronounced by Google’s voice.

I hope you enjoyed the article! If you have any questions or suggestions, leave your comment. To finish, we will leave a video for you to get to know the pronunciation and Japanese syllables.

Embedded video (YouTube)

Brazilian Names in Japanese

Suki Desu also has a huge list of foreign names written in Japanese, especially Brazilian names. If you want to access this list, we will leave the link below:

Access List: Brazilian names written in Japanese

Portuguese	Japanese	Romaji
Adriana	アドリアーナ	AdoriāNa
Aline	アリネ	Aline
Amanda	アマンダ	Amanda
Ana	アナ	Ana
Antonia	アントニア	Antonia
Antonio	アントニオ	Antonio
Bruna	ブルネット	Burunetto
Bruno	ブルーノ	BurūNo
Camila	カミラ	Kamira
Carlos	カルロス	Karurosu
Daniel	ダニエル	Danieru
Eduardo	エドゥアルド	Edouarudo
Felipe	フェリペ	Feripe
Fernanda	フェルナンダ	Ferunanda
Francisca	フランシスカ	Furanshisuka
Francisco	フランシスコ	Furanshisuko
Gabriel	ガブリエル	Gaburieru
Jessica	ジェシカ	Jeshika
Joao	ジョアン	Joan
José	ジョセフ	Josefu
Julia	ジュリア	Juria
Juliana	ジュリアナ	Juriana
Letícia	レティシア	Retishia
Lucas	ルーカス	RūKasu
Luciana	ルシアナ	Rushiana
Luis	ルイス	Ruisu
Luiz	ルイス	Ruisu
Marcelo	マルセロ	Marusero
Marcia	マルシア	Marushia
Marcos	マルコス	Marukosu
Maria	マリア	Maria
Mariana	マリアナ	Mariana
Patricia	パトリシア	Patorishia
Paulo	ポール	PōRu
Pedro	ピーター	PīTā
Rafael	ラファエル	Rafaeru
Raimundo	ライムンド	Raimundo
Rodrigo	ロドリゴ	Rodorigo
Sandra	サンドラ	Sandora