Katakana name is your name written in Japanese characters. There are three different types of characters in Japanese. Yup, you read that right, three! Kanji, hiragana and katakana. Japanese names are written in kanji or hiragana and foreign names are written in katakana. This article will guide you how to write your name in katakana.

Why it’s important

The official spelling of your name in Japan is the one on your residence card. That is your name written the same way as in your passport. But when you present paperwork in the city office, sign a lease agreement, visit a doctor’s office or apply for a bank account, you are required to write your name also in katakana. Sometimes it can also be in Hiragana, but when we are talking about banking, then your bank account name will be registered in katakana only. That’s why it’s important to create your katakana name as soon as you start your life in Japan.

The good news is that there aren’t any set ways of writing foreign names in katakana. So you can’t really go wrong. The bad news is, well the same, that there aren’t any set ways of writing foreign names in katakana. So it can get confusing.

Here are some tips that may help to make this process easier

Check if it already exists

The easiest way to convert your name into katakana is to learn the Japanese language. Just kidding! Although learning Japanese can be fun, the best practice actually is to check from the internet if the equivalent of your name in katakana already exists. This may very well be the case if you have a fairly common name.

Use a katakana chart

if you have some more time on your hands and an interest in Japanese, you can also check a katakana chart and try to create a name by yourself. This can come quite tricky if your name involves many consonants or unique vowels. But if you are still up for a challenge, then here is a great article on how to do it:

https://todosobrejapon.es/en/name-in-japanese-katakana/

Use a name converter tool

There are many free tools on the internet, created exactly for this. You just enter your name in Latin characters. Voilà, there is your katakana name! Well, almost. Most of the tools are based on English dictionaries and tend to provide a name that simulates the English pronunciation. If you come from a non-English speaking country, the tools can make your name sound quite different from your original one. For example, almost all the tools that I tested, suggest that my name should be spelled Madjis or Maadjis although Marugisu is much closer to my original name and also much easier to read and pronounce for Japanese. If I had to recommend one, it would be this one here. It actually got my first name right! Still messed up my family name though…

Consult with a Japanese person

This one is pretty obvious. Ask them to write down your name in katakana and repeat it back to you, to check if it sounds close to your real name. If you don’t have a real-life Japanese to turn to, then the katakana converters may just do the trick.

Keep it same

Eventually, it doesn’t matter which version of your name you will pick, but I suggest that if you have already picked one, then stick with it and use the same one every time. Otherwise, you have to remember which one did you use where and it may also cause confusion around your identity and extra paperwork if your names don’t match between different institutions.

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