Enter any English name and see how it would be written in Japanese katakana. The converter explains the phonetic rules used in the conversion and shows you the romaji pronunciation.
In Japan, all foreign names are written in katakana (カタカナ). This is one of the first things you learn when studying Japanese — how to write your own name!
Try common names like "Michael", "Sarah", or "Christopher" — or type any name to see the phonetic conversion. Learn katakana with our Kana Trainer.
English names are written in katakana, the Japanese script for foreign words. The name is phonetically adapted — "Michael" becomes マイケル (maikeru), "Sarah" becomes サラ (sara).
Japanese has fewer distinct sounds than English. "L" and "R" merge into one sound, "th" doesn't exist, and every consonant (except "n") must be followed by a vowel.
The middle dot (nakaguro ・) is the standard separator for foreign names in Japanese. It separates first and last names since Japanese doesn't use spaces.